Bowling Green State University hockey lost 8-2 against Western Michigan on Friday at the Slater Family Ice Arena.
This is the first series of the season where the Falcons lost both games.
As the first period opened, the Broncos were immediately playing the heavy offensive game that was seen on Thursday.
Their strong offensive start paid off as defenseman Zak Galambos opened up the scoring with a shot from the blue line.
Although the Falcons were moving left and right, Western Michigan put up a heavy fight.
Four minutes into the period, Bronco winger Hugh Larkin scored with a wrist shot into Christian Stoever’s net, and the lead was doubled 2-0.
Halfway through the first, WMU received a too many men call and the Falcons were on the power play.
The Broncos killed off the penalty and the game was immediately back in front of the Falcons’ net.
Among the slew of shots in the beginning of the first period, the fourth line of Chase Gresock, Austen Swankler and Alex Barber was able to produce some quality chances.
However, with less than three minutes left, Broncos center Max Sasson scored to make it 3-0.
Larkin scored again with 20 seconds left to make it 4-0.
Western Michigan started off strong in the second, as left wing Ryan McAllister scored to keep his point streak going this series.
After the goal, BGSU came back to WMU’s zone to try to get on the board.
Seven minutes into the period, BG defenseman Eric Parker put the puck in past Rowe, and the score was 5-1.
Although the Broncos had a decent lead, this didn’t slow down their offense. For the remainder of the period, Stoever had a hot streak of saves as pucks kept coming.
Fans filled the Slate with cheers for the sophomore, and the Falcons were able to close the period with no additional pucks behind Stoever.
The Broncos would kept up their dominance in the third; 42 seconds into the period, center Luke Grainger quickly shot the puck into the net.
A 6-1 score hurt the Falcons’ confidence, but a glimpse of hope would come with a major against defenseman Cedric Fielder.
Fifth-year veteran Evan Dougherty made it 6-2 on the power play.
As the halfway point approached, BG center Adam Pitters got a penalty for hooking and Galambos got his second goal of the night.
Another penalty came for the Falcons in the closing minute of the period, and Sasson capitalized to put the Broncos up 8-2.
Despite the loss, a positive that came from the night was the power play. The special teams were able to generate one goal on three power plays, and head coach Ty Eigner recognized this among the obstacles of the series.
“We scored a power play goal which we haven’t done in a few games, so that’s a positive,” Eigner said. “We will continue to work on our special teams.”
The Falcons will face the Adrian Bulldogs on Oct. 22 at the Slate. This exhibition match will let the team get rest before facing off against Minnesota State at the end of the month.
