BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – A sweep against Ferris State was so close, yet just out of reach for Bowling Green State University hockey.
The Falcons lost 4-1 to the Bulldogs on Saturday at Ewigleben Ice Arena.
BGSU sophomore Christian Stoever faced off against FSU freshman Noah Giesbrecht, who was the backup on Friday.
The first period started off positive for the Falcons, as the Bulldogs took a delay-of-game penalty before puck drop.
Right after the expiration of the power play, freshman Quinn Emerson got the first Falcon infraction of the night.
The Bulldogs got their opportunity on the man advantage yet were not able to produce shots on Stoever’s net.
At the halfway point, Ferris State dominated the ice with multiple solid chances for goals, yet none got into BGSU’s net.
With two minutes left in the first, the shots paid off as FSU forward Nick Nardecchia put the puck in with a high shot right off the faceoff to make it 1-0.
The period came to an end with a shot count of 12-7 favoring the Bulldogs.
Ferris State pushed hard early in the second period and freshman Caiden Gault took advantage of Stoever losing his stick and scored to make it 2-0.
Seven minutes in, the Falcons were back on the power play with a hand pass call on the Bulldogs.
While the Falcons turned up the pressure against Giesbrecht, he made critical saves to keep Ferris State’s lead.
With six minutes to go, more 5-on-4 hockey time came for the Falcons, but they were unable to convert shots to goals.
Things started to look ugly for the Falcons, as call after call kept coming to send players to the sin bin.
As the period came to a close, BGSU freshman Brett Pfoh offered a glimpse of hope with a fast break toward the net, but Giesbrecht made the save.
Heading into the third, the Falcons were desperate to find a way to put some points on the board.
Instead, defenseman Blake Evennou scored five-hole to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-0.
Despite the Falcons putting pressure in their offensive zone, they could not garner any goals past Giesbrecht.
With three minutes left, fifth-year Nathan Burke scored on the power play to make it 3-1.
Although the Falcons avoided the shutout loss, the Bulldogs widened the lead with an empty netter at the end of the period.
Head Coach Ty Eigner acknowledged that Saturday’s team did not reflect the play of Friday’s team. The Falcons (6-8-0, 5-5-0 in CCHA) won 6-0 against Ferris State (4-6-2, 2-3-1 in CCHA) on Friday.
“We had a lot of guys play really well last night, but tonight was different,” Eigner said. “We were just never able to get all our guys going.”
The Falcons are heading into Thanksgiving break, but will be back for more hockey on Dec. 2 and 3 with an away series against Lake Superior State.
