Buckeyes beat Falcons, 9-4, in Columbus

COLUMBUS — Falcons fly in the sky and buckeyes fall from trees. On Saturday, that was not the case.

The Bowling Green men’s hockey team (8-12-0) lost 9-4 to Ohio State (12-7-1) at the Value City Arena on Saturday.

Goaltenders Jakob Dobes and Christian Stoever were back in net for the rematch in Columbus.

Less than 2 minutes in, the Buckeyes struck quickly, as OSU junior Joe Dunlap took advantage of mishap by Stoever.

Head Coach Ty Eigner challenged the quick goal for offsides, but the call stood.

Freshman forward Davis Burnside scored less than a minute later for an early 2-0 lead for Ohio State as the puck trickled in.

The ice looked tilted towards the Buckeyes’ offensive zone and the Falcons could not find an offensive break.

At the 6:34 mark, BG sophomore Austen Swankler sat for the first penalty of the game for roughing.

Three seconds before the expiration of the penalty, OSU got their first infraction for the Falcons’ chance to generate some shots.

Dunlap scored his second of the night on a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush to make it 3-0.

Backup goalie Salvatore Evola filled in for Stoever after the Buckeyes’ three-goal stint.

Two minutes after the third goal, Buckeye left wing Michael Gildon shot the puck over Evola’s shoulder to extend the lead to 4-0.

As the period came to a close, multiple OSU penalties gave the Falcons opportunities to get on the board, but they were unable to convert.

In the second, the Buckeyes replicated their early first period goal as OSU junior Patrick Guzzo tapped the puck past Evola to make it 5-0.

The ice was completely taken over by Ohio State and the Falcons were left frustrated with no goals.

The frustration among the Falcons translated into penalties and carelessness of the puck.

Buckeye center Stephen Halliday scored on the power play to make it 6-0. Shortly after, Burnside put another puck behind Evola, and OSU had a seventh goal.

At the 17:38 mark, BG sophomore Austen Swankler scored to prevent a shutout loss to make it 7-1.

Just 40 seconds later, Evola could not stop Buckeye defenseman Scooter Brickey from making it 8-1.

Tempers flared at the closing minutes of the second as Falcon right wing Quinn Emerson went into the boards face first.

At the end of the second, Bowling Green was only able to get a single puck past Dobes.

As the third period was underway, the Falcons showed some life with a goal by center Ethan Scardina against OSU backup Ryan Snowden to make it 8-2.

With 8 minutes left in the game, BGSU showed that they were not going down easily as senior Chase Gresock took advantage of a swift pass by Swankler to make it 8-3.

BG fifth-year Nathan Burke also got on the board with five minutes left, making it 8-4.

While the Falcons were gaining confidence, OSU sophomore Cam Thiesing scored the last goal of the heavily offensive night, finalizing the score 9-4.

BGSU goaltender Pete Eigner came in the last few minutes of the game to make his season debut, but not much could be done with a five goal differential.

The Falcons will meet up with RPI on Dec. 29 and 30 for their final series before the end of the calendar year.