Tommies top Falcons, 4-2 Thursday

0

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The weekend diamond cutters have taken a halt.

Bowling Green State University hockey (14-13, 11-8 CCHA) lost to the St. Thomas Tommies (7-15-1, 6-10-1 CCHA), 4-2, at the St. Thomas Ice Arena on Thursday.

The conference loss breaks the Falcons’ six-game win streak.

Despite the tough loss, Hobey Baker nominee Austen Swankler extended his point streak to a nation-best of 17 games.

The Falcons got on the board early as defenseman Max Coyle snapped the puck past Tommie netminder Aaron Trotter.

Halfway through the period, Bowling Green got their first power play of the night as STU freshman Carson Peters sat for cross-checking. Although the power play unit looked solid, they could not convert on the man advantage.

In the dying minute of the first, Falcon defenseman Ben Wozney and Tommie forward Matthew Jennings went to the box for a scuffle.

Going into the second, Bowling Green had a shot count advantage of 10-4 and led 1-0.

After a few seconds of 4-on-4 hockey, St. Thomas had another kill coming their way as freshman Quinton Pepper sat for slashing. However, the Falcons had trouble with offensive chances, leading to an easy PK for the Tommies.

At the halfway mark, things flipped as St. Thomas kept building momentum and getting opportunities in the crease.

The Tommies got luckier when alternate captain Taylor Schneider went to the sin bin for goaltender interference, but they could not get a puck past Falcon goaltender Christian Stoever.

With four minutes left in the second, STU freshman Luc Layton got the equalizer and tied the game 1-1. Just a minute later, the Falcons retaliated as Schneider scored a backhanded goal to make it 2-1 BG.

Falcon defenseman Anton Malmstrom took a late call, but the second frame ended with Bowling Green still in the lead.

While BGSU looked dominant in the second, the Tommies started to make their comeback in the third. Less than two minutes into the period, Tommie junior Mack Byers got the puck past Stoever to tie up the game 2-2.

Stoever had to make many clutch saves to subdue St. Thomas’s strong offense, but it was not enough. With five minutes left in the games, Byers grabbed the Tommies’ first lead and made it 3-2 STU.

As the defense dealt with numerous shots, BGSU captain Alex Barber sat in the box for a late St. Thomas power play. Even with penalty kills and an extra skater, Bowling Green could not muster any pushback.

After a late empty netter, the Tommies beat the Falcons 4-2 and came out victorious. Stoever made 25 saves, including 14 in the final period

Bowling Green finish out the final series against St. Thomas this season on Friday at the St. Thomas Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 8:07 p.m.

No posts to display