By Ben Shanahan

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

Bowling Green State University freshman goaltender Cole Moore won his first colleigate game with a 4-2, 31-save performance against Mercyhurst on November 4.

For Moore, there are likely more milestones to come as he continues his career at BGSU.

Grant Moore, Cole’s father, got his son into hockey at a very young age, making it easy for his son to follow in dad’s footsteps.

“My dad got me into hockey pretty early. We started skating young and started playing organized hockey when I was 7-years-old. Then I fell in love with goaltending around 8-years-old, and the rest is history,” said Cole Moore.

The now 6-foot-5 Falcon goaltender had to duck his head when he walked into the Slater Family Ice Arena home locker room while on skate. But he was not always the giant on the ice. Moore’s growth spurt did not happen until his late teenage years.

“Surprisingly, I was fairly average until my sophomore year of high school, where I had a big growth spurt for the next two to three years,” said Moore.

As Moore grew from average height to 6-5, he started his junior hockey career with the St. Michael’s Buzzers and attended St. Michael’s College School, the same place his father graduated from in 1985.

The Buzzers are where Moore found himself on BGSU’s radar, with a stat line of 21 games played, a 2.87 goals against average and .925 save percentage, earning him a 12-7-1 record in his lone season in the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

“When I joined the OJHL, the college started talking to me, with Bowling Green being the first one to reach out,” Moore said.

“I got into contact with (BGSU assistant coach) Curtis Carr around November, then visited that following February. The process here has been great so far,” Moore continued.

Cole committed one month after his February visit to BGSU, announcing on X, then called Twitter, on March 4, 2022 that he would be attending BGSU in the fall of 2023.

Moore played one more year in junior hockey before making the jump to the NCAA, but this time in the United States. His final junior season, he played in South Dakota for the Aberdeen Wings of the North American Hockey League.

Moore impressed once again with a stat line of 46 games played, a 2.58 goals against average and .919 save percentage, earning himself a 24-16-3 record with three shutouts.

After that, Moore finally made the jump to the NCAA this fall, joining a very experienced goalie room with three juniors, Christian Stoever, Salvatore Evola, and Peter Eigner, all there to teach Moore what it is like to be a college athlete.

“To come in as a freshman and acclimate yourself to college, college hockey, and all that goes with that, it is nice for Cole to have people he can look at and watch see how they go about their day-to-day, whether it be how they play or how they prepare,” BGSU coach Ty Eigner said.

“It is a luxury for us to have Cole be able to watch the other three guys do what they do on a daily basis and learn from it,” Eigner continued.

Moore made his NCAA debut for the Falcons against Augustana, saving 26 shots but giving up four goals in a loss to the Vikings.

“The debut against Augustana was something we expected. The biggest thing for me was to try to get the nerves out early,” Moore said.

“It was a tough first period, but I felt like I got those nerves out quickly and settled in the second and third periods and felt comfortable.”

Moore then played in his first full series, going up against No. 9-ranked Western Michigan, saving 30 of 34 shots in a 5-2 loss at home and then saving 42 of 46 shots in Kalamazoo in a 5-2 loss, with the Broncos getting an empty net goal in both games.

On November 4, 2023, Cole’s third start of his career, earned his first win, beating Mercyhurst. He says it is a huge milestone for his blossoming career.

“It is huge anytime you get your first win at any milestone like that. It is a big confidence booster and very nice to have under my belt,” said Moore.