By Ben Shanahan
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
Bowling Green State University freshman goaltender Cole Moore did what he had to in order to make the Holiday Night celebration at Slater Family Ice Arena something to remember. Maybe Santa should take notice.
Moore saved 39 shots as the Falcons shut out visiting Ferris State, 1-0, Friday.
For Moore, it is now the second game-high in saves for the freshmen. The season high was at Augustana on October 21 where he stopped 42 shots. However, the shutout means more to him.
Moore, who is becoming a budding star at BGSU, had his best performance Falcon fans have seen in his young career so far, earning his first collegiate shutout.
“Definitely feels good. I waited almost three years to get one in juniors, so to get one so early in my NCAA career feels really good,” said Moore.
BGSU improves to 6-11 overall and 4-5 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, while Ferris State falls to 5-9-1 and 3-6.
BGSU senior Ethan Scardina was not only the only goal scorer of the game, his first period blast from the blue line for his first goal of the season was the difference in the game.
“Yeah, obviously, I get the monkey off the back. It felt good, and I saw it go the entire way,” said Scardina.
Gustav Stjernberg recorded one of the assists on the Scardina goal, marking his fourth assist of the season and eighth point as a Falcon.
Ben Wozney tallied the second assist on the lone goal of the night, and fifth of the season. Wozney has tallied 22 assists in his career as a Falcon
The Falcons came out firing out of the gate, outshooting the Bulldogs, 10-2, in the opening minutes of the game.
The Bulldogs relied on senior goalie Logan Stein to keep the game scoreless, but the Falcons kept on the pressure during the opening five minutes.
“I thought our start was very good,” BGSU coach Ty Eigner said. “Probably the first five to eight minutes were very positive. We saw our guys do a lot of things we wanted them to do.
“We saw ebbs and flows and stretches where one team does one thing and the other adjusts, but I thought our start was very positive.”
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Falcons netted the game’s only goal with 9:38 left in the opening frame as Scardina fired a puck past Stein from the left side of the blue line.
Less than a minute later, Ferris went on the power play as senior defenseman Tommy Pasane was called for a slash in the defensive zone corner. The power play only lasted 12 seconds as alternate captain senior Jason Brancheau stopped a golden Falcon shorthanded opportunity with a hold.
Both teams killed off their respective sides of the 4-on-4 and headed into the first intermission with Scardina’s goal still the difference on the scoreboard.
The middle period was a gritty one, with the only stat besides eight shots for Ferris and 14 for the Falcons came at the 14:22 mark when Ferris State freshman forward Holden Doell headed to the box for a two-minute elbow penalty.
The power play was killed off, and both teams headed to the locker rooms with the Falcons still up one.
Six and a half minutes into the third, the Falcons went back on the power play as Ferris State sophomore Caiden Gault was called for a boarding penalty. The Bulldogs still managed to keep the game 1-0 by killing the two-minute minor.
Two minutes later, a scrum broke out behind the visiting net and saw BGSU freshman Gustav Stjernbeg head to the sin bin for roughing after the whistle. Bowling Green’s fortune would get even worse as junior Owen Ozar joined him, putting the Bulldogs on the 5-on-3 for one minute and 50 seconds.
The Falcons killed off both penalties with timely blocked shots and huge Moore saves, playing a major role in BGSU’s win.
Bowling Green will be back in action Saturday at 7:07 p.m. when they look to sweep the Bulldogs in Slater Arena. Saturday’s game will serve as BG Schools Night and after the game fans will have a chance to Skate With The Falcons.
