BEMIDJI, Minn. — The Bowling Green State University hockey season has come to a close with a 3-1 loss to Bemidji State on Sunday.

The Falcons will finish the 2021-22 season with a 15-19-3 record. They put up a good fight as the sixth seed, but couldn’t get another win against the third seeded Beavers.

Bemidji State senior Ethan Somoza scored in the second period for the game’s first goal.

BGSU responded in the third period with a goal by senior Evan Dougherty. The momentum would be short lived as sophomore Lukas Sillinger scored to give Bemidji State the lead back.

His brother, senior Owen Sillinger, scored an empty net goal to seal the Beavers’ victory. The goal gave him a multi-point game. Sillinger recorded an assist on the Somoza goal.

The lack of offensive success doomed the Falcons in this series. They scored a total of five goals in the three games. The Beavers scored eight goals in the series.

The shots on goal were close in the series. Bemidji State had a 28-24 edge in SOG on Sunday. As a series total, Bemidji had a 82-78 edge in SOG.

Freshman goaltender Christian Stoever had 25 saves in Sunday’s game. He had 74 saves in the three games.

As a team, the defense couldn’t make up for the lack of goals in the series.

Penalties weren’t a huge factor in the series. In Sunday’s game, both teams committed three penalties. Both teams could not score on their power plays.

The Falcons went 0 for 6 on their power plays for the season. The Beavers went 0 for 5.

Bemidji State will now go on to take on Michigan Tech in the CCHA playoff semifinals.

While the Falcons didn’t match the same success they had last season, they both ended similarly.

Both teams had a good start to their season. Then once they entered the second half of the season, they fizzled out.

Last season, they lost to Northern Michigan in three games in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. This time, Bemidji State took care of the Falcons.

The Falcons will have the offseason to figure out how to replace their seniors and how they can be more consistent in the second half of a season.