Bowling Green’s hockey team is off to a good start.
The Falcons played well during the first two periods and survived a sloppy third period en route to a 7-3
exhibition win Saturday over Wilfrid Laurier in the Ice Arena.
Wade Finegan scored twice, and Kyle Page and Tomas Petruska each had one goal and one assist for the
Falcons, who held a 30-25 edge in shots.
Finegan’s second goal with 3:51 left in the first period snapped a 1-1 tie.
The Falcons eventually led 5-1 after two periods and 7-1 in the third period before the Golden Hawks
scored the final two goals. James Perkin, David Solway and Tommy Dee had the other BG goals.
Nick Eno and Andrew Hammond combined for 22 saves for BG.
BG scored two power-play goals and killed off 10 of WLU’s 11 chances with the extra man. The goal came in
a 5-on-3 situation. The Falcons also had a short-handed goal and two 4-on-4 goals.
“I was real pleased. A lot of guys stepped up and did good things,” BG coach Dennis Williams said.
The Falcons were picked for last place in the CCHA coaches poll earlier in the week.
BG was 11-24-3 overall and 8-19-1 in the league last season, its third last-place finish in the last four
seasons. The team also survived the uncertainty over the future of its program during the offseason.
Saturday was the first official day for teams to be on the ice under NCAA rules, although teams were
allowed to have limited team and individual workouts prior to that. BG opens the season next weekend at
Minnesota State-Mankato.
BG had six of its 13 penalties and too many turnovers in the third period.
The Falcons experimented with many different players receiving ice time in different situations.
“We had good energy,” said Page, a senior captain and defenseman. “Exhibitions are to clean up all of the
sloppy play, but I like how we played overall. Guys are stepping up and filling roles they might not
have been in last year, and the freshmen are learning what it’s all about.”
The seven goals were important after BG averaged just 2.34 goals per game last season, 10th in the
league. Eleven Falcons had at least one point, including Petruska, a senior, who had just
one goal in 34 games last season; and Finegan, who scored just twice in 19 games last season as a
sophomore.
“It feels good to score those goals … that gives us confidence,” Page said.
The excellent goaltending of Eno and Hammond also was a plus after BG had a league-worst .875 save
percentage last season. Eno, healthy after a sprained ankle last season, started and stopped 14-of-15
shots in 30:24.
Hammond, a freshman, looked sharp and made a terrific glove save, going post to post to stop a backdoor
shot on the power play moments after coming in. He made eight saves.
“Our goaltending was very good,” Williams said.
Hammond was one of seven freshmen to play, joining forwards Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Nathan Pageau and
Jerry Freismuth; and defensemen Reed Rushing, Max Grover and Ryan Peltoma.
But freshmen defensemen Ian Ruel and Robert Shea — who are expected to be key contributors — didn’t play
as the NCAA decides on their eligibility.
Williams declined to be specific, but said an issue recently arose with each. BG submitted information on
each situation to the NCAA and is awaiting the NCAA’s ruling.
Williams had hoped for a decision by Friday, but is now hoping it comes Monday or Tuesday. Neither will
play until their situation is resolved.
BG received a scare late in the second period when Solway took a vicious elbow/forearm to the head from
from WLU’s Mike Gauthier, who was ejected.
Solway, who had 12 goals and 12 assists in 38 games last season, was face down on the ice and had to be
helped off the ice. He didn’t play in the third period for what Williams called “precautionary reasons.
Solway’s status for the MSM series was still being evaluated.
BGSU 7, WILFRID LAURIER 3
GOALS BY PERIOD
WILFRID LAURIER
1
2
—3
BGSU
2
3
2
—7
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1, BG Finegan (Freismuth) 7:44. 2, WL Voakes (unassisted) 9:16. 3, BG Finegan (Vargas) 16:09
(4-4 es).
Penalties: Pettapiece, WL, slashing, 10:27; Dee, BG, hooking, 12:44; Samuels-Thomas, BG, contact to the
head-elbowing, 14:58; Bergeron, WL, cross-checking, 15:49; Van De Baspoort, WL, interference, 18:30;
Boyd, BG, hooking, 18:34.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 4, BG Perkin (Rushing) 0:12 (4-4 es). 5, BG Solway (Pageau) 1:09. 6, BG Petruska (Page) 18:08
(5-4 pp).
Penalties: Potacco, BG, interference, 1:53; BG bench, too many men, 4:40; Galbraith, WL, tripping, 8:02;
Freismuth, BG, holding, 11:09; Solway, BG, contact to the head/high-sticking, 11:52; Williams, WL,
hooking, 17:55; Gauthier, WL, major-unnecessary roughing and game-misconduct, 18:20.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 7, BG Page (Samuels-Thomas) 3:17 (5-3 pp). 8, BG Dee (unassisted) 10:11 (4-5 sh). 9, WL Borrows
(Peacock, Pettapiece) 12:48. 10, WL Rizk (Kennedy) 14:48 (5-3 pp).
Penalties: Kennedy, WL, tripping, 2:28; Kantola, BG, charging, 5:19; Perkin, BG, hooking, 8:29; Moore,
BG, kneeing, 10:17; Moore, BG, hooking, 13:16; Perkin, BG, 10-minute misconduct, 13:16; Kantola, BG,
contact to the head-roughing, 14:19; Bonneville, WL, tripping, 18:39.
SAVES BY PERIOD
MacDougald, WL
7
10
2
—19
Small, WL
X
X
4
—
4
Eno, BG
9
5
X
—
14
Hammond, BG
X
4
4
—
8
Goalie statistics (goals against/minutes played): (WL) MacDougald 6/47:43, Small 1/12:17; (BG) Eno
1/30:24, Hammond 2/29:36.
Penalties-Minutes: WL 10-31, BG 13-24. Power plays: WL 1-11, BG 2-8.