By Ben Shanahan
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
COLUMBUS — Even though Bowling Green got on the board first, Ohio State took advantage of penalties to defeat the Falcons, 6-2, at Value City Arena on Friday.
Ohio State was too much on the power play, scoring on three of eight one or two-man advantage tries and scoring four unanswered goals in the second period. The Falcons fall to 7-14, the Buckeyes improve to 7-8-4.
“We started out well and our first period was very good,” BGSU coach Ty Eigner said. “In the second period OSU raised their level and we didn’t sustain ours. We also took too many penalties and that didn’t help.”
BG came out firing in the first period, outshooting the Buckeyes, 12-10. Both teams battled back and forth to start until, at 12:03, Ohio State went on the power play because Bowling Green State University senior Seth Fyten was called for a trip.
That Buckeye power play lasted only one minute and twelve seconds as Ohio State freshman Max Montes sent both teams to a 4-on-4 after being called for holding. Both teams killed off their respective penalties and the game remained scoreless with 8:51 remaining in the opening period.
Exactly two minutes later, BGSU was back on a two-minute penalty kill. This time junior Eric Parker headed to the box with a hook, but once again, Bowling Green killed off the minor penalty.
Junior Ben Wozney broke the tie in favor of the Falcons as fellow junior Ryan O’Hara’s shot was tipped off the post, and Wozney scored on the rebound in a mad scramble in front of Ohio State goaltender Kristoffer Eberly.
The play was reviewed for goaltender interference, which failed and cost the Buckeyes their timeout, with the Falcons heading into the intermission up, 1-0.
The Buckeyes were not down in the second period for long as sophomore Stephen Halliday hit fifth-year senior Riley Hughes with a cross-crease pass for his first goal as a Buckeye one minute and two seconds into the middle frame.
Both offenses stalled until 5:19 was left when BG fifth-year senior Spencer Kersten was called for a hooking minor penalty. Nineteen seconds later, BGSU sophomore Jaden Grant was called for a slash, making it 5-on-3 in favor of the Buckeyes.
Ohio State took the lead with a 5-on-3 blast 11 seconds later from fifth-year senior Scooter Brickey, making it 2-1 with 4:49 left in the period.
The Falcons headed back to the box again when Parker found himself in the box for the second time in as many periods, this time for a slash.
On the power play, BG lost its timeout as their challenge for an OSU hit to the head did not have enough evidence to change the call on the ice. Parker’s penalty was killed off, and both teams went into the final minute at even strength.
In that final minute, the Buckeyes scored two goals. First, with 31.6 seconds remaining. Brickley got his second goal of the period with a heavy shot from the Big Ten logo, nearly in the same spot he scored his first.
After that, with 17.6 seconds on the clock, BG went on the power play as OSU sophomore Damien Carfagna was called for a hold.
On the Falcon power play, disaster struck with four hundredths of a second left in the period as Ohio State fifth-year senior Dalton Messina scored to make it 4-1, knocking in his own rebound past BGSU freshman goalie Cole Moore.
In the third, Bowling Green cut into the three-goal deficit as sophomore Quinn Emerson scored on a breakaway, beating the Buckeye tender and making it 4-2 with 17:30 left in the game.
About nine minutes later, BG freshman Nick O’Hanisain was originally called for a minor penalty but that was changed to a five-minute hit to the head with 8:24 left in the regulation.
Ohio State capitalized once on the long power play with 5:57 left in the game as Cam Thiesing beat Moore to make the game 5-2.
BG headed back to the box for its 17th-minute penalty kill. This time it was O’Hara for interference.
Ohio State scored once again, this time with 1:15 left in the game, making it 6-2 and going 3-for-8 on power plays in the game. Thomas Weis was credited with the last Buckeye goal of the game.
BGSU and OSU are set to play again Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. at Slater Family Ice Arena.
