By Ben Shanahan
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
Bowling Green State University hockey ended a six-game losing streak by defeating Mercyhurst, 4-2, at the Slater Family Ice Arena on Saturday.
Coach Ty Eigner said it was nice to see a celebration n the locker room.
“It has been a little while,” Eigner said. “I do not want to say how many games or days it has been, but as everyone knows, winning is hard in college athletics.
“The way we lost last night (4-3 in overtime), there were lots of disappointed coaches, players, and fans, but the way we bounced back tonight was really good. I am very proud of them. There were a lot of smiling faces, which was nice to see.”
Eigner was also pleased with a vocal BGSU student section, stating that it is something that makes the Slater Arena a special place to play.
“The student section is awesome,” Eigner said. “Some of the chants are new. I hadn’t heard some of them. I am all for that. You can hear them. They were noticeable again.
“We know the atmosphere at Slater Family Ice Arena is as special as any in college hockey, and the student section is a very big piece of that, and it is a very fun place to play.”
Owen Ozar scored his first goal as a Falcon and second goal of his career.
“It feels good,” Ozar said. “It took me a long time in my first two years to get one, so it was nice early in the year that Josh Noddler made a great play behind the net and found me.”
Junior team leader Ryan O’Hara ended up scoring two goals, one in the first and one in the second.
The Falcons believe they can take the momentum from the win into next week against St. Thomas.
“The start of the year is not what we expected, but that is a good way to finish it, and I think we can take that into conference play next week,” said O’Hara.
The Falcons power play that went 1-for-4 in the series opener was tested right off the drop as Mercyhurst senior Kyler Head broke his stick and was called for a slash seven seconds into the game.
With 23 seconds left in Head’s time served, BGSU went on a 5-on-3 as Barrett Brooks joined him after being called for a trip. Unfortunately for the Falcons, the power play struggles continued as both penalties were killed by the Lakers.
The Lakers’ power play, which also went 1-for-4 on Friday, was tested with 11:24 left in the opening frame as Brandon Santa Juana headed to the sin bin for two minutes with a hit from behind. The Falcons also had the same fortunes as Mercyhurst, killing off the advantage.
Mercyhurst had another chance three minutes later, as Bowling Green’s bench put too many guys on the ice, sending Josh Noddler to the box to serve the bench minor. BGSU again killed this off with 4:23 left in the first.
O’Hara, the BGSU point leader, added another to his season total of six points (three goals and three assists in seven games) by catching a pass on his stick from Brett Pfoh at the right dot and sniping the top corner, giving BGSU the lead with 2:52 left.
In the first half of the second period, both teams battled with nothing to show on the stat sheet except shots.
O’Hara changed that with 10:41 left, this time with a snipe from the left dot. Assists were awarded to freshman Brody Waters with his second point on the weekend and fellow freshman Breck McKinley with his first ever collegiate point.
The Mercyhurst power play would fall to 1-for-7 on the weekend as Falcon defenseman Eric Parker’s roughing penalty was killed at the 4:09 point in the middle frame.
The Lakers finally converted on a man advantage early in the third period. Gustav Stjernberg was sent to the box with a cross-check. Twenty-eight seconds later, Falcon junior Ben Wozney attempted to clear the puck but was intercepted by Mercyhurst junior Garrett Dahm, who beat Cole Moore on the top shelf.
Bowling Green had their third chance on the power play but did not convert, but came close. Sophomore Quinn Emerson was on a breakaway until Connor Pelc took his legs from under him and got called for a trip.
Just after the halfway point of the third, Ozar, a Denver transfer, got his first goal as a Falcon. He had a point blank shot beating Owen Say and erupting the “Bleacher Creachers” on the other end of the ice.
Fellow transfers Josh Noddler and Tommy Pasanen were rewarded the assist, giving Pasanen his first point as a Falcon and putting BGSU up 3-1 with 9:50 left in regulation.
Spencer Kersten added to the Falcon lead at the 7:19 mark, making it 4-1, as Jaden Grant won the face-off, and Kersten immediately shot the puck and lit the lamp for his third goal of the season.
Mercyhurst added one more to the scoreboard on a six-on-four as BG’s Jaden Grant was called for a slash, and then on the immediate draw, Laker Steven Agrogianis was called for a faceoff violation with 3:14 left.
One minute and nine seconds later, Laker captain Marko Reifenberg was awarded a goal as the puck was loose in front of Cole Moore and ended up being poked behind him.
