Falcons Take No. 1 Miami to the Wire; Fall Short 3-2

Friday, February 12

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:05 PM

Bowling Green State University

Miami

Bowling Green made an impressive showing against No. 1 Miami in their 3-2 loss to the RedHawks on Friday night.

Photo by: Todd Pavlack / BGSUHockey.com

February 12, 2010 | Ice Hockey

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Box score
Dennis Williams post game press conference: audio // video
Andrew Hammond post game press conference: audio // video
Photo gallery

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The Bowling Green Falcon hockey team flew with the best of college hockey when they took host to the No. 1 ranked Miami RedHawks on Friday night. The Falcons played Miami tough for three full periods but fell short of the win after allowing a late third period goal in the final four minutes in a 3-2 decision.

Prior to the drop of the puck, Miami hockey student manager Brendan Burke was honored with a moment of silence following the tragic car accident that took his life last Friday night.

Once the opening faceoff occurred, both teams got down to business. In net for the Falcons was freshman postmaster Andrew Hammond (Surrey, B.C.) to counter one of the best goaltenders in the country, Cody Reichard. Hammond was tested early and made many “big-time” saves to keep the Falcons competitive all game long. Hammond made ten saves in the opening frame with only one unlucky bounce in front of the net keeping him unblemished in the period.

At 3:59 into the game, traffic mounted in front of the net as Hammond and the Falcon defense fought to give him a clear sight of the puck. Miami's Will Weber took a shot from between the circles before right winger Jarod Palmer softly redirected the puck to Hammond's right, tickling the twine for the opening score.

The Falcons fought off three power play attempts and did not allow a single shot to reach their goaltender in the first period. Following the solid defensive effort, the Falcons trailed by one goal heading into the second period, and it would not take long for them to even the score.

Merely 16 seconds into the second period, the Falcons sounded the horns in the BGSU Ice Arena when James Perkin (Calgary, Alb.) started and finished the scoring effort for Bowling Green. Perkin took a shot at Reichard only to be saved and rebounded out into the mounting traffic in front of the RedHawk net. After Kyle Page (Wixom, Mich.) and Kai Kantola (Raleigh, N.C.) passed the puck around it was put back to Perkin's stick as the senior found a hole in Reichard's armor for his fourth goal of the season.

With a 1-1 tie at hand, Hammond continued his stellar play with an additional eight saves in the middle frame. On in particular made those in attendance rise to their feet when he thwarted a two-on-one breakaway attempt by Miami. Near the six-minute mark the puck was changing possession inside of the neutral zone before Miami forwards Brandon Smith and Pat Cannone broke away from the pack and only had David Solway (Green Bay, Wisc.) to beat. With a move to Hammond's right and an open lane to shoot from, Smith took a shot but was greeted by a diving Falcon goaltender who snared the puck out of the air with his glove to keep the score tied.

The RedHawks wasted no time immediate following up on a power play chance, leading to their second score of the evening. After Solway was called for a holding penalty at 18:35, the RedHawk power play came to play and made the Falcons pay.

With the offense set, Miami made a pair of passes streaming from circle to circle in the Bowling Green zone that lead to a score by Chris Wideman. Jarod Palmer sat in the near-side faceoff circle and found a stationary Wideman on the far-side and with a cross-ice pass set Wideman up for a near perfect one-timer. Wideman's shot screamed past Hammond, beating the freshman stick-side to give the
RedHawks a 2-1 lead in the final minute of the second period.

Bowling Green returned fire in the seventh minute of the third period, however it took some time for the Falcon offense to warm up prior to the goal. Six minute into the third period, Bowling Green had not yet attempted a shot in the period before Kai Kantola broke the monotony with his fourth goal of the season. The Brown and Orange lined up for a faceoff deep in the Miami zone and directly off the faceoff win, Nathan Pageau (Stoney Creek, Ont.) and Kyle Page put the puck in front of Kantola who went five-hole on Reichard. After a shot review, the goal was confirmed and the score was now 2-2 at 6:02 in the second period.

Having played arguably their best defense of the game, Bowling Green played both disciplined and aggressive defense in the third period. They did not commit any penalties, therefore allowing no power play chances, and Hammond saved 11 shots during the period. His lone non-save cut the Falcons the deepest.

After making 11 straight saves, Palmer took a strong shot from the top of the point. Hammond put his blocker up and padded the puck straight into the air. Gravity was not on the young freshman's side as the puck fell back to the ice, right behind the postmaster trickling ever so slowly into the back of the net. The goal was Palmer's second of the night, thirteenth of the season.

With a 3-2 lead, Miami's defense clamped down to preserve the win. Despite a late penalty on Wideman for delay of game and lifting Hammond for the final 61 seconds to give the Falcons an extra skater, Bowling Green could not mount a charge to score the game winning goal.

Hammond finished the night with 29 saves on 32 shots against. Miami's Reichard saved 24-of-26 shots on the night for his 15th win of the season.

With the win Miami clinched the CCHA regular season championship and improve to 21-4-6 overall (18-1-4-2, CCHA), extending their conference winning streak to 21 games.

Bowling Green will take their 4-21-4 (3-16-4-3, CCHA) record and prepare for the return of the RedHawks in a 5:05 p.m. Saturday afternoon home contest. Visit BGSUFalcons.com for complete coverage of the series finale.