Hockey Point in Time: Falcons Sweep BU for First Top-5 National Ranking

The Bowling Green State University Athletics Department is celebrating 50 years of the BGSU Ice Arena this season, culminating on Feb. 11, 2017 to honor the 50th anniversary of the arena's grand opening on Feb. 25, 1967. The Falcons will host Mercyhurst on that date, in what will be the team's final non-conference game of the 2016-17 season.

Leading up to the anniversary, BGSU Athletics is taking a look back at some of the great moments in BGSU Ice Arena history. For this week's edition, we look back at Bowling Green's first foray into the top five of the national rankings, thanks to a sweep of the powerful Boston University Terriers on Nov. 19-20, 1976.

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Original BG News Article

The Bowling Green State University hockey team began the 1976-77 season with five consecutive wins and had the opportunity to earn the program's first-ever 7-0 start on the weekend of Nov. 19-20, 1976.

The Falcons hosted national power Boston University on those two nights. The Terriers had won national championships in 1971 and 1972, and they were a national semifinalist in the 1975-76 season. When they arrived at the BGSU Ice Arena, BU was ranked in the top ten nationally.

Playing in front of raucous standing-room only crowds, Bowling Green swept Boston University by a pair of 4-2 scores. Those victories vaulted the Falcons to that 7-0 record, and when the new national rankings were released on Nov. 22, BGSU was third in the media poll and fourth in the coaches poll. The Falcons had never previously been ranked so high.

The Friday night affair was deadlocked 2-2 after two periods, thanks in large part to goaltender Al Sarachman, who made several key saves after BU spent much of those periods in BGSU's defensive zone. Sarachman ended the game with 36 saves.

BGSU captured momentum, and ultimately the game, after a between-periods pep talk from head coach Ron Mason. Mike Hartman earned the game-winner just 1:55 into the third when he ripped a blueline shot past Brian Durocher. Hartman scored 18 times that season. The Falcons' defense held for the remainder of the period, until John Markell scored his second goal of the game with 1:21 left on the clock.

Bowling Green fell behind early in the Saturday contest when they gave up a power-play score, but the deficit did not last long. Markell scored his third goal of the weekend at the 16:45 mark of the first after digging out the puck from behind Boston University's net. Hartman followed at 17:39 with a power play goal, and BGSU led 2-1 after 20 minutes.

Hartman lit the lamp again just 4:07 into the second for the game-winner, when he nudged the puck past Durocher from the crease. The Terriers cut BGSU's lead in half with five minutes to play, but the Falcons took advantage of an empty net to clinch the game with 62 seconds left. John Mavity cleared the puck from Bowling Green's defensive end, and it found its way home for the final score.

Mike Liut started in goal on Saturday for the Falcons and earned one of his 18 victories in 1976-77.

The sweep of the Terriers ultimately led BGSU to, at the time, the best season in program history. The Falcons finished 28-11-0 and finished second (10-6) in the CCHA. In the playoffs, BGSU swept Ohio State in the CCHA semi-finals, then beat St. Louis 5-4 in total goals over a split two games to win their first league championship. That title gave the Falcons their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

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