On The Mark: Cooper Guides Falcons Past No. 18 Mavericks 3-1

Saturday, February 6

Mankato, Minn.

8:07 PM

Bowling Green State University

16-9-6, 12-5-5WCHA

Minnesota State

15-10-5, 13-4-5WCHA

Bowling Green

Minnesota State

Photo by: Craig Bell, BGSU Marketing and Communications

February 06, 2016 | Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Box score

Mankato, Minn. – Mark Cooper scored two goals and Chris Nell made 31 saves as the Bowling Green State University hockey team, ranked No. 19 in the country, went on the road to defeat No. 18 Minnesota State 3-1 Saturday night. With the win, the Falcons split the weekend and season series with the first place Mavericks.

Bowling Green bounced back from a 5-1 loss to Minnesota State Friday night and never trailed in the contest. BGSU and Minnesota State skated to a pair of 2-2 ties in the BGSU Ice Arena in December. The victory keeps Bowling Green within striking distance for a regular season conference title, just two points behind the Mavericks. Michigan Tech is also tied with BGSU after sweeping Lake Superior State over the weekend. Each of the top three teams has six remaining league games but none against each other.

"Mark knows that as a senior and a captain, he's got to step up in situations like this," BGSU Head Coach Chris Bergeron said. "And he did. As a team, we were just a little bit more desperate tonight. We competed hard last night, but we were desperate tonight."

Freshman Stephen Baylis added offensive punch for the Falcons, posting a goal and an assist, the second two-point game of his career. Nell stopped 31 of the 32 shots he saw on the evening, including all 14 in the third period. Minnesota State pulled its goalie for the final 4:37 of regulation but Nell and the Falcon defense never allowed the Mavericks to draw within a goal.

Minnesota State opened the game with a strong push and took six of the first seven shots on goal but Nell never budged early and the Falcons eventually took control. BGSU outshot the Mavericks 10-2 over the final 11 minutes of the opening period and Cooper eventually put the Falcons ahead with 1:38 to play in the opening stanza.

Mavericks goalie Cole Huggins turned a puck over to Cooper behind his net and Cooper was able to easily bring the puck into the crease and plant a shot into the empty goal. That gave the Falcons a lead heading into the second period. (CLICK HERE for the goal call)

Minnesota State would tie the game midway through the second period on a Dylan Margonari deflection on a power play midway through the second but Cooper did not let that last long. Five minutes later, with the Falcons on a power play, Cooper cleaned up a loose puck in front of the net and scored his second goal of the night. Baylis and Pierre-Luc Mercier earned assists as Cooper posted his eighth goal in 11 career games against Minnesota State. (CLICK HERE for the goal call)

The score remained 2-1 into the third as Minnesota State turned up the pressure. The Mavericks outshot Bowling Green 14-3 during the frame as the game was still in jeopardy until late. With less than five minutes to play, Matt Pohlkamp turned over Minnesota State in the neutral zone, skated up the right side and found Baylis streaking towards net. Baylis buried the shot for his fourth goal of the season to give the Falcons some breathing room. (CLICK HERE for the goal call) The Mavericks played with an empty net for the remaining 4:37 but BGSU's defense played sound, smart hockey to close out the victory.

For the game, Minnesota State outshot Bowling Green 32-24 although the Falcons held a 21-18 edge through two periods. The Mavericks were 1-for-4 on the power play and BGSU was 1-for-3 with the man advantage. Minnesota State won 44-of-77 faceoffs. Cooper generated a team-high five shots on goal, while Mitch McLain added four. The Falcons blocked 27 shots to just 11 for Minnesota State, with McLain, Tyler Spezia, Chris Pohlkamp, Baylis and Sean Walker all totaling three blocks individually.

Minnesota State drops to 15-10-5 overall and 13-4-5 in WCHA play with the loss. Bowling Green improves to 16-9-6 overall and 12-5-5 in league play with the win. The Falcons will be home for a final non-league regular season game Friday when the team hosts traditional rival Miami (Ohio) at 7:07 pm. The RedHawks beat Bowling Green 2-1 in Oxford on Jan. 16.