Offensive Struggles Continue in Series Finale at Notre Dame

Saturday, February 12

South Bend, Ind.

7:05 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Notre Dame

February 12, 2011 | Ice Hockey

Bowling Green fell short of salvaging the split with Notre Dame, falling 5-1 on Saturday night.

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Looking for momentum after a well-played loss the night before, Bowling Green entered the Joyce Arena Field House to even the weekend series with the No. 10/10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Luck did not side with the Falcons Saturday evening after a steady dose of Irish shots and goals, Bowling Green was unable to find an offensive rhythm and fell to the Irish, 5-1, completing the weekend sweep.

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The Falcons fell behind early becoming the victim of their own aggressive play while a man down. Following a slashing penalty called on freshman Brett Mohler (Yorba Linda, Calif.) Irish forward Billy Maday tried to send a pass through the slot to find a teammate. Senior captain David Solway (Green Bay, Wisc.) dove and deflected the puck with his stick but the puck took an unfortunate bounce right back to Maday on the near post. With Falcon goaltender Nick Eno (Howell, Mich.) leaning toward where the puck had been progressing before the deflection, Maday had an easy putback to give Notre Dame the early 1-0 lead. The goal was scored at 7:59 of the first period with assists going to Anders Lee (17) and T.J. Tynan (23). The goal was Maday's sixth of the season.

Notre Dame added to their lead with a snipe from Jeff Costello from around the edge of the near-side faceoff circle at 3:50 of the second period. Irish captain Joe Lavin fed Costello a pass through the slot and Costello went top-shelf on Eno for Notre Dame's second goal, again scored on the power play. Assists were awarded to Lavin (8) and Ryan Guentzel (25).

Bowling Green chipped into the deficit when Cameron Sinclair (Windsor, Ontario) scored his second goal of the season to make it a 2-1 score, at the time. At 5:41 of the second period, Camden Wojtala (Trenton, Mich.) sent a crisp pass through the slot and found his linemate camped out by the near post ready for a one-timer that sank the back of the net for his second goal of the season. For Wojtala, it was his ninth assist on the year.

The hosting Irish then rattled off three unanswered goals to finish out the contest, beginning just minutes after Sinclair's marker. At 9:56 of the second period, Billy Maday scored his second goal of the game, seventh of the season. Maday had made his home the UND penalty box for the previous two minutes after a high sticking call against him. The second he was released, he slipped behind the Bowling Green defense and receive a pass up the ice from Joe Lavin, turning it into a one-on-none chance on the other end. With a move and well placed shot, Maday gave the Irish a two goal lead at 9:56 of the second period.

Freshman T.J. Tynan and Jared Beers both scored the final two markers for Notre Dame, each coming within the first five minutes of the last frame. Tynan notched his 19th goal of the season just 24 seconds into the third period when knocked off his mark, he got just enough of the puck for it to squander into the BGSU cage. Beers scored his first goal of the season when a shot taken from beyond the far circle rang off of Eno's pad but skipped up and over his pillow to fall into the Falcon cage. Beers' goal gave the Irish a 5-1 advantage, a score that would stay true until the sounding of the final horn.

The Falcons were outshot for the ninth straight game, tonight by a margin of 35-14. Eno made 29-of-35 stops while UND goaltender Steven Summerhays made 13-of-14 saves. Following a night where Bowling Green kept penalties to a minimum, they committed nine for 18 minutes on Saturday night, surrendering two power-play goals on eight chances for the Fighting Irish. Bowling Green, conversely, went 0-for-6 on their own power play, registering four shots on goal in 11:05 of power play time.

Bowling Green (8-21-3, 3-19-3-1) return to the friendly confines of the BGSU Ice Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio) for their final home series of the year. They will host the Northern Michigan Wildcats for their second matchup of the season. The series begins this Friday, Feb. 18, with a 7:05 p.m. ET puck drop. Saturday's game is also “Senior Day”, where the four members of the 2011 senior class will be honored before the beginning of the game. Pregame ceremonies will begin within 15 minutes of the 7:05 p.m. first draw.

Full coverage of Falcon hockey and all 18 varsity sports can be found on the official online home of BGSU athletics, www.BGSUFalcons.com. Be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook by searching “BG Warriors” or follow them on Twitter through www.twitter.com/WEAREBGHOCKEY.