Quick Start Lifts Bowling Green To Home Win Over Bulldogs In Weekend Opener

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team dropped a 4-1 decision to the Bowling Green Falcons on Friday (Nov. 4) night as the two Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) foes opened a weekend set at the BGSU Ice Arena in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Ferris State freshman Dominic Lutz notched his first collegiate goal for the Bulldogs' only score of the night in the first period and sophomore goaltender Darren Smith made 30 saves in the setback for FSU.

Bowling Green struck first only 4:51 into the league tilt when Tyler Spezia tallied his first goal of the campaign off assists from Alec Rauhauser and Sean Walker.

The Falcons then increased the lead to two goals when Matt Pohlkamp scored on the power play for his fourth goal this season less than two minutes later at 6:37 of the first. Mitch McLain and Kevin Dufour both earned their fifth assists this season on the second goal.

The Bulldogs trimmed the advantage back to a single goal at 12:50 of the first when Lutz scored for the first time in his career with a power-play shot. It was assisted by fellow freshmen Jason Tackett and Joe Rutkowski.

However, BGSU answered quickly as Rauhauser recorded his second point of the night with an even-strength lamplighter at 13:12 of the first frame. Spezia also picked up his second point of the game with the assist as the Falcons took a 3-1 lead following the opening period.

The lone goal of the second period was scored by McLain, who registered his third goal of the year, on the power play 17:45 into the middle period. Pohlkamp and Rauhauser both picked up their third assists this season while helping give Bowling Green a 4-1 lead following two periods of action.

From there, the score stood as neither team could find the net in the final 20 minutes of action.

Bowling Green outshot FSU 34-15 for the evening, which included 13 shots in each of the final two periods of play. The Bulldogs steadily increased their shots each period with four in the first, five in the second and six in the third. 

Smith suffered the loss in net for the Bulldogs despite his 30-save effort between the pipes. He played all 60 minutes for FSU in the decision.

Meanwhile, Chris Nell earned the win for the Falcons with 14 saves overall, including six in the final period.

BGSU went two-of-five with the man-advantage in the contest as FSU was called for five penalties totaling 10 minutes. The Bulldogs went one-of-six on the power play as Bowling Green was called for six infractions for 12 minutes.

The two teams will wrap up the WCHA weekend series on Saturday (Nov. 5) night with the puck drop set for 7:07 p.m. (ET) at the BGSU Ice Arena.