Friday, January 21, 2000
by Dan Nied
But maybe not in this case.
Sure, fighting back from a two-goal deficit and winning the game in the last five minutes is exhilarating and exciting, but it gives one pause when it has to come against Division I rookie Alabama-Huntsville.
But that's the way it was for Bowling Green last night, a 4-3 home victory over the Chargers. Storming back after trailing 2-0 midway through the second period, and then taking control in the third with two goals in the last five minutes to secure a win over the Chargers, a College Hockey America member.
The effort was called "lackluster" by some Falcons, a "wake-up call by others".
"Yeah, this game was kind of a wake-up call," said Bowling Green forward Tyler Knight, who scored the first Falcon goal of the night. "It seems like we've had too many wake-up calls this season."
Knight has a point. His team improves to a less-than-stunning 8-13-0, and knock the Chargers down to 9-5-4.
Playing against a transitioning Division II team -- even a perennial D-II power like the Chargers -- wouldn't have put fear into Falcon fans, but that sure-fire win turned into a nailbiter with the Falcons' sluggish play in the first period, some miscommunications with coach Buddy Powers' new line combinations, and a Charger team that played better than anyone in the building expected.
The first period ended with UAH grasping a 1-0 lead on Ryan McCormack's power-play goal at 7:48. McCormack's shot trickled through BG goalie Tyler Masters' pads and crossed the goal line.
The Chargers expanded their lead by one when Darren Curry one-timed a Nathan Bowen pass for his sixth goal of the season. After the goal, Bowling Green started to pick up the pace a bit, but was snagged by the penalty bug for the rest of the second.
Nevertheless, Knight got his tally on a BG power play when defenseman Marc Barlow slipped a pass to Knight across the ice and the freshman one-timed from the left faceoff circle, beating Charger goalie Steve Briere.
In the third period, it looked as if the Falcons had had enough of the scrappy Chargers, picking up their play and dominating much of the last stanza. BG center Adam Edinger got his fifth goal of the season when he poked a loose puck through Briere to tie the game at two early in the third.
However, UAH found another spark and made a bid for the upset with Jessi Otis' goal with less than six minutes left in the game.
Then the character building part kicked into gear for the Falcons. Freshman Ryan Fultz tied the game at three two minutes later. He took a Greg Day rebound and slammed it into the open net before Briere could recover.
Thirty seconds later, Edinger put the game away with his second goal of the night. Edinger found himself in front of the net with the puck, and backhanded it over Briere's left shoulder just under the right elbow of the goal.
Masters made sure the lead held up, withstanding a UAH deluge of shots in the last minute of play, including an acrobatic glove save with less than 20 seconds left in the game.
"That was a major league save for Tyler," Powers said.
The teams will rematch Saturday night at 7:35 in the BGSU Ice Arena.
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