UAH could not break out of its slump on Saturday, falling 4-1 to Bemidji State at the Von Braun Center for its sixth straight loss.
The Chargers (3-8-1 overall, 2-7-1 WCHA) could only muster a second-period goal by Chad Brears as they stayed tied with Lake Superior State at the bottom of the WCHA standings. Bemidji State (4-6-3 overall, 3-5-2 WCHA) earned its first series sweep of the season after winning 4-1 on Wednesday.
Cory Ward scored the game’s first goal for the Beavers at 16:06 of the first.
Brears notched his fourth goal of the season at 7:04 of the second to tie the game at 1-1, assisted by Max McHugh and Brennan Saulnier, but the Beavers took the lead again just 15 seconds later on a goal by Graeme McCormack.
BSU extended its lead just 1:32 after that, as Justin Baudry scored his first collegiate goal. The Beavers scored an empty-netter by Charlie O’Connor with 56 seconds left in the third for the final score.
UAH managed only 17 shots on Bemidji goaltender Reid Mimmack, who made 16 saves. The Beavers had 26 shots on net, with 22 stopped by Charger goaltender Carmine Guerriero.
The Chargers are back in action next Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4 and 5, against Northern Michigan. Puck drop is 7:07 p.m. both nights.
Bemidji State scored three third-period goals, including two in the final minute to put the game away, to defeat UAH 4-1 on Wednesday in Huntsville.
Brandon Carlson scored his third goal of the season just 1:36 into the contest to give UAH (3-7-1 overall, 2-6-1 WCHA) the early lead, but the Chargers could not find any more offense as they lost their fifth straight game.
John Parker tied the game up at 1-1 at 7:20 of the second. Gerry Fitzgerald notched his eighth goal of the season with 7:05 remaining in the third to put Bemidji State (3-6-3 overall, 2-5-2 WCHA) up for the first time.
Graeme McCormack scored an empty netter with 43 seconds to go to seal the win for the Beavers. Nate Arentz followed with a goal with eight seconds left.
Bemidji State outshot UAH 24-20. UAH goaltender Matt Larose made 20 saves on 23 shots. Bemidji State goaltender Reid Mimmack made 19 saves.
Game two of the series is Friday night at 7:07 p.m. at the Von Braun Center.
This despite outshooting the Falcons 36-28. But UAH could not capitalize where Bowling Green could in a jagged game which saw several boarding, cross-checking, and hitting from behind penalties.
Brandon Carlson, Brandon Parker, and Brent Fletcher scored the goals for the Chargers (3-6-1 overall, 2-5-1 WCHA), who have lost four straight games heading into their holiday series with rival Bemidji State.
Bowling Green (7-3-3 overall, 4-2-2 WCHA) extended its home unbeaten streak to nine games.
Each team had its share of offensive zone time in the first period, but no goals to show for it. The Chargers had a 12-8 shots on goal advantage for the period thanks to two power plays.
UAH lost the services of its leading scorer, Brennan Saulnier, for late in the first and early in the second because of a 10-minute misconduct penalty, earned after slapping the puck in frustration after the whistle on an offsides call.
Speaking of frustration, the hitting level started to rise in the second period. Richard Buri was penalized for boarding Bowling Green leading scorer Kevin Dufour. Then Dufour was cross-checked by Cam Knight, and the Falcons took advantage of that power play as Matt Pohlkamp beat UAH goaltender Carmine Guerriero on a rising shot at 10:04 for a 1-0 BG lead.
Then it was the Chargers’ turn on the power play after Fletcher was creamed into the boards by Jakob Reichert. It didn’t take long for UAH to level the game as Carlson deflected a Max McHugh shot, trickling the puck past BG goalie Chris Nell at 11:32. It was Carlson’s second goal of the year, assisted by McHugh and Jetlan Houcher.
The minor penalties did not deter the hitting, and Bowling Green’s Mark Cooper finally was the first to be served a major as he crunched Parker from behind in the corner of the UAH zone. Cooper was also given a game misconduct with 5:28 left in the second.
On the ensuing major power play, the Chargers were able to pass the puck well, but Nell, who led the WCHA with a 1.28 goals against average coming into the game, was able to weather the storm with some big saves and covers. The second period ended with the Chargers holding a 29-17 shots on goal advantage, but with the teams tied at 1-1.
Bowling Green took control of the game in the third period with the first even-strength goal by either side in the series. Pohlkamp netted is second goal of the game on a nice centering pass from Pierre-Luc Mercier to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead at 3:26.
At 7:26 of the third, UAH’s Madison Dunn received a major checking-from-behind penalty and a game misconduct, which had to be called after Cooper’s penalties in the second period. The Falcons made them pay, with Brent Tate scoring to make it 3-1 at 8:41.
The Chargers weathered the rest of the major penalty — and another penalty for too many men on the ice. By then, UAH had yet to register a shot on goal, while Bowling Green had 10.
UAH then got its chances to stay in the game. However, the Chargers could not capitalize on a Tate roughing penalty (that occurred during a scuffle between UAH’s Buri and BG’s Pohlkamp) with 6:56 to go and Mitch McLain’s intereference penalty with 4:45 to go.
A total of 15 penalties were called in the game, eight on the Chargers for 27 minutes, and seven on the Falcons for 33 mnutes.
But then came the barrage in the final two minutes. Carlson’s second goal of the year came from the left circle with 1:24 remaining to cut the Falcons’ lead to 3-2. He was assisted by Matt Salhany.
UAH pulled Guerriero, who finished with 24 saves, for the extra attacker in the final minute, but Pierre-Luc Mercier won the draw and later took the puck to the house for an empty netter and a 4-2 Falcon lead with 26 seconds left.
UAH was still not done. Fletcher found the net after a scramble in front to make it 4-3 Bowling Green with 10.2 seconds left.
A desperation shot by UAH from its own zone in the final seconds turned into an icing call, and Bowling Green was able to secure the win.
UAH hosts Bemidji State at the Von Braun Center on Wednesday and Friday. Puck drop is 7:07 both nights.
Special teams give UAH a chance, but special teams gave this game away.
Brandon Hawkins’ goal with 2:08 left in overtime lifted 15th-ranked Bowling Green (6-3-3 overall, 3-2-2 WCHA) to a 3-2 victory over the Chargers (3-5-1 overall, 2-4-1 WCHA) on Friday night.
All five goals in the game were power play goals, but none more costly than the third PPG allowed by UAH after Josh Kestner was called for boarding in the extra session.
The Chargers did hang tough with the Falcons, who have typically dominated the series having won 13 of the last 14 meetings. Bowling Green is now 8-1-1 all-time against the Chargers at BGSU Ice Arena.
Bowling Green outshot the Chargers 28-18.
Most of the first period saw a lot of back and forth, with not many scoring chances.
Both teams ranked at the bottom of the WCHA in power play efficiency coming in, but with the offensive potential of the Falcons, Charger penalties would tempt fate.
So it happened on UAH’s second penalty — a cross-checking call by Brandon Parker — that Bowling Green would break through with the first goal. Kevin Dufour was on the spot with the rebound putback past UAH goaltender Matt Larose gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead at 10:04. It was Dufour’s seventh goal of the season.
No goals in the second period, but both teams had few more chances, as well as a few more hits.
Bowling Green had a great chance short handed as Sean Walker had a breakaway, but Larose made a huge glove save to keep it a one-goal game.
For the Chargers, there was a three-minute span where they rolled lines twice while keeping the puck on the Falcon end. UAH could not find the net as Falcon goaltender Chris Nell was able to save five shots.
UAH would make its move in early in the third period, when on a two-man advantage, Chad Brears tied the game at 1-1 at the 1:34 mark. His third goal of the season was assisted by Max McHugh and Kurt Gosselin.
Bowling Green retook the lead after a Cody Champagne cross-checking penalty, one of three cross checks called against the Chargers. Brett D’Andrea’s blast beat Larose with 13:08 left.
Keeping the power play trend, UAH tied it up after Dajon Mingo was sent to the box for kneeing. Jetland Houcher, all alone in the right circle, rifled the puck past Nell to tie the match at 2-2 with 10:34 to go. Kestner and Madison Dunn got the assists.
Larose kept the game tied with big saves throughout the rest of regulation, and Nell was also up to the task after stopping Houcher on a 2-on-1 break.
In overtime, UAH never got a shot on net. Bowling Green had three chances during the delayed boarding call, followed by Hawkins’s goal to give the Falcons the win.
Larose finished with 25 saves as he started the Friday night game for the second consecutive series. Chris Nell made 16 saves.
Game two of the series is at 6:07 p.m. Central Time.
HUNTSVILLE — Four Michigan Tech Huskies (4-3-0, 4-3-0 WCHA) scored goals on Friday night, relying on a speed advantage that kept the homestanding Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (3-3-1, 2-2-1 WCHA) scrambling to keep up at times. The visiting Huskies maintained their tie atop the WCHA standings with a 4-2 win over UAH.
If you’re a UAH fan, you loved the first ten minutes of the game. Sophomore forward Josh Kestner (Huntsville) led off scoring his second goal of the season just 1:21 into the game, feeding off of the energy of a back-in-the lineup Brent Fletcher (New Westminster, B.C.) and the freedom of moving freshman forward Hans Gorowsky (Lino Lakes, Minn.) over to left wing. Tech looked off-guard from the event.
Sophomore forward Joel L’Esperance (Brighton, Mich.) knotted the game at 1-1 just 3:14 later, taking a smart pass from sophomore Alex Gillies (Vernon, B.C.) and flashing some speed and hands to move the puck past UAH junior goaltender Matt Larose (Nanaimo, B.C.), who had little help on the play.
The struggles for UAH began after junior forward Cody Marooney (Eden Prairie, Minn.) took a slashing penalty at 10:40. The infraction, one of five called on the night, gave Tech the chance to take the lead, and they did so. Junior assistant captain and defenseman Shane Hanna (Salmon Arm, B.C.) rifled a shot towards Larose (36sv) that was tipped by senior captain and forward Alex Petan (Delta, B.C.). Junior forward Tyler Heinonen (Delano, Minn.) got the secondary assist for finding Hanna at the point.
Special teams continued to be the bane of UAH’s existence on the night. UAH would go scoreless on all five tries on the night, never getting much sustained pressure with the advantage. Worse yet, the Chargers gave up a short-handed goal at 15:14, falling behind 3-1 when junior forward Brent Baltus (Nanaimo, B.C.) broke free and pushed the puck past Larose (1-1-0).
From there, the Chargers never really recovered.
Sophomore defenseman Brandon Parker (Faribault, Minn.) finally netted his first collegiate goal. Parker appeared to just be making a long dump toward Husky senior goaltender Jamie Phillips (Caledonia, Ont.), but Phillips did not properly track the puck, which ended up in his net after 120 feet of travel. But Parker’s puckish pasty was the lone bright spot.
Negatives from the final two frames:
Anemic work from the power play, including making Larose stop more than one shorthanded attempt.
Ending their own man advantage on a bench minor for too many men. I think that this one was silly, because both teams had too many bodies on the ice for the brief second where it looked that Larose was going to leak the puck to a teammate for a press up the ice on the left-wing boards (opposite the benches). But it just goes to a core weakness for UAH over the last few years, and that’s picking up this bench minor time and again.
Fletcher’s checking-from-behind major penalty that saw him removed from the game and freshman defenseman Cam Knight (North Reading, Mass.) given a holding minor on the same infraction. I was very surprised that Messrs. Langseth and Elam took two UAH players yet no Tech player from that fracas. UAH is to be commended for a strong kill of the penalty.
Getting outshot 14-3 in the third when they needed to be giving the pressure, not receiving it. The major penalty does not completely explain the disparity.
Phillips (4-3-0, 16sv) got an assist on the final goal of the game, as sophomore forward Mason Blacklock (White Rock, B.C.) netted his second of the year at 13:59 of the 3rd. Senior forward Malcolm Gould (North Vancouver, B.C.) got the primary assist.
The questions for UAH on Saturday are these:
How poorly will the game be attended opposite BAMA-LSU?
Who starts for UAH? Larose had some strong stretches, and he did stop 36/40, but the fact of the matter is that he gave up four or more goals in all but two of his starts last year (at Air Force on November 8th and at Bowling Green on March 7th). Saturday’s shutout against Lake Superior was fun to see, and it was an exemplar of the goalie that he can be. But which is the real Larose: tonight or last weekend? One figures that a non-dominant performance from the big man opens the door for junior goaltender Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, Qué.) to get a start.
It’s hard to know, though, what’s in the minds of either of those two men or, for that matter, the coaches’ minds. It’s still too early to call this a goalie controversy — maybe it would’ve been one if Larose had been dominant tonight. That I’m even writing about this surprises me, because 1) peak Carmine is a sight to behold 2) I always thought that it was going to be Larose to pull away, not Carmine 3) c’mon, really, this felt settled. But it’s here.
Who shuffles in and out of the lineup? Will Mike Corbett try to slow the pace down or simply tighten his system up? It feels to me that he had the right 21 guys dressed tonight.
Here’s a final note: what is with goaltending in the WCHA this year? It’s early, small sample sizes, etc., but:
WCHA had five goalies in the top 20 in the nation by GAA in 2014-15: MSU’s Stephon Williams (#2, 1.65), MTU’s Phillips (3, 1.74), BSU’s Michael Bitzer (4, 1.80), UAF’s Sean Cahill (8, 1.98), and CJ Motte (18, 2.07).
Through tonight (with NMU-UAF ongoing and UAF up 3-1): Chris Nell at BGSU is 3rd at 1.09, and Atte Tolvanen came into tonight at 1.99, a total that will rise. Past that it’s freshman Darren Smith at Ferris State at 2.40 (even after giving up four goals tonight).
You have to get to Bitzer at 2.55 and Phillips at 2.56 to get to guys that are full-time starters. That’s a big, big drop. Could it be better scoring in the WCHA? Phillips’s mark actually came down tonight.
All of this occurred to me when I saw a 7-4 box score come out of Big Rapids. The Bulldogs scored just four goals against Mankato last year, dropping 2-1, 3-1, 5-1, and 5-1 results in the span of fifteen days in January.
It’s something to watch. Back at you tomorrow night.
UAH defeated the Alabama Hockey Club 11-1 on Saturday in an exhibition game at the Wilcoxon Ice Complex.
The Chargers led 2-1 after the first period, but rolled with five goals in the second and four in the third. Cody Marooney and Brent Fletcher each scored twice for the Chargers. Other UAH scorers were Tyler Poulser, Josh Kestner, Jack Prince, Jetlan Houcher, John Teets, Hans Gorowsky, and Adam Wilcox, who led all players with five points.
Matt Larose started in goal for UAH, allowing the one goal on six shots in almost 31 minutes. Jordan Uhelski played the final 29 minutes, but saw no shots on net.
Alabama’s Tommy Condon made 47 saves in 47 minutes of action. Andre Morard, son of former Charger Gus Morard during UAH’s first club years, scored the Frozen Tide’s lone goal with four seconds left in the first period.
UAH (1-1-0) will host Alaska Anchorage next weekend at the VBC to open WCHA play. Game time is 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
HUNTSVILLE — The homestanding UAH Chargers (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) rebounded from a tough game on Friday to win going away on Saturday, again potting two first-period goals but equaling that total in the final frame for a 5-2 win over the visiting Connecticut Huskies (1-1-0, 0-0-0 Hockey East). (Box score)
The Huskies got an early lead when freshman forward Hans Gorowsky (Lino Lakes, Minn.) hauled down sophomore forward Corey Ronan (Franklin, Mass.) on a breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot that Ronan rang in off of the left post.
The Chargers soon responded. Brears would knot the game at 1-1 just 67 seconds later off of a feed from sophomore defenseman Richard Buri (Nitra, Slovakia). Husky freshman defenseman Miles Gendron (Shrewsbury, Mass.) would push the visitors back up 2-1 with his first collegiate goal just 1:55 after that. Then the Chargers returned the favor :25 later with Saulnier’s first marker of the night (Brears, McHugh). All four goals were scored in 4:27.
After a period of out-shooting the Huskies 15-10, the Chargers returned more to recent form, suffering a deficit of 12-5 in the middle frame. McHugh would score on the power play, though, pushing UAH to the lead with just 2:36 left in the 2nd right after senior defenseman Kyle Huson‘s (Parker, Colo.) penalty expired to bring the Huskies back to four defenders.
The Chargers poured it on in the third, adding Saulnier’s second marker from an assist by senior defenseman Frank Misuraca (Clinton Township, Mich.) at 6:10. Gorowsky added an insurance marker on the penalty kill, taking a feed from junior forward Regan Soquila (Maple Ridge, B.C.), who had intercepted a poor outlet pass into neutral ice. Soquila nearly ended his goalless streak just a shift later, sending a puck just wide of Husky sophomore goaltender Steve Thulin (North Reading, Mass.).
Junior goaltender Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, Qué.) made 29 saves in the win, moving up to 1-1-0 and raising his save percentage to .908 and lowering his GAA to 3.01. Thulin, seeing his first collegiate action, made 24 saves.
UAH plays an exhibition next weekend against the University of Alabama’s club team before starting the WCHA season at home the next weekend against Alaska-Anchorage. The exhibition is at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday the 17th, while the varsity games on the 23rd and 24th drop the puck at 7:07 p.m.
HUNTSVILLE — The homestanding UAH Chargers (0-1-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) started out fast and faded away at the end, as freshman forward Max Letunov (Moscow) scored a natural hat trick to power the visiting Connecticut Huskies (1-0-0, 0-0-0 Hockey East) to a 5-2 win in front of 2,193 at Propst Arena. (Box Score)
The Chargers stumbled out of the gate, giving up a first-minute goal when sophomore David Drake (Naperville, Ill.) fished a puck out of a wall scrum and found a wide-open Patrick Kirtland right in the middle of the slot. The senior captain from Rocky Hill, Conn. took one stride to his left and ripped one past UAH junior goaltender Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, Qué., 30sv).
The boys in white (and lots more blue!) would even the score at 7:16 of the first when sophomore forward Brennan Saulnier (Halifax, Nova Scotia) would pick up a breakout pass in the right-wing circle, make a move, and rifle one past Husky junior goaltender Rob Nichols (Dallas). The marker perked up the crowd and the team, which was noticeably flat to start.
Sophomore forward Max McHugh (Seattle) and senior forward Chad Brears (Cold Lake, Alberta) picked up where they left off in 2014-15. Brears rifled a puck from the top of the right-wing circle looking for McHugh’s stick, and the Chargers’ scoring leader from last season tipped the puck high past Nichols to bury it and put the Chargers up 2-1 going into the first intermission.
From there, though, the Chargers faded. UAH coach Mike Corbett summed it up well, saying, “We ran out of gas a little at the end, and that’s disappointing. The ice was bad, but that affected both teams. We turned pucks over, and that killed us — and really, it was just us not being hard on pucks and taking it to them. That led us to chasing the puck a lot, and that definitely hurt us.”
Chase they did, but they couldn’t quite catch up to Letunov, a highly-regarded prospect drafted in the 2nd round by St. Louis in 2014. Corbett noted the Chargers’ inability to shut the Huskies’ top scoring line down. “He’s a good player. That was the line with him and Naas on there. Naas is their returning leading scorer, and that’s the line that we wanted to put some guys out there against. I wouldn’t say that they beat us — they were opportunistic and made their chances.”
The Chargers did not manage a shot on goal in the third period.
UAH will get a chance to rotate in talent on Saturday night that watched from the stands on Friday. Corbett looks forward to making the changes. “We want to keep our legs. The good thing about us is that we’ve got numbers. We’ve got a guy like (Regan) Soquila and someone like Willie (Adam Wilcox) ready to come in and play.”
The Chargers face the Huskies on Saturday night at 7:07 p.m at Propst Arena. The first 500 fans receive a Charger trading card set. The game will be available online for pay-per-view at WCHA.tv.
This will be remembered forever by Charger fans as a classic. It’s a classic example of how far the Chargers have come this season, but also a classic playoff heartbreak.
Tyler Heinonen’s goal with 1:11 left in the third overtime lifted Michigan Tech to a 1-0 victory on Friday, taking game one of this best-of-3 WCHA quarterfinal series.
It’s hard to believe that back in late January, the Chargers were blown out of the John D. MacInnes Student Ice Center by scores of 5-0 and 11-1. But thanks to the historic effort by UAH goaltender Carmine Guerriero, the Chargers (8-25-4) were even with the fourth-ranked Huskies (27-8-2).
Guerriero made a 76 saves, an all-time record for UAH and the WCHA. They happened in a game that lasted 118:49, which is the longest game in both UAH’s and Michigan Tech’s histories, the second-longest in WCHA history, and the seventh-longest in NCAA history.
Game two is Saturday night at 6:07 p.m., and that won’t seem like a long time to rest for the Chargers after playing the equivalent of two games in one, especially since most of the action was in their end. Michigan Tech finished with a 77-32 shots on goal advantage, controlling possession right from the start.
But that did not mean the Chargers didn’t have scoring opportunities. Despite being credited with only three shots on goal in the first period, the Chargers may have put more pressure on the Huskies than in either of the two regular-season games in Houghton.
Michigan Tech was able to notch 11 shots on goal in the first, and had what amounted to an extended power play to help.
Richard Buri was called for holding when he took down MTU’s Reid Sturos with 6:15 left, and after UAH killed the ensuing power play, Buri iced the puck coming out of the box. That forced the Chargers to keep their penalty killers on the ice, and it took another minute for Guerriero to cover the puck and allow UAH to make a change. In that minute, Guerriero had to make three more saves.
Still, UAH kept the Huskies off the board, the first shutout period for the Chargers against the Huskies in six.
Michigan Tech kept pouring it on in the second period, but Guerriero was up to the task. He denied Joel L’Esperance on a partial break, and had to make several body saves and cover ups as the Huskies had three power play opportunities.
On on power play chance of the second period for Tech with 5:35 to go, the puck went by Guerriero as he tried to cover up, but a quick whistle led to the goal being immediately waved off. Guerriero then made a body save on Shane Hanna and had to pounce on another puck in the crease to keep the game scoreless.
UAH finished off another penalty kill to start the third period, and Guerriero continued to make saves. One was very close to being not, however, as a Tanner Kero drive went five-hole on Guerriero, and the puck trickled through the crease and wide of the net by about two inches with about 13 minutes left in regulation.
With 9:22 left in the third, the Chargers finally got their power play after Shane Hanna is called for high sticking. Then with 8:00 left, Matt Roy cross-checked Brennan Saulnier to the right of the Husky net, giving UAH a two-man advantage for 38 seconds.
Jack Prince’s chance from the slot was stopped by MTU goalie Jamie Phillips, who scrambled to cover as he finally started getting some work. Phillips made five saves during the 3:22 of UAH power play time, keeping the Chargers off the board.
UAH, which was outshot 28-6 in the first two period, outshot MTU 7-6 in the third as the teams finished scoreless in regulation.
In the first overtime, UAH had to kill off more Husky power play time. First, Brandon Parker was called for roughing with 10:23 left, but no goal.
But the biggest hit was by Brennan Saulnier, who crushed Tech’s Alex Petan in the UAH corner with 3:02 left in overtime. Petan was down for a few minutes but was able to leave the ice. Saulnier was given a five-minute checking from behind and a game misconduct, and with his third game misconduct will be disqualified for Saturday’s Game 2 and may get more discipline from the WCHA.
The Huskies had a couple of great chances during the power play near the end of the first overtime. Tanner Kero somehow got a shot of while being hampered in the slot, but Guerriero was able to get a blocker on it. Then, Joel L’Esperance, who had been denied by Guerriero on a couple of breakaways during the game already, was stopped again at the doorstep.
UAH killed the remaining 1:58 of the MTU major power play to keep going. Guerriero kept seeing rubber and keeping out of the net, including a Blake Pietila’s blast that stunned him in his upper left arm. He eventually broke UAH’s all-time single saves record of 62, which was set by Barry Friedman against Geneseo State in 1986.
The Chargers had a power play chance of their own with 6:17 left in the second overtime after a high stick by Mike Neville, but UAH could do nothing with it.
With 4:41 left in the second overtime, the game became the longest in UAH history, surpassing the 2007 NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal against Notre Dame, which UAH lost 3-2.
UAH had two power play chances in the third overtime, including a 4-on-3 situation, but despite jabs by Brandon Parker and Max McHugh, the Chargers could not score.
Then came Heinonsen’s game-winner on Michigan Tech’s 77th shot. He beat Guerriero high on a rebound, sending euphoria to the Husky faithful.
Phillips got the shutout with 32 saves.
Game two can be seen at WCHA.tv for a subscription fee, or free at the World of Wings at Charger Union. It can also be heard on Pasty.net.
UAH still got its spot in the WCHA playoffs with help later in the night, but there is no reason to celebrate after the Chargers’ performance against Bowling Green.
UAH (8-23-4 overall, 7-19-1 WCHA) was blown out 7-2 by the 13th-ranked Falcons in Ohio for its fifth straight loss. The Chargers allowed the second-most goals in a game this season and was outshot 37-19.
Matt Larose, who came into the game in relief, makes a stop on Bowling Green’s Mitchell McLain. (Photo by Todd Pavlack/BGSUHockey.com)
Max McHugh scored two goals for the second straight game for the Chargers, both coming on a third-period power play well after the game was at hand. He now has 12 on the season.
The Chargers clinched a playoff spot when Alaska-Anchorage lost to Alaska 1-0 late Friday night. Tied with Lake Superior State with 15 points, UAH is still the No. 7 seed, which they can retain with a win over Bowling Green, a LSSU loss to Ferris State, or if both UAH and LSSU tie their games in the regular season’s final day Saturday. Otherwise, UAH will be the No. 8 seed.
Bowling Green (20-10-5 overall, 16-8-3 WCHA), which is locked into the third seed for the WCHA playoffs, needed the victory to stay on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and they had the game under control from start to finish.
The Chargers were on their heels right from the opening face-off. The Falcons flurried around the net, and Mark Cooper fired a rebound shot through traffic from the right circle to score just 55 seconds into the game.
It took a few minutes for UAH to compose themselves offensively, and the Chargers were able to get in a few scoring chances. Josh Kestner was denied on a breakaway by Bowling Green goaltender Tommy Burke, who followed up and covered on Matt Salhany’s rebound shot.
The Falcons extended the lead to 2-0 on the power play. Kestner was called on a questionable trip, and Bowling Green fired away. The puck trickled trough Carmine Guerriero’s pads off the stick of Cooper, who notched his second goal of the game with 7:46 left in the first.
UAH had a power play chance continue into the start of the second, but right after it expired, Dan DeSalvo got the puck right out of the penalty box, breaking away and beating Guerriero as Bowling Green took a 3-0 lead at 1:09.
Over three minutes later, the Falcons crashed the net shorthanded, and Brandon Carlson covered the puck in the crease. That led to a Bowling Green penalty shot, which Brandon Hawkins coverted to make it 4-0.
Brent Fletcher has the puck while pursued by BG’s Mark Friedman. (Photo by Todd Pavlack/BGSUHockey.com)
That ended the night for Guerriero, who was replaced by Matt Larose after making 19 saves and allowed four goals.
Sean Walker scored Bowling Green’s fifth goal on a rush down the left side, getting around Frank Misuraca and beating Matt Larose at 2:25 of the third.
Hawkins scored his second goal of the game, and Pierre-Luc Mercier added another in a span of 49 seconds, and it was 7-0 within the first five minutes of the final frame.
Bowling Green’s Adam Berkle hip-checked Brennan Saulnier, who fell into the boards with 7:09 remaining. Saulnier was slow to get up, but was able to skate off the ice on his own power.
Berkle got a five-minute interference penalty, and the bench got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, giving UAH a major power play with two minutes of two-man advantage. McHugh got a goal on each power play as UAH avoided the shutout. Chad Brears got assists on both goals, and Brandon Parker got his 14th helper on McHugh’s second goal.
Burke stopped 17 of 19 shots. Larose finished with 11 saves on 14 shots in the final 35-plus minutes.
The Falcons have outscored the Chargers 16-3 in three meetings this season.
Editor’s note: Recap updated with UAH clinching a playoff spot following Alaska-Anchorage’s loss.
