For a good chunk of the game, the Chargers played better than a 1-11 team against the 12th-ranked team in the country, but two power play goals early in the third period lifted Bowling Green to a 6-2 win over UAH at the Von Braun Center on Saturday.

UAH (1-12-0 overall, 1-6-0 WCHA) hung with the Falcons (9-3-2, 4-2-1) in shots on goal (30-28 BGSU) and shot attempts (53-48 BGSU), but Bowling Green was able to get the better of the Charger penalty kill, which came into the game rated sixth in Division I. The Falcons were 2-for-4 with the advantage.

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It wasn’t a typical good night, either, for UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair, who made 23 saves and allowed six goals. Falcon netminder Ryan Bednard made 26 saves in the win.

The Falcons scored first on a sloppy line change by UAH, which resulted on a two-on-none break. Sam Craggs had the finisher at the 6:40 mark of the first period.

The Chargers tied the game on the power play. Jack Jeffers’ pass from the right side across the slot found an open Christian Rajic, who buried it for a 1-1 game with 2:41 left in the first. It was Rajic’s first goal of the season, assisted by Jeffers and Cam Knight.

Bowling Green regained the lead at 2-1 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the second, when Adam Smith’s shot from the point made it past Sinclair through a screen. It was 3-1 Falcons with 7:40 left in the period when Lukas Craggs scored on a wraparound.

UAH didn’t break then, and cut the deficit to 3-2 on Ben Allen’s first collegiate goal. The Texas native scored from the slot after taking a centering pass from Rajic with 6:16 left in the second.

Bowling Green pulled away with two power play goals early in the third period. After Bailey Newton was called for holding, Max Johnson capitalized to make it 4-2 at the 3:46 mark. Then Cameron Wright put in a rebound off the pipe at 6:13 following a Connor James high-sticking penalty.

Lukas Craggs added a goal with 3;13 remaining for the final 6-2 count.

The series finale is Sunday at 3:07 p.m. at the VBC.

The Chargers finally get their first victory of the season. And Mark Sinclair finally gets the first win of his collegiate career.

Sinclair was phenomenal, making 44 saves in UAH’s 3-1 win over Alaska in Fairbanks on Friday.

UAH improved to 1-10-0 overall and 1-4-0 in the WCHA. Sinclair, a sophomore, was playing well this season but came into tonight with an 0-12-0 record at UAH.

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Alaska dropped to 1-8-2 overall and 1-3-1 in WCHA play. The Chargers and Nanooks play again Saturday night at 10:07 p.m. CST at the Carlson Center.

UAH also got enough offense when they urgently needed it.

The Chargers took an early 1-0 lead when Jack Jeffers scored from the slot as a puck bounced off the back boards right to him all alone. It was Jeffers’ third goal of the season, assisted by Jesper Ohrvall and Christian Rajic, at the 4:35 mark.

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It was only the second lead of the season for the Chargers, but it didn’t last long. Just over 10 minutes later, Alaska tied it up as Tristan Thompson’s shot from the left point deflecting off of Kylar Hope’s skate in the slot. The deflection plus the screen tied up Sinclair, which is what it took to score against him Friday.

Despite the 1-1 score after the first period, it was the Nanooks who had the majority of chances, outshooting the Chargers 14-2.

The Chargers were more aggressive offensively in the second period, and they regained the lead at 2-1 with 8:37 left.

After winning the faceoff in the defensive zone, the Chargers put together an offensive rush. Connor Merkley from the slot passed to Bauer Neudecker in the right circle, and Neudecker threaded the needle between the crossbar and Alaska goaltender Anton Martinsson for his first collegiate goal and point.

Merkley and John Teets, a Fairbanks native, notched his second assist of the season.

UAH extended its lead to 3-1 at 1:25 of the third period. Austin Beaulieu, tied up in the right corner of the offensive zone, backhanded the puck to the slot, where Madison Dunn received it all alone. Dunn beat Martinsson five-hole for his second goal of the season.

The rest was up to Sinclair, who withstood everything the Nanooks could throw at him. Twenty of his 44 saves came in the third period, from deflecting Chris Jandric’s shot from the left side off the post, to stopping Kylar Hope’s breakaway.

Martinsson finished with 17 saves for UAF.

Header file photo by Doug Eagan/UAH Athletics

The Chargers played a stronger game in the series finale with Michigan Tech, but their first victory eluded them again as their scoring woes continued.

Michigan Tech defeated UAH 4-1 Saturday at the Von Braun Center, dropping the Chargers to 0-10-0 overall on the season and 0-4-0 in WCHA play.

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The Chargers will get an off week after starting the season with five straight series. Their next action is against Alaska, also currently winless at 0-7-1, in Fairbanks on Nov. 16-17.

The Huskies improved to 3-3-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the WCHA. They didn’t dominate possession like they did in their 2-1 win on Friday, outshooting the Chargers by a slimmer margin at 29-23.

However, the Chargers mustered only one late goal, and have only scored nine goals in their 10 games.

The first period was relatively quiet, with the closest either team came to scoring was during the Michigan Tech power play. UAH goalie Mark Sinclair lost sight of the puck after a shot sent it into the air. A Husky had poked the puck past Sinclair, but a referee, having also lost sight of the puck, blew the whistle to end play beforehand.

Michigan Tech scored the first goal 47 seconds into the second period. Jake Lucchini made a drop pass to Keegan Ford, who blasted the puck from the right point, beating Sinclair high stick side.

After Connor Merkley was called for a delay of game penalty for a faceoff violation, the Huskies struck again. Lucchini found the net from the left side for a 2-0 Tech lead with 12:33 left in the second.

The Chargers had a strong power play following, with three shots on goal, but Tech goaltender Matt Jurusik was there to stop them all.

Jurusik was also there to stop Madison Dunn’s shot on a two-on-none shorthanded opportunity to keep UAH off the board.

The Huskies started the third period with a power play after a Christian Rajic slashing penalty with one second left in the second, and they used it to make it 3-0. Sinclair couldn’t stop Grayson Reitmeier’s deflection in the slot of a Seamus Donohue shot up the middle.

UAH avoided the shutout with 5:53 remaining on just its second power play goal of the season. Hans Gorowsky found Madison Dunn from the right circle to the right doorstep of Jurusik, and Dunn buried it for his first goal of the season. John Teets also netted his first assist.

It was just the second power play goal of the season for UAH in 40 opportunities.

Lucchini scored an empty net goal with 12 seconds to go after Sinclair (25 saves) was pulled for one final push.

The Chargers played perhaps their best back-to-back periods of hockey Friday night but they came up short in a 4-3 loss to Lake Superior State.

In the WCHA opener for both teams, UAH falls to 0-7 overall, 0-1 in league play ; the Lakers improve to 3-0, 1-0.

“The last two periods, we did a good job,” said UAH head coach Mike Corbett. “We can be proud of the effort.”

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The Lakers took a 1-0 lead in the first period while firing 19 shots on goal; UAH had just four shots.

The Chargers came out quicker in the second period, beating the Lakers to the puck on several occasions and the hard work paid off when Tyr Thompson scored at the 3:45 mark.

“We started to win the battles and went on the offensive,” Corbett said.

UAH was on the power play when Kurt Gosselin fired a shot from just inside the blue line. Lakers’ goalie Nick Kossoff made the initial save but Thompson put the puck in the net to tie the score. It was the first goal of Thompson’s UAH career.

“It was sort of a garbage goal,” he said. “It was a good shot by Goose {Gosselin) at the point.

“I picked up the garbage and put it in.”

The second period ended with the score tied at 1-1, setting up a wild third period.

The momentum seemed to swing back to the Lakers in the early going of the third period when they reclaimed the lead on Collin Saccoman’s goal with 4:22 gone in the period. With both teams skating 4-on-4, Anthony Nellis scored with 7:24 showing on the clock for a 3-1 Lake Superior State lead.

But UAH’s Brandon Salerno cut the lead to one when he scored at 15:25 of the period, giving new life to the Chargers.

As the clock wound down, Corbett pulled goaltender Mark Sinclair to give the Chargers an extra skater;

UAH initially put pressure on the Lakers’ defense and Kossoff but Lake State got breathing room when Alexandro Ambrosio scored an empty-net goal for a 4-2 lead with 1:21 showing on the clock.

The Chargers, though, didn’t let the setback affect them.

“The guys battled hard,” Gosselin said.

And the battling paid off when Connor James scored with 22 seconds left to cut the Lakers’ lead to 4-3.

But that would be as close as the Chargers would get, despite several scrambles in the Lakers’ end.

“We battled through adversity,” Corbett said. “We battled to the end.”

The two teams return to action Saturday night with faceoff set for 7:07.

“We’re hungry for the win,” Gosselin said.

Arizona State used a three-goal spurt late in the first period to defeat UAH 5-1 on Saturday and sweep the series between Division I hockey’s Sun Belt teams.

UAH (0-6-0) will still be searching for answers to its struggling offense next weekend at home against Lake Superior State, the first series of WCHA play. The Chargers have scored only three goals through the first six games of the season.

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Arizona State improved to 4-2-0.

Things went awry for the Chargers late in the first period. It started with a power play goal by Tyler Busch, who snuck the puck past Jake Theut from inside the right circle with 1:32 remaining for a 1-0 ASU lead.

Then a deflection by Jake Clifford caused a big bounce that seemed to hogtie Theut and find the back of the net with 55 seconds to go.

Austin Lemieux then put in a rebound from all alone in front of Theut with 13 seconds left. Just like that, in a span of 1:19, UAH found itself down 3-0 at the first intermission.

“It was a tough one,” UAH head coach Mike Corbett said. “We had played well last night, but tonight, when you give up three goals in the last 90 seconds of the first period, it hurts you. They made a good play on the power play goal and the two goals, we made mistakes and they scored.”

In the second period, Dylan Hoffman scored ASU’s fourth goal by roofing the puck over Theut’s shoulder from about the same spot as Busch’s goal.

Jack Jeffers scored his first collegiate goal with 10:06 left in the third to put UAH on the board. He was assisted by Christian Rajic and Jesper Ohrvall, getting his first UAH point after transferring from Rensselaer. But it would be the Chargers’ only goal of the night again.

“We’ve got to be able to take advantage of the opportunities we do get,” Corbett said. “We’ve got to create a little bit more. Our structure’s got to be a little bit better offensively and we’ve got to get guys more reps in that structure so that they know where to go, a little bit more predictable, so guys can make some plays.

“We’ve got guys going to areas where they shouldn’t be going. Guys are looking for them in certain areas and they’re not there. We’ve got to get everybody on the same page right now, that’s our biggest thing.”

ASU regained their four-goal lead almost immediately, however, as Jarrod Gourley scored with 9:16 remaining to make it 5-1.

The game featured a plethora of minor penalties: 14 for Arizona State and 13 for UAH. Each team had eight power plays.

ASU outshot UAH by a 35-26 margin. Sun Devil goaltender Joey Daccord finished with 25 saves in the victory. Theut stopped 30 of 35 shots for UAH.

UAH hosts Lake Superior State next Friday and Saturday. Puck drop is 7:07 p.m. both nights.

“The WCHA schedule starts next week, so we’ve got to focus on that,” Corbett said. “We’ve got to move forward. We’re talking more about attitude. You can look at our record, you can look at some of our stats and all that stuff, our attitude’s got to be great right now.

“These guys care. That’s something maybe I haven’t seen in the past all the time, but we’ve got guys that care. We’ve got good kids, and they know they’ve got work to do. That’s the biggest thing. You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror and say we’ve got to work on Monday. We’ve got Lake State coming in this week, and we’ve still got two weeks at home, so we’ve got to make the most of it.”

Three stars of the game:
1. Jake Clifford, ASU (1 goal, 1 assist)
2. Joey Daccord, ASU (25 saves)
3. Tyler Busch, ASU (1 goal)

Even with the tough opponents on the road and the questions regarding the offense, it’s hard to imagine a more nightmarish start for the Chargers.

UAH lost to 10th-ranked Denver 6-0 on Saturday, falling to 0-4-0 on the young season.

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The Chargers have now been shut out in three straight games for the second time in program history, and have only scored once in four games. UAH has not scored in 234 minutes and 12 seconds since Austin Beaulieu’s goal in the first period of the season opener last Saturday at Miami.

All UAH can do is reset, keep plugging, and hope home cooking comes in handy next Friday and Saturday against Arizona State at the VBC.

The Chargers were blistered in the shots on goal totals again, 49-16, not including 28 shots they blocked. Jake Theut made 43 saves in his second UAH start in goal.

Denver (2-0-0) wasted next to no time getting on the board. Les Lancaster’s blast from the right point found its way past Theut just 25 seconds into the contest. The Pioneers scored two goals in each period. Denver scored twice on the power play, and Liam Finlay had a hat trick.

The closest UAH came to scoring was in the third period, when Hans Gorowsky thought he had scored with 8:25 to go. The net had come off its mooring, but video review determined the puck did not cross the goal line ahead of time. Gorowsky also had a backhander go off the crossbar late in the second period.