Coming home against a good WCHA opponent reminded the Chargers they still have work to do.

UAH couldn’t find the rallying magic — or much offense at all — it found at Colorado College last week, as another early deficit turned into a 5-0 loss to Bowling Green in their home opener Friday. The loss put a damper on the homecoming festivities in front of an announced crowd of 2,420.

The Chargers fell to 0-3-0 on the season and 0-1-0 in the WCHA. The Falcons (2-1-0, 1-0-0) dominated in shots on goal, holding a 41-20 advantage.

The first Bowling Green goal came shorthanded. Nolan Valleau, who already had four assists on the season, centered to Mitchell McClain all alone in the slot in front of Carmine Guerriero. McClain pounded it home for a 1-0 lead at the 6:59 mark.

The second goal came on another nice centering pass, and another defensive zone turnover. Pierre-Luc Mercier from the left side sends it to Kevin Dufour at the doorstep, who beat Guerriero with 23.5 seconds remaining in the first.

For the third straight game, the Chargers found themselves with a 2-0 deficit after one.

However, penalties would prevent the Chargers from making the second-period rally that was done in both games at Colorado College. The crucial one came with 6:55 left, as Brennan Saulnier left the game with a game misconduct to go along with a five-minute checking from behind penalty.

Cody Champagne then went off for a minor boarding penalty 29 seconds later. In the waning seconds of that penalty, Brandon Hawkins shot went off of Guerriero’s glove and in to give Bowling Green a 3-0 lead.

It was one of the few pucks that got by Guerriero that period, as he made 17 saves in the frame, many with his glove and his body.

The Chargers didn’t pose much of a threat in the third period, and Bowling Green tacked on a couple of goals to clinch the game. Matt Pohlkamp made it 4-0 at 1:42, and Ben Murphy made it 5-0 at 6:42.

Guerriero finished with 36 saves. Chris Nell, a freshman, got his first collegiate shutout with 20 saves.

The Chargers have now lost six straight home openers, and their winless streak at home against Division I opponents is now at 29 games (0-26-3). They’ll try to finally break that streak Saturday night against the Falcons at 7:07 p.m.

UAH’s second game of the season followed the same storyline as the first. Unfortunately, that included the ending.

The Chargers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie, but another late third period goal by Colorado College resulted in a 4-3 loss Saturday night in Colorado Springs.

CC won Friday’s game 3-2 in similar fashion: Take a lead, give it up, win it late anyway.

In the first, the Chargers found themselves shorthanded three times, and Colorado College spent much of the period in their offensive zone.

Matt Larose did what he could to withstand the onslaught, but only could do so much. On the one power play UAH had, Hunter Fejes took a shorthanded breakaway and backhanded over Larose to give CC a 1-0 lead at the 8:59 mark.

It seemed the Chargers would at least have a smaller first-period deficit than Friday night, but Alex Roos scored with 3.6 left in the frame, and the Tigers again lead 2-0 after one — just like Friday — and outshot the Chargers 15-4.

Also like Friday, could the Chargers have another second-period rally? It would become a chore quickly, after Christian Heil made it 3-0 Tigers just 25 seconds in.

Still, the answer was yes. Three blasts of yes.

UAH would score three unanswered goals, all defenseman blasts from just inside the blue line that found their way past CC goaltender Chase Perry.

The first was by Brandon Carlson from the right point at 6:12, assisted by Cody Marooney and Regan Soquila.

The second was by Misuraca at 16:26, with shades of the overtime winner he had against Bowling Green last season. His MisuRocket™ was assisted by Carlson and Matt Salhany, also from the right point.

Then Carlson got the equalizer just two minutes later, which was more from center but still close to the right point. Misuraca and Marooney with the helpers.

All this despite the Tigers outshooting the Chargers 20-8 for the period. Larose did his part with glove saves of blasts and covering up critical rebounds and redirects.

Boosted by the rally, the Chargers had an extra step in the third period. After being outshot all weekend, UAH had a 14-10 advantage in the final frame. Meanwhile, Larose continued to make big saves, even after needing attention for a right leg cramp.
However, just like Friday — again — the Tigers needed just one shot for the win. It came from Peter Stoykewych, who — like the three UAH goals — was a blast from just inside the blue line with 5:26 to go. Colorado College then clamped down to preserve their 4-3 win.

Larose finished the night with 41 saves.

UAH (0-2) opens the home season next Friday and Saturday (Oct. 17 and 18) against Bowling Green.

Mike Corbett talks with Candace Horgan of USCHO.com:

Last season, with a ton of freshman and buzz from joining a new conference, UAH went up to Boston to play a Northeastern team not expected to do too much. That Northeastern team went 19-14-4, starting with a four-goal first period against a stunned Charger team on the way to a 9-2 thrashing.

Friday night, UAH took some more freshman — and a handful of sophomores whose first college hockey experience was that night in Boston — went to Colorado Springs to face a Colorado College team not expected to do too much.

The Chargers lost this time as well, 3-2 to the Tigers, but an early deficit drown them this time. And with this UAH team still bursting with youth, the resiliency is a great sign.

Still, a loss is a loss, UAH’s fifth season opener in a row. Cody Bradley’s goal with 7:03 remaining was the game-winner for a Colorado College team that outshot the Chargers 40-18.

Like last year, UAH found itself behind quickly. Penalties didn’t help, and CC took advantage of a Jeff Vanderlugt tripping call to net the first goal of the game. Aaron Harstad’s blast from the right point found its way past Carmine Guerriero at the 3:45 mark.

The Tigers got two more power plays over the next nine minutes, and the Chargers were able to hold them off. However, a defensive lapse left Teemu Kimihalme all alone in the left circle, and he slapped it past Guerriero for a 2-0 CC lead halfway through the first.

CC had an 11-1 shots advantage by that point, but UAH started to get into the flow more in the second half of the period. The Chargers got a handful of couple of scoring chances in a stretch of five minutes with only one stoppage of play, but could not find the net.

UAH carried that energy into the second, and sustaining that energy and confidence paid off. The Chargers spent much more time in the offensive zone, and despite CC having more shots on goal in the period, UAH battled back to tie the game.

The first Charger goal of the season came at 12:11 of the second, when on a UAH power play, Chad Brears shot rebounded off CC goaltender Tyler Marble, and Brent Fletcher found the net to cut the Tigers’ lead to 2-1. Brandon Parker also got an assist for his first point at UAH.

About six minutes later, the Chargers got an odd man rush. Alex Carpenter from the left side sent a sweet centering pass to Jeff Vanderlugt, who knocked it home to tie the game at 2-2 with 1:59 left in the 2nd. Carpenter, a junior who transferred to UAH from Western Michigan but never played a game for the Broncos, got his first college point.

UAH found itself shorthanded for a chunk of the beginning of the third period, the Chargers were able to withstand Tiger rushes thanks to quick work by Guerriero, who finished the night with 37 saves.

And it seemed UAH would capitalize after another big penalty kill with under eight minutes to go, but on an odd man rush, Bradley’s blast top shelf gave CC the lead again. After that, CC continued to pin the Chargers in their own end, and UAH couldn’t get the offensive rushes need to equalize.

The Chargers and Tigers face off again at 8:05 p.m. CDT on Saturday.