After being upset on Friday, the 15th-ranked Falcons got revenge and then some on Saturday, scoring four goals in the first 10 minutes and cruising to a 7-1 win.
For UAH (8-26-2 overall, 8-18-2-2 WCHA), it became a matter of not losing anyone to injury or suspension entering next week’s WCHA quarterfinals at Minnesota State. The game meant nothing in terms of standings, as the Chargers locked up the eighth and final WCHA playoff spot after beating the Falcons 4-2 on Friday.
With the win, Bowling Green (21-9-5, 16-8-4-3) will be the third seed and host Michigan Tech in the quarterfinals.
It was all Falcons from the get-go. Teddy Rotenberger, a Huntsville native playing in his first game for UAH, gets called for tripping at 54 seconds. Alex Barber scored for the Falcons just 18 seconds into the power play.
UAH got a chance to do damage almost immediately after Lukas Craggs checked Jesper Ohrvall from behind, earning him a major and a game misconduct at the 1:57 mark. But the Chargers mustered no shots on goal, two offsides, and hardly any offensive zone time in their five minute power play.
Eleven seconds after the power play expired, Bowling Green scored to make it 2-0 as Frederic LeTourneau stole the puck and quickly beat UAH goaltender Jake Theut high.
At 8:08, another penalty, this time on UAH’s Bailey Newton for boarding LeTourneau. Newton and LeTourneau each got unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, but it was still an advantage for the Falcons.
Nine seconds later, another power play goal, this time Alec Rauhauser and a 3-0 Bowling Green lead.
And it continued, with John Teets elbowing Matt Meier near center ice at the 9:20 mark. The Falcons made it 3-for-3 on the power play at 9:54 with Max Johnson’s goal.
That was it for Theut, who was pulled for allowing four goals on seven shots. Mark Sinclair finished the rest of the first period.
John Schilling added another goal with 6:45 left in the period, and the Falcons led 5-0 at the first intermission.
Theut re-entered the game to start the second period, but he allowed Bowling Green’s sixth goal to Taylor Schneider just 1:58 in.
Bauer Neudecker got UAH on the board with 14:03 left in the second period with a backhander past Ryan Bednard. Neudecker’s seventh goal of the season was assisted by Madison Dunn and Connor Merkley.
With 8:44 left in the second, Newton committed a major boarding penalty on LeTourneau, also getting a game misconduct. The freshman had 19 penalty minutes in the game, and leads the Chargers with 91 penalty minutes on the season.
Schilling scored his second goal of the game with 10:42 left in the third to make it 7-1.
The Chargers matched a season low for shots on goal with 11. The Falcons had 33.