A new goaltender brought new life to the 12th-ranked Bowling Green hockey team Sunday in its Western Collegiate Hockey Association win over UAA at Sullivan Arena.
The Falcons (4-2-1, 1-1-0 WCHA) shut out the Seawolves 2-0 the day after UAA beat Bowling Green 4-2. The Seawolves (5-2-1, 2-1-1) scored four times in two periods Saturday against Bowling Green's Tommy Burke, but failed to get by sophomore goalie Chris Nell in both the final period Saturday and the full game Sunday.
"I don't think their guy last night, Burke, played poorly," said UAA coach Matt Thomas. "I thought we scored some really nice goals. We just didn't seem to have that (Sunday) … we just seemed to be a little bit off offensively."
Bowling Green's first goal came from sophomore winger Tyler Spezia in the fifth minute of the first period during a scuffle near the goal. UAA sophomore goaltender Olivier Mantha ended up with the puck under his glove and the goal went to review, where it was confirmed.
The Seawolves had opportunities to even the score at the end of the period, but failed to capitalize on a power play with three minutes remaining and two shots on goal in the final minute. The period nearly ended disastrously for Mantha when he tried to clear the puck to his teammates in the final seconds, only to have to slide in front of the goal to stop a last-second shot by the Falcons.
The Falcons carried a 1-0 advantage into the second period and added to it on a power play following a penalty against the Seawolves that fans believed should have gone the other way.
UAA fans cheered the interference call until the refs signaled it was actually against the Seawolves. Freshman winger Jeremiah Luedtke went to the box for UAA and Bowling Green scored seconds later to go up 2-0 midway through the second period.
"That was a tough break," Luedtke said. "I honestly thought they were getting the call for interference too. Just the way it goes sometimes.
"The ref thought I interfered with him. I was just trying to get back on side honestly, and just got called for interference."
UAA had another power play in the final minutes of the second period, but solid defense by Bowling Green cleared the puck back to UAA's side several times, wasting valuable power-play seconds.
The shutout was UAA's first of the season.
"We needed to do more to score, and their goalie and team didn't give us many opportunities to do it," Thomas said. "We had a couple real good chances there late in the second period. It was too bad one of those didn't go in for us."
Nell finished with 25 saves for Bowling Green while Mantha had 20 for UAA.
The Seawolves have this week off before a home series against the Ferris State Bulldogs, Nov. 13-14. Their 12-day break is their longest until February.
"It's so early in the season, there's a lot to cover," Thomas said of the off week. "I think as we go, it's just fine-tuning what our identity is, what we want to be good at and finding a way to continue to be a good team."
Bowling Green 1 1 0 — 2
UAA 0 0 0 — 0
First period — 1, Bowling Green, Spezia 2 (Walker), 4:29. Penalties — Van Allen, UAA (crosscheck), 6:27; Azurdia, UAA (roughing), 9:32; McDonald, Bowling Green (roughing), 9:32; Azurdia, UAA (embellishment), 14:43; Greiner, Bowling Green (interference), 14:43; Mercier, Bowling Green (interference) 15:35.
Second period — 2, Bowling Green, Dufour 5 (Hawkins, Friedman), 10:28. Penalties — Friedman, Bowling Green (holding the stick), 4:55; Luedtke, UAA (interference), 9:52; Pohlkamp, Bowling Green (interference) 15:04.
Third period — None. Penalties — Mercier, Bowling Green (hooking), 0:21.
Shots on goal — Bowling Green 8-10-4—22. UAA 11-9-5—25.
Power-play opportunities — Bowling Green 1 of 2. UAA 0 of 4.
Goalies — Bowling Green, Nell , 2-1-1 (25 shots-25 saves). UAA, Mantha, (22 shots-20 saves).
A — 1306. T — 2:12.
Referees — Josh Lupinek, Dan Kovarik. Linesman — Carl Saden, Travis Jackson.