ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Playing on a national stage Saturday, Bowling Green’s Ryan Bednard was the No. 1 goaltender the Falcons always hoped he would become.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, Bednard’s excellence in net did not yield a victory.
Bowling Green lost 2-1 in overtime to defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth, which tied the game with 3:01 to play in regulation.
But Bednard almost willed Bowling Green to the next round with 40 saves in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the PPL Center.
“As a freshman, he was a backup to Chris Nell, and he knew it and he didn’t always handle it great,” Bowling Green coach Chris Bergeron said. “He’s grown up a bunch. I mean, look at him play.”
Bednard, who won 20 games for Bowling Green this season, was minutes away from a shutout against UMD. He stopped the Bulldogs’ first 28 shots on goal through almost 57 minutes of play.
“He’s been unreal for us. He’s the reason why we did so well this season,” Falcons center Max Johnson said. “Our team wouldn’t be who we are without him backing us up. He’s been tremendous for us. He stops pucks, he stops pucks in big situations.”
The Bulldogs tied the game on a scrum that ended up with a deflection off a skate. After the Falcons failed to clear the puck from their zone, Cole Koepke flung a shot from near the blue line to the front of Bednard’s crease, where it went off teammate Parker Mackay’s shoulder and bounced in front of the net.
The puck hit a skate in front before Bednard could corral it for a stoppage of play, and the puck’s momentum carried underneath Bednard and across the goal line.
Bergeron said the goals were “not on him at all,” but he thinks Bednard is at his best when he is able to cover the puck on a regular basis.
Bednard did that for the most part in this one, but a strange bounce led to Duluth’s tying goal.
“We can handle a faceoff,” Bergeron said of freezing the puck. “Scrums in front of our net are very, very difficult, so he did an excellent job limiting how many pucks ended up right up in front of him.”
Duluth scored the winner on another rebound opportunity. Bednard warded off Koepke’s backhand at the net, but Mackay was in position to end the game.
Despite what was a memorable effort from Bednard throughout, the Falcons’ 25-win season concluded in disappointing fashion.
“He feels it’s his fault. I think that’s a goaltender mentality,” Bergeron said. “But he was big-time tonight just like he’s been 95 percent of this season. He’s been big-time, and that’s because of his growth.”
NOTES: Bowling Green will lose five seniors who played against Duluth, including captain Stephen Baylis and three of the top six defensemen. ... Johnson, who had an assist, finished the season on a hot streak. He compiled 12 points in the final six games of the season. ... Brandon Kruse’s second-period goal was Bowling Green’s first in the NCAA tournament since March 17, 1990.
First Published March 31, 2019, 1:53 a.m.
