BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University’s offense was just a little out of sorts on Friday.
It was enough to help Ferris State get the win.
BGSU pulled within one with seven minutes left after Chase Gresock’s goal, but Ferris State held on to notch a 2-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association win at Slater Family Ice Arena.
BGSU, which entered the game 11th in the NCAA in power-play percentage (24.5 percent), converted just 1 of 7 opportunities on Friday. The Falcons’ one goal was their lowest in a game since a Dec. 9 loss to Minnesota State.
“We had some looks, but we weren’t sharp. We spent a bunch of time chasing back into our own end going to get the puck back,” BGSU coach Ty Eigner said. “We were fortunate to score there late — good shot by Chase — but we weren’t sharp on the power play all night tonight.”
The Falcons dropped to 14-14-1 (11-9-1), while the Bulldogs improved to 11-13-3 (8-9-2).
Ferris State goaltender Noah Giesbrecht stopped 32 shots in keeping the Falcons off the board for most of the game. BGSU trailed 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 after the second, but the Falcons broke through late in the third.
Gresock smacked a long shot past Giesbrecht at the 12:24 mark of the third period to make it 2-1. It was the BGSU senior’s eight goal of the season.
Taylor Schneider and Austen Swankler earned assists on the play. Swankler extended his points streak to 19 games, which is the longest in the NCAA.
That was, however, all BGSU could muster.
The Falcons had several scoring chances late, including during a power play with 3:09 left. BGSU pulled goalie Christian Stoever a couple of times to get an advantage, but Ferris State held firm.
“We played into their hands,” Eigner said. “We tried to carry pucks through them. Instead of taking what was available, as soon as we would throw a puck to the net, they would get going the other way.
“Ferris State, they play hard. They’ve had some really good wins this year, and we tried to the best of our ability to explain to our guys that this is not going to be easy. It seemed like all night, every TV timeout, every time we got a chance to talk, we were talking about trying to get to our game and play our way, and Ferris State did a good job of not letting us do that.”
Ferris State took a 1-0 lead at 10:14 when Jason Brancheau scored his ninth goal of the season. Luke Farthing and Antonio Venuto had assists.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 2-0 at 5:29 in the second period when Bradley Marek’s shot from close range got up in the air and floated around BGSU’s Stoever. Tyler Schleppe and Caiden Gault were credited with assists.
Both of Ferris State’s goals were even strength. The Bulldogs were 0 of 3 on power plays.
“I think we just weren’t ready to go at the start of the game, and then, next thing you know, you’re down 2-0. It’s hard to fight back when you’re down two,” Gresock said.
BGSU had a slim 33-32 advantage in shots on goal. Stoever had 30 saves.
“We put Christian in some tough spots tonight,” Eigner said. “He did a good job, [but] it didn’t look like the team that we’ve seen here at home lately that’s played so well. So we’re going to need to find a way to get back to that.”
BGSU will try to earn a series split against Ferris State at 7:07 p.m. Saturday at Slater Family Ice Arena.
First Published February 4, 2023, 2:54 a.m.
