BOWLING GREEN — It took Ryan O’Hara a little longer than he maybe would have liked to find the back of the net this season.

But once the Bowling Green State University hockey standout converted for the first time, the floodgates have opened.

After not recording a goal in the first 16 games of the season, O’Hara has tallied six in the past five games. Two of his five career multi-goal outings have been during his recent stretch.

“It was probably a good mental challenge. You don’t go through slumps like that many times in your life, especially as someone who’s relied [on] to score,” O’Hara said. “So I think maybe long term, it’ll be something that’s good to go through once because then I’ll be better prepared for it next time it happens, and [I] got out of it.”

O’Hara’s ability to convert has been key in helping the Falcons (11-7-3, 7-4-3 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) not only produce their best offensive span of the season, but also their best record. BGSU is 4-0-1 in the past five games.

Since its last loss on Dec. 7 (3-2 in overtime at Minnesota State), the Falcons are averaging 3.14 goals per game in posting a 6-0-1 record.

The offense has been clicking, especially after a six-game stretch midway through the season when the Falcons averaged 1.67 goals per game in going 0-4-2. BGSU tallied 2.38 goals per game in a solid eight-game start (5-3 record) to the year.

“We have four lines, we have a deep team, and we have eight solid defensemen and two great goalies, so we’re a very deep team and we’re getting scoring from everyone,” BGSU senior forward Ethan Scardina said. “It’s great to see, and that’s kind of what we’ve been waiting for.”

For O’Hara, who has been heavily involved in BGSU’s offense during his college career, nothing has really changed for him in the last month except for the fact that “they’re just starting to drop now.”

O’Hara led BGSU in goals (10) and points (18) last season, and during his sophomore campaign, his 30 points (11 goals and 19 assists) ranked third on the team. Although his shots were just off the mark to start this season, he recorded 11 of his team-high 13 assists in the first 16 games.

Players like Brody Waters (team-high 11 goals) and Ben Doran (six) have been among the nearly dozen BGSU players with multiple goals this season.

“Pucks weren’t going in for me, and other guys stepped up,” O’Hara said. “Brody’s a guy I can think of, and Doran, those guys stepped up and started scoring in bunches, which was really good for us.

“And now, all three of us are going and along with other guys too. So we’re starting to figure it out now in the second half and it’s going really well.”

BGSU coach Dennis Williams said continuing to play the game the right way, especially during the first half of the season, has been beneficial for O’Hara.

“I never spoke to him about [not scoring]. I just kept telling and talking to him about, just play the game right because the minute you start cheating because you’re not scoring, at the end of the night, you really have nothing to hang your hat on because you control your controllables, your play without the puck,” Williams said, “and I just said to him you’ve just got to be really good in our zone, stick to the system, be a good leader … and the puck will fall at some point.”

The Falcons, who travel to Ferris State for a two-game series beginning Friday, are tied for third in the CCHA standings and could be in a position to make a late-season push for the regular-season title. O’Hara said he feels the team is playing as well as it ever has since he arrived on campus.

Having players like O’Hara, along with the other seniors and graduate students on the roster, has helped Williams, a former player and interim coach at BGSU who took over the program in late March, in his first season back at BGSU.

“All the seniors and grad students, they’ve all been really good. I say that wholeheartedly,” Williams said. “I’ve coached a lot of teams and players, and we carry a lot of guys that are here right now, and it’s really easy for a team to start to disarray based off of ice time and not playing in certain games.

“It’s easy for some seniors to feel they’re entitled to power play, but with this group, it’s been remarkable, and that’s led by guys like [O’Hara and Scardina] and the rest of that senior group and grad students because it can sometimes blow up having that many players. A lot of players think of entitlement; this group here, it’s tough to make decisions because everyone works hard. Our guys are great.”

First Published January 16, 2025, 7:22 p.m.