BOWLING GREEN, OH – Two first period goals and a late dagger led to defeat for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute men's hockey team on Thursday night, as they fell to the Bowling Green Falcons 3-1 on the road. With the loss, RPI falls to 7-10-1 overall, while Bowling Green moves to 9-12-0 on the season.
Bowling Green broke the ice in the first period, as Austin Swankler found himself behind the defense, and was able to score on a pass from the right wing boards from Ryan O'Hara. Swankler – Bowling Green's top goal scorer on the season coming into the game - made a move to his backhand and beat RPI goaltender
Carson Cherepak to take the 1-0 lead.
Minutes later, Swankler assisted the Falcons second goal, which was scored by Ethan Scardina. It would be the first of two power play tallies for Bowling Green on the night, as Scardina got the puck in the neutral zone on the right wing, skated across the blue line, beat one defender and snapped a wrist shot into the twine from the circle to give Bowling Green a 2-0 lead.
RPI got on the board when
Mason Klee cut the Falcon lead back in half. The senior from Morrison, Colorado stuffed the puck home on a rush up the middle of the ice. Klee received the puck from
TJ Walsh from the side boards and charged up the middle of the ice. As he got into the slot in front of the net, he made a move to his forehand and scored.
The score remained 2-1 throughout the second period and most of the third until 4:29 remaining in the third period. This time, it was O'Hara who finished a pass from Scardina on the power play to put the Falcons ahead for good. O'Hara tipped a puck in front of the net past Cherepak on the shot from Scardina to collect the tally.
Cherepak snagged 30 saves – including 14 in the third period - in the loss, while Bowling Green's Christian Stoever made 31 stops on the evening.
Austin Heidemann led the Engineers offense with a team-high five shots.
RPI returns to the ice tomorrow, December 30 at 7 p.m. for their second matchup with the Bowling Green Falcons.
