Ohio State
0-1
Bowling Green
1-0
Buckeyes Drop Season Opener to No. 16 Bowling Green, 6-3 – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 9, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s hockey team lost its season opener to No. 16-ranked Bowling Green, 6-3, Friday in Value City Arena. The teams will close the series at 7:37 p.m. Saturday in BGSU Ice Arena in Bowling Green, Ohio.
The Buckeyes, who trailed 2-1 after the first period and 4-1 after the second, made the score 4-2 early in the third but could get no closer. A Buckeye goal late in regulation was sandwiched around two Falcon empty net goals for the 6-3 final. Junior Nick Schilkey led the Buckeyes with two goals, while sophomore Victor Björkung had two assists.
“You have to understand how you have to play and you have to step on the ice and be ready to go,” Steve Rohlik, Ohio State head coach, said. “You have to take care of the puck and do some of those things and certainly against very good hockey teams like Bowling Green you can’t go out and find yourself behind like that. We have to learn from it and become a better hockey club.”
Bowling Green scored twice in the first 8:05 before Ohio State was able to cut the lead in half late in the opening period. The Falcons opened the scoring just 2:44 into the game on a goal from Jakob Reichert and made it 2-0 at 8:05, crashing the net with Kevin Dufour putting it over the line. Ohio State got on the board when junior Josh Healey led classmate David Gust on a breakaway with a long pass and Gust converted at 14:57. Shots were 14-7 in favor of the Falcons in the stanza.
In the second, the Falcons scored at 11:44, an unassisted tally by John Schilling after a turnover, and at 16:02 on a goal from Ben Murphy. Ohio State outshot Bowling Green, 10-7, in the period.
“I respect our team for coming out in the third and believing we could go out there and win and that was our conversation after the second period; we certainly played that way,” Rohlik said. “You just can’t dig that deep of a hole and try to get out of it.”
With Ohio State on the power play, Schilkey scored 2:06 into the third, converting a tic-tac-toe play with senior Anthony Greco and Björkung to draw the Buckeyes within two (4-2). With time winding down, Ohio State pulled its goalie for the extra attacker and the Falcons scored at 17:15 for a 5-2 lead. Just 14 seconds later, Björkung beat his defender and found Schilkey for the tally, with sophomore Luke Stork picking up the second assist, for a 5-3 game with 2:31 left in regulation. Just 59 seconds later the Falcons scored their second empty netter of the night, giving them a 6-3 advantage at 18:28. The teams combined for 27 shots in the period, with the Falcons ahead, 14-13.
Ohio State was outshot, 35-30, in the game. Junior Christian Frey made 29 saves in 58:51 in the Buckeye net and Tommy Burke stopped 27 shots in all 60 minutes for Bowling Green. Ohio State blocked 14 shots in the game, led by junior Drew Brevig with three.
Ohio State converted one of three power play chances in the contest and held the Falcons scoreless on two attempts.
Schilkey notched the first two-goal night of his Buckeye career and picked up his 50th career point for the Scarlet and Gray. Björkung, who had one assist in 17 games as a freshman last year, had his first career multiple-point outing. Greco’s helper gave him 50 points as a Buckeye.
