The Bowling Green State University hockey team completed a first round sweep over Alaska on Saturday night, picking up a 3-2 win behind a pair of four on four goals in the third period. Will Cullen and T.J. Lloyd scored the clutch goals to advance the Falcons to the semifinals of the WCHA playoffs.
The sweep over Alaska is the first in the series since the 2014-15 season and also extends the Bowling Green unbeaten streak to 10 games, the longest active streak in the nation.
With just over a minute remaining in the first period, Max Johnson registered his first goal of the postseason, netting the score with assists from Brandon Kruse and Casey Linkenheld to give the Falcons the 1-0 lead heading to the intermission.
The next goal didn’t come until the third period, seeing Caleb Hite tie the game for Alaska with a rebound goal. Kyle Marino and Roberts Kalkis had the assists.
Less than a minute later, Cullen scored his goal on a 4v4 play, being set up perfectly in front of the net by Kruse with Johnson having the secondary assist.
Just over a minute after Cullen’s goal, Lloyd added one of his own, being scored unassisted, to extend the lead for the Falcons to 3-1.
On a power play, Alaska added another score to pull within one, coming off the stick of Max Newton with assists from Kylar Hope and Chris Jandric.
Picking up the sweep over Alaska, the Falcons accomplished the first sweep in the series since the 2014-15 season, also belonging to Bowling Green in Fairbanks.
The win also continues the unbeaten streak for Bowling Green, now reaching 10 games which is the longest active streak in the nation, going 8-0-2 over the span.
With his first period goal, Johnson revived his success from last year’s March when he scored a total of 14 points, including six goals, over eight games. Of his six goals, five came in the WCHA playoffs. Johnson also added an assist to his line for his sixth multiple-point performance this season and third over his last six games, totaling eight points over the last six games as well, pushing his career point total to 97.
After assisting on a goal last night, Cullen scored his own, which reclaimed the lead for the Falcons and extended Cullen’s career-high for goals in a single season with seven during the 2019-20 campaign.
For the second consecutive night, Kruse registered two assists, being his fifth multiple-assist game of the year and moving his career point total to 107. The multiple-point effort was also Kruse’s 26th of his career, tying Alec Rauhauser for the most on the active roster.
Scoring the Falcons’ third goal of the game, Lloyd extended his hold as the highest scoring freshman on the roster with his third goal of the season and 10th point. The goal also went down as the game-winner, his first in his young collegiate career.
When leading at the end of the second period, the Falcons are now 16-2-2 on the season. Similarly, they are 16-3-1 when scoring three goals or more.
This article was written using a press release and information generated by the Bowling Green State University sports information department. It is nearly entirely a repost of the original press release. For more college sports, follow us on Twitter @MWSNsports or like our page on Facebook.
