Feb. 2, 2008

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - A pair of late third period goals by forward Peter Boyd, helped the Ohio State Buckeyes steal a, 4-2, win on Saturday evening over the Bowling Green State University hockey team. The Saturday night Central Collegiate Hockey Association contest was held at OSU's Value City Arena.

With the victory, the Buckeyes improved to 9-19-2 overall and 5-14-1 in the CCHA, dropping the Falcons to 13-13-0 and 10-10-0, respectively.

Freshman goaltender Nick Eno was once again a brick wall in front of the Falcon cage, making a career-high 40 saves on 44 OSU shots. However, for Eno, two late third period goals by Boyd would break a 2-2 tie and give the Buckeyes their first home victory over the Falcons in five contests.

With just 4:21 remaining, Boyd collected a rebound in front off a shot from teammate Jason DeSantis for the eventual game-winning marker. He would add a second goal just 2:10 later to give the game its' final tally.

OSU would start the game's scoring with a power-play goal at the 4:33 mark of the first period. Nick Biondo knocked home his fourth-goal of the season and second on the weekend with a hard-wrister from the left faceoff circle, beating Eno up high to give the Bucks a 1-0 lead.

The Falcons would counter the OSU goal just five minutes and change later. After Kai Kantola attempted a wrap-around from left to right behind the net that OSU goaltender Joseph Palmer fanned on, James Perkin found himself in perfect position for a goal. The Calgary, Alberta native wouldn't waste it the opportunity as he caught the missed attempt by Palmer and slid into between his legs for his seventh-goal of the season. Kantola would be the lone Falcon with a helper on the play at 9:37.

Much like the previous night, Eno had to withstand a flurry of Buckeye shots in the first period as he turned aside 16-of-17 OSU attempts in the opening 20 minutes. Eno was helped in the effort by senior tri-captain Michael Hodgson who made one of his biggest blocks of the season when he stuffed a Buckeye shot just to the right side of the net. The Surfside, Calif. native saw his netminder struggling to get in position for the save through the mess in the crease and took matters into his own hands, blocking a shot from just outside the right crease area to keep the game tied at 1-1 with just 1:38 remaining.

The two teams went to their respective locker rooms with the Bucks holding a 17-7 edge in shots on net.

Despite the big difference in shots though, BG would strike quick in the second to take their first lead of the contest at the 3:19 mark. Tomas Petruska collected his third-goal of the season when his shot from the lower right circle found the left side corner with Palmer moving down on the shot. Tallying assists on the play were freshman forward David Solway and junior defenseman Tim Maxwell.

Eno once again played a strong period in the Falcon cage, stopping 11-of-12 OSU shots. The one shot that beat the Howell, Mich. native came from Buckeye forward Tommy Goebel, who collected a rebound on the right side of the crease to tie the game at 2-2 with just 1:55 remaining in the period.

The two squads went to the 40-minute intermission with OSU holding a 12-9 edge in the second stanza shots and a 29-16 difference overall.

Both teams would trade chances in the final 20 minutes as the Falcons got 12 third period shots to the Bucks 15. It wouldn't be enough though as the Falcons just missed the opportunity to collect their fifth sweep of the season.

OSU ended the game with a 44-28 overall advantage in shots on goal as Palmer finished his night with 26 saves in the Buckeye net.

BG finished the night 0-for-4 with the man-advantage, while OSU finished 1-for-4.

BG will return to action next Friday and Saturday (Feb. 8-9) when they host the University of Alaska in a two-game home set. Faceoff both nights is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. as all the action can be heard by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM with Danny Nieves bringing you all the play-by-play.