Lakers sweep nationally-ranked Falcons on the road

After two weeks off due to a pair of postponements, the Lake Superior State Lakers have won three of four games in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action.

Following a split last weekend, the Lakers went on the road and swept the Bowling Green State University Falcons, beating BGSU 2-1 in overtime on Friday before capping the weekend with a 5-2 on Saturday.

The wins come against a Bowling Green team that entered the weekend ranked 12th nationally.

In Friday’s contest, the Lakers fell behind in the opening period after senior forward Cameron Wright got Bowling Green on the board just over 12 minutes in.

Wright found himself in the slot and beat Lakers senior goaltender Mareks Mitens high glove side to make it 1-0.

Lake State got on the board just under seven minutes into the second period when sophomore forward Louis Boudon deflected a point shot by junior defenceman Mitchell Oliver high stick side past Bowling Green senior netminder Eric Dop to tie the game at one.

After a scoreless third, junior forward Pete Veillette scored just 17 seconds into the extra frame to give Lake State the win.

After a turnover in the neutral zone by sophomore Bowling Green defenceman T.J. Lloyd, Veillette went in on a 2-on-0 and converted a give-and-go with junior Ashton Calder to cap off the contest.

Mitens made 33 saves for Lake State in the contest while Dop stopped 23 shots for Bowling Green.

In Saturday’s contest, a three-goal second period was the difference as Lake State capped the weekend with another victory.

Senior forward Hampus Eriksson got Lake State on the board with 1:37 to go in the opening period to give Lake State a 1-0 lead, beating Dop with a shot from the right circle high stick side.

The Lakers extended the lead to 3-0 thanks to goals 1:19 apart in the second period.

Veillette made it 2-0 as he converted a one-timer from the slot on a feed from Calder at 4:42.

Boudon then added to the lead as he went to the net and redirected a feed from senior defenceman Will Riedell to make it 3-0 at 6:01.

Calder then made it 4-0 as he took a feed from Veillette and beat Dop with just over six minutes to go in the middle stanza.

Wright got Bowling Green on the board 3:24 into the third, beating Mitens with a one-timer from the slot high glove side.

The teams then traded goals 35 seconds apart later in the period.

Sophomore forward Dustin Manz made it 5-1 Lakers when he took a drop pass from junior Jack Jeffers near the right point and beat Dop with a shot through traffic at 12:36.

Wright then picked up his second goal of the night, and third of the weekend, at 13:11 when he took a feed in the left circle from senior forward Brandon Kruse and beat Mitens to make it 5-2.

Mitens made 28 saves in Saturday’s win while Dop stopped 19 shots at the other end for Bowling Green.

The sweep improves the Lakers conference record to 3-3-0 (win-loss-tie) with an overall record of 9-4-3. Bowling Green, who entered the weekend series with Lake State sitting second in the WCHA standings, drops to 5-5-0 in conference action and 16-8-0 overall.

The series opens up a busy stretch to the end of the regular season for Lake State.

The team will play five games in an 11-day stretch beginning Tuesday night.

Lake State returns to action on Tuesday on the road at Michigan Tech in a makeup game after having a weekend series with the Huskies postponed in January. The second game of the postponed series will be made up on Feb. 23, also at Michigan Tech.

Following Tuesday’s game, the Lakers will play a pair of games at home next weekend against Alabama Huntsville.