Kentucky hockey earned a 6-2 victory in the opening round of the Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League (TSCHL) Tournament on Friday over the Bowling Green State Falcons.
From the first minute, it was evident that the matchup was anything but balanced as the Wildcats loomed larger than the Falcons, a size differential that became increasingly apparent as the game unfolded.
Within the opening minutes of the first quarter, the scoreboard lit up as No. 18 Brett Quinn notched his first game point.
Quinn continued to make his mark, adding another goal to his tally with a mere minute remaining in the period, courtesy of assists from No. 11 Nate James and No. 19 Collin Costello.
Kentucky received its first penalty during the 12th minute on a roughing call made on No. 21 Nick Delaney.
In the second quarter of the game, the Falcons struck early, finding the net just two minutes in.
Despite the setback, UK quickly retaliated with a revenge goal by No. 23 Gabe Rodriguez a mere 24 seconds later, propelled by the combined efforts of No. 37 Marc L’Heureux and No. 28 Jack Noel.
At the 16th-minute mark of the game tensions flared when a player from BGSU, Nolan Sarnowski, tripped UK player Nick Obourn, igniting a scuffle between the two teams. The altercation resulted in penalties being issued to both players involved.
The Falcons scored their second and final point of the game late in the second quarter, but it would be the apex of their night, never improving on the score with two penalties being the only things going in their favor after the goal.
At the end of the game the Bowling Green State hockey team had 46 shots on goal with UK goalkeeper No. 33 Arley Cutler only letting in two of those shots, a sharp contrast to the opposing No. 33, Riley Martin, who let in six out of the 26 shots on goal made by Kentucky.
Close to the ninth minute of the game, No. 39 Cameron Chabot widened the gap even further when he found the back of the net off two assists by No. 9 Gabe D’Amico and No. 17 Michael Suppan.
Both of the assisters also managed to get roughing penalties earlier in the game.
Standing out as UK’s star of the night was Rodriguez, who managed to score three goals for a hat trick.
The Wildcats will be back tomorrow at Queen City Sportsplex at 1 p.m. to face off against Miami (OH) in the semifinals of the TSCHL Tournament with a trip to the conference title game on the line.
