BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Nick Kossoff made 30 saves in goal and five different players scored as Lake Superior State shut out No. 10 Bowling Green State 5-0 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play on Friday night at Slater Family Ice Arena.
Lake Superior State (6-2-1, 3-1-1-0 WCHA) and Bowling Green State (7-3-2, 2-2-1-1 WCHA) each had four shots on goal in the first period, but the Lakers scored the only goal to take a 1-0 lead into the intermission. Freshman winger Ashton Calder scored his first collegiate goal for the Lakers at 15:29 of the first period with senior center Diego Cuglietta and senior right winger Gage Torrel assisting on the play. Calder took a shot from the slot that hit the post. However, the puck bounced back out to Calder who shot in his own rebound for the goal. The Laker penalty kill was also key in the period as they killed off three Bowling Green power plays in the period and eight total in the game.
The Lakers were outshot 16-4 in the second period, but Kossoff (4-0-1), a senior, stopped every shot he faced and the Lakers once again capitalized on their opportunities. In a four-on-four situation, sophomore defenseman William Riedell put Lake Superior State up 2-0 with his second goal of the season at 5:05 of the period. Sophomore center Hampus Eriksson won an offensive zone faceoff over to Torrel. Torrel passed the puck back to Riedell at the right point, who skated to his left at the blue line and wired a wrist shot past the goaltender. Eriksson tallied his fourth assist of the season, while Torrel tallied his team-best ninth helper.
Lake State broke the game open in the third period with three more goals to make the final score 5-0. Right after Lake State special teams came up big again by holding Bowling Green off the scoreboard during a five-minute penalty kill, sophomore defenseman Lukas Kaelble scored his first goal of the season on the power play at 5:25 of the period. Kaelble took a pass from junior winger Max Humitz at the left circle and fired a wrist shot that found the upper-right corner of the net. Humitz and Riedell assisted as the Lakers went up 3-0.
Senior forward Anthony Nellis got into the scoring column next as he garnered his team-leading seventh goal on the power play at the 10:01 mark to extend the lead to 4-0. Humitz skated into the slot where he was challenged by a Falcon player. The puck bounced back from Humitz to a trailing Nellis, who beat the goalkeeper with a quick shot. Humitz and Kaelble picked up assists on the play.
The Lakers' final goal came at 13:12 of the third period as Saccoman skated towards the net on the left side of the offensive zone. He took a backhand shot from inside the circle that glanced off the goaltender and into the net for his fifth goal of 2018-19 — the most in the WCHA by a defenseman this season. Nellis and junior winger Brayden Gelsinger assisted on the play.
Kossoff recorded his first shutout of the season for Lake Superior State.
Ryan Bednard (7-2-1) made 12 saves for Bowling Green.
The Lakers went 2-of-6 on the power play, while the Falcons went 0-of-8.
With the win, Lake Superior State is 5-0 on the road this season.
The Lakers and Falcons conclude their two-game WCHA series on Saturday evening in Bowling Green, Ohio. Puck drop is slated for 7:07 p.m. at Slater Family Ice Arena. Live video is available on FloHockey.TV and live stats are available here.
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