Late Goal by Pohlkamp Seals 4-3 Exhibition Win

The Falcons 2015-2016 campaign unofficially kicked off Saturday night with a thrilling 4-3 exhibition win over the Toronto Varsity Blues.

Tommy Burke started in net for the Falcons and made 11 saves on 12 attempts. Brent Willows took the cage for Toronto and stopped 34 of 38 attempts.

First Period

Brandon Hawkins opened the scoring at 16:01 of the first period. The Falcon’s 2014-2015 leading goal scorer took passes from Mark Friedman and Stephen Baylis before burying a wristshot bar-down over Willows’ left shoulder.

The Varsity Blues responded with just under ten seconds to play in the period as Andrew Doyle found Ryan Kirkup. After a series of backhand dekes he flipped the puck over Burke’s pads, tying the game.

The Falcons ended the period with 14 shots on net while Toronto challenged Burke with nine attempts.

Second Period

Bowling Green picked up their second goal of the game at 4:25 of the second period. With assists by freshman Shane Bednard and Dajon Mingo, freshman forward John Schilling got the puck just over the goal line for his first (unofficial) goal as a Falcon.

At 10:03 of the second period Tomas Sholl relieved Tommy Burke in net (as is customary during early exhibition games). Burke ended the game with 11 saves on 12 attempts.

The Varsity Blues tied the game at 11:07 of the second period as Aidan Wallace took a nice cross-ice pass from the boards from Charlie Connell to beat Sholl.

Brandon Hawkins picked up his second goal of the game at 13:37 of the second period as he finished a rebound from Matt Pohlkamp for the Falcon’s third goal of the game.

The Falcons challenged Brent Willows ten times in the second, scoring on two of those chances. Burke stopped the two shots he faced while Sholl stopped two of three chances.

Third Period

The Varsity Blues would again tie the game at 3:41 of the third at Max Lindsay. Lindsay took a pass from Josh Hanson and beat Sholl high.

Matt Pohlkamp netted the game winning goal at 19:13 while the Falcons were shorthanded. He powered through his defender wristing a shot on Willows. The puck deflected just enough off Willows and found the net.

The Falcons finished the game with 38 total shots on net while the Varsity Blues fired 21 attempts. Tomas Sholl was the winning goalie while Willows took the loss.

The Falcons season will officially kick off next Friday as they travel to Columbus to face inner-state rival Ohio State.