Falcons fall to Miami in CCHA consolation

3/18/2012
BLADE STAFF

DETROIT -- After a six-game run through the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's playoffs and a berth into the final four, Bowling Green State University's season came to a disappointing finish with a 4-1 loss to Miami Saturday in the consolation game at Joe Louis Arena.

Miami scored twice in the first period and tallied a marker in each of the next two while BG (14-25-5) got its lone goal midway through the final stanza as Cameron Sinclair notched his sixth of the season on assists from Camden Wojtala and Connor Kucera.

Andrew Hammond stopped 29 RedHawks shots, including 12 in the second period.

"It was a different game for us, there wasn't much physically on the line, we were just playing for pride," Hammond said. "For the most part we battled hard. I thought we didn't give up and stayed strong."

For Miami, Reilly Smith scored once and added two assists while Austin Czarnik assisted on three goals in the win.

Chris Wideman, Alex Wideman, and Joe Hartman also scored for Miami (24-14-2) while Cody Reichard made 21 saves in net.

"We aren't losing too many people and with the core returning we can only get better," Hammond said of the team's expectations for next season. "This summer we will need to take a step forward and we proved to ourselves that we can play with anyone in this league."

WMU tops Michigan 3-2 for championship

DETROIT -- Two second-period goals by the No. 14-ranked Broncos catapulted them to a 3-2 win in the CCHA championship game over Michigan.

Ian Slater, Dan Walters, and Chase Balisy scored for WMU (21-13-6) while Frank Slubowski mades 27 saves.

No. 3 Michigan (24-12-4) scored twice in the third period on goals by Kevin Clare and Lee Moffie, but they could not capitalize after pulling goalie Shawn Hunwick (22 saves) with less than a minute remaining in the contest.