Third Period Comeback Fuels Falcons to 4-3 Win

Friday, February 19

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:05 PM

Bowling Green State University

Notre Dame

Nathan Pageau scored the game-winning tally in the third period to give the Falcons a 4-3 win over Notre Dame Friday night.

Photo by: Todd Pavlack / BGSUHockey.com

February 19, 2010 | Ice Hockey

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Box score
Dennis Williams press conference
Kyle Page press conference
Wade Finegan press conference
Photo Gallery

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- After trailing 3-1 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Bowling Green Falcons scored three unanswered goal to lift the Brown and Orange to victory by a final score of 4-3, Friday night.

In the first period, the Falcons and Fighting Irish seemed even matched going up and down the length of the ice, yet the momentum temporarily swung in Bowling Green's favor when an onslaught of Falcon offense tested the Irishman in between the pipes. Mike Johnson, who shut down the BG offense twice in their previous matchups earlier this season, answer the call again by saving three consecutive Bowling Green shots just under the ten-minute mark of the opening frame.

The Fighting Irish took advantage of the shift in momentum when after an Andrew Krelove interference call at 9:35, put them on the power play. After a trip down the ice for the Irish, Ryan Thang put a shot on goal towards Falcon netminder, Nick Eno (Howell, Mich.) that bounded off his pad and into the stick of Kyle Palmieri. Alertly Palmieri caught Eno off balance trying to poke the puck out of play and wristed the puck through Eno's legs for the opening score.

Thang was heard from again when in the second period a forced turnover by Notre Dame on the BGSU blue line by Riley Sheahan led to another Irish score. After the turnover, Sheahan fed Thang the puck with a near one-on-one attempt with Eno. Faking left, Thang shot to the right side of the net and gave the Irish a 2-0 lead. The goal came while Bowling Green was on the power play, making this the second short-handed goal the Falcons have allowed in as many games.

The Brown and Orange retaliated with some special teams play of their own. While still on the same power play, the Falcons cut into the Irish lead with a goal score a mere 26 seconds later. With a battle for the puck ensuing behind the Notre Dame cage, the puck came loose and floated to the front of the Notre Dame net. Kai Kantola was Johnny-on-the-Spot and shoved it through on the right of Johnson to make the score 2-1, Notre Dame.

The third period was the home of some of the most thrilling Bowling Green hockey of the season, seeing four goals scored. Three of those goals would be from the Falcons.

Notre Dame scored the first of the those four goals. Irish defenseman Joe Lavin took a hard slap shot at 4:54 beating Eno to the punch and giving UND a 3-1 one. With the lead well in hand, the Falcons kicked it into another gear and began their assault.

Wade Finegan (Jr., F) earned his stripes when a pass came across the point from the corner of the rink and was tipped to the junior before he slammed it home for his second goal of the 2009-10 season. Sophomores Brennan Vargas and Cameron Sinclair set it all up and both received their second assists of the season. The score now read 3-2 with 14:25 remaining in regulation.

Nearly five minutes later at 9:33, Vargas returned to the scoring column when he cut deeper into the Irish lead with his third goal of the season. Following a pair of saved shots off of the sticks of Finegan and Sinclair, Vargas found a loose puck out in front of the net redirecting it to the back of the cage to make the score 3-3, Bowling Green.

No more than 1:14 later, a freshman who had scored points in the last two contests rose to become the night's hero after he scoring what would eventually become the game-winning tally. Notre Dame set the play up nicely with a shot on goal by Thang that was pushed out to the far side of the ice by Eno. Taking the rebound in stride, Josh Boyd jetted up the center of the ice causing a two-on-one with a Notre Dame defenseman. Ahead of the play, Nathan Pageau (Fr., F) took a pass from Boyd and sprinted into the far-side faceoff circle. Stopping on a dime, Pageau fired a wrist shot that beat Johnson top-shelf and made the crowd roar with the newly acquired 4-3 Bowling Green lead.

Even with the offensive output the Falcons displayed, the defense saved the game to complete earning the 'W' Friday night.

With four minutes left, Notre Dame tried to tie the game with a few shots of their own. Taking the puck behind the cage, Dan Kissel attempted a wrap around that was met in strike by Eno with his skate, locking off the near-side post and completing the timely save. He immediately turned around and made a save on Calle Ridderwall's shot before Ryan Peltoma (Fr., D) made a key block on Ridderwall's second shot attempt.

Notre Dame finished the game short-handed after Sheahan was whistled for a contact-to-the-head, roughing penalty at 1:23. After getting the puck out of their own zone, Notre Dame pulled Johnson out of the net to make it a five-on-five opportunity for the duration of regulation.

Ian Cole, who has recorded two assists already in the contest, was denied of a goal by Eno after a laser was shot towards the postmaster only to be blocked away. On the rebound, Thang attempted a quick shot after, again to be turned away.

Perhaps the biggest defensive effort was by Tommy Dee (Sr., F) who dove in front of a shot by Cole to block down a puck heading toward the Bowling Green net. Following the block, Notre Dame took a timeout to establish their offense with :20 remaining, but could not get a shot off before the final horn sounded, solidifying the Bowling Green win, 4-3.

The win marks the first time the Bowling Green senior class has notched a win against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their careers after 14 matchups.

The Falcons now improve to 5-22-4 overall with a 4-17-4-3 mark in conference play. With the Western Michigan Broncos losing earlier in the evening, this propels BGSU to 11th place in the CCHA standings.

Follow the Falcons tomorrow when they finish the season series with UND at 5:05 ET at the BGSU Ice Arena, Saturday evening.