Saturday, March 5
Marquette, Mich. (CCHA First Round)
7:35 p.m.
Bowling Green State University
2
at
0
Northern Michigan
Falcons Blank Wildcats to Force Decisive Game Three
March 06, 2011 | Ice Hockey
MARQUETTE, Michigan -- It has been nearly sixteen years since the Falcons had last achieved a shutout in a playoff game but with the aid of a perfect performance between the pipes from sophomore goaltender Andrew Hammond the Falcons achieved just that. Bowling Green stayed alive in the first round of the CCHA Tournament with a 2-0 win over Northern Michigan Saturday night, forcing a series-deciding third game on Sunday.
Box score (.html) | Box score (.pdf) | Updated statistics (.html)
Post game interview with Chris Bergeron -- audio | video
With their victory the Falcons (9-25-4) tie the series at one game apiece. They will play the Wildcats (15-18-5) once again on Sunday, March 6, to earn the right to move on to the second round in the CCHA Tournament. Drop of the puck will be at 7:35 p.m. ET at the Berry Events Center (Marquette, Mich.).
After giving up its third 40-plus shot on goal game of the season, Bowling Green followed by limiting the Wildcats to only 29 shots landing on net. Though the Falcons countered with only 20 of their own, two were sank for goals. Backed by a 29-save effort from Andrew Hammond (Surrey, British Columbia), they held on to win their first playoff game in their last eight tries.
Jordan Samuels-Thomas (South Windsor, Conn.) scored the Falcons first, game-winning goal in the eighth minute of the second period. Shortly after killing off their third straight penalty, the Falcons came down the ice with fresh lines on the attack. Sliding into position, Samuels-Thomas took up space outside the far post and took in a pass through the slot from linemate Camden Wojtala (Trenton, Mich.). With one swift swipe, the sophomore forward lit the lamp for the ninth time this season and gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
Special teams may not have helped score goals on Saturday night but they did keep Northern Michigan from outside of the cage. On three Wildcat power plays the Falcons kept NMU scoreless. Hammond saw seven of his 29 shots against come while a man down, saving them all.
With less than a minute and a half to go in the contest and down by a single tally, Northern Michigan pulled junior netminder Reid Ellingson out of net to add an extra attacker. The Falcons took advantage of not having a keeper by making a stop in their own defensive zone and send the puck up the ice to freshman Ryan Viselli. The Windsor, Ontario native beat the last Wildcat defender and wristed home an empty-net goal to pad the lead and ensure an eventual victory, 2-0.
Saturday's 2-0 win over Northern Michigan marks the first shutout win in a playoff game since March 11, 1994. In that game the Falcons defeated the Ferris State Bulldogs, 3-0, en route to a series victory and CCHA Tournament quarterfinal appearance. The Falcons also won their first playoff game since March 9, 2008 when they finished off a three-game series against Lake Superior, upsetting the Lakers in overtime, 3-2, to advance to the second round of the conference tournament.
Follow the Brown and Orange through the CCHA playoffs! Full coverage of Falcon hockey and all 18 varsity sports can be found on the official online home of BGSU athletics, www.BGSUFalcons.com. Be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook by searching “BG Warriors” or follow them on Twitter through www.twitter.com/WEAREBGHOCKEY.
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