
Miami Defeats Bowling Green, 2-1, in Lefty McFadden Championship
October 05, 2002 | Ice Hockey
Oct. 5, 2002
Dayton, Ohio - Miami University broke a 1-1 tie at 13:36 in the third period with a goal by Vince Pulera and went on to post a 2-1 victory over Bowling Green in the championship game of the first annual Lefty McFadden Invitational on Saturday night. The tournament was held at the E.J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.
BGSU goalie Tyler Masters kept the Falcons in the game with 38 saves on 40 shots faced in the game, including 15 in the final period. The Redhawks held a 40-22 shot advantage over Bowling Green in the game.
Miami (2-0) struck first at 4:06 in the second period when Stephen Dennis scored with an assist from Stephen Dennis.
The Falcons (1-1) answered, though, when Mark Wires scored his second goal in as many nights, a power play tally, at 8:35 of the second period. Defenseman Brian Escobedo assisted on the game-tying goal.
BGSU finished 1-for-6 on the power play while killing off all of its opponent's power plays for the second-consecutive night (0-for-6).
"They won a lot more one-on-one battles and thus they generated more opportunities," BGSU coach Scott Paluch said about Miami. "It was the type of game, once again, where they made the play late in the game and gave themselves the opportunities down the stretch to win the game.
"Tyler Masters was very strong in goal, again. He gave us a good chance. Our penalty kill was strong again. We were able to get a lift from our PK unit. We needed to generate a little bit more from our power play unit."
Wires kicked off his junior season with a strong showing, finishing with two power play goals and an assist in the two games to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team. Masters surrendered just three goals while making 61 saves in two games, also earning a spot on the All-Tournament team. For the weekend, BGSU opponents were 0-for-10 on the power play while BGSU was 3-for-10 with the man advantage.
Bowling Green hosts Western Michigan this Friday, Oct. 11, in the Falcons' home opener at BGSU Ice Arena. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
NOTE: The championship game vs. Miami will be re-broadcasted on Fox Sports Ohio on Monday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. (EST).