Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
MICHIGAN STATE
Falcons Notch First CCHA Win, 3-2, In OT vs. Michigan State
November 22, 2002 | Ice Hockey
Nov. 22, 2002
Bowling Green, Ohio - Bowling Green broke several streaks against them on Friday at the BGSU Ice Arena with a dramatic overtime win against Michigan State, 3-2. The Falcon victory was the first Central Collegiate Hockey Association decision of 2002-03 (now 1-7-1 CCHA) for the Brown and Orange; it snapped a six-game winning streak by MSU over Bowling Green; and it was the first win for BGSU over the Spartans in 12 games (Dec. 7, 1997 - BGSU 1-0).
Junior captain D'Arcy McConvey pushed the puck through a pile of bodies near the crease and past MSU goalie Matt Migliaccio at 3:10 in overtime for the deciding goal. It was McConvey's third goal of the season and he was assisted by assistant captain Kevin Bieksa.
"Bieksa just tried to hit me with a pass, it went off the end boards, kind of came back in front of the net and I just shot as quick as I could towards the net," said McConvey. "We now have one (win) in conference and we know we can win in conference."
After a scoreless first period, which MSU outshot BGSU by just 10-9, John-Michael Liles gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead at 5:21 of the second period. The power-play goal was with a 5-on-3 advantage for MSU.
MSU held the one-goal lead until 18:31 of the second period when BGSU's Ryan Minnabarriet one-timed a pass from Steve Brudzewski. Brudzewski's pass came from the corner and Minnabarriet shot top-shelf on Migliaccio to knot the game at 1-1. Bieksa was also credited with an assist on the goal. MSU held a 13-10 shot advantage in the second period.
The game remained 1-1 until late in the third period when MSU's Jim Slater scored at 16:05 to give the visiting Spartans a one-goal lead, 2-1. The Falcons came right back, though, and tied the game with under two minutes remaining in the third period when Tyler Knight scored (18:06) with assists from Chris Pedota and McConvey. The game-tying goal set up the dramatic overtime finish for the Falcons and McConvey.
"We knew we had to do something big these two weekends (Michigan and Michigan State) to turn the corner," said McConvey. "Hopefully we have."
Sophomore goalie Jordan Sigalet recorded 29 saves on 31 shots faced for his first win of the season.
"To finally take that next step and that goal in overtime was huge," said Sigalet. "The guys battled unbelievably hard tonight. The guys didn't give up. All our goals tonight were great goals."
Migliaccio had 30 saves on 33 shots faced. BGSU held a 33-31 shot advantage in the game, including 12-8 in the third period and 2-0 in overtime. It was just the second time this season that the Falcons outshot their opponent and the second win when doing so.
MSU drops to 5-6-0 overall and 3-4-0 in the CCHA. BGSU (3-8-1 overall, 1-7-1 CCHA) is off during Thanksgiving break and returns to action when it travels to Notre Dame (Dec. 7-8).
