Third Period Surge Ruins Run to 800

Saturday, November 13

Marquette, Mich.

7:35 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Northern Michigan

November 13, 2010 | Ice Hockey

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- In their pursuit for the hockey program's 800th win, the Falcons battled through penalties to keep the game within reach. Northern Michigan put on a late surge and took advantage of eleven power plays to down the Falcons, 5-1, on Saturday night.

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Bowling Green totaled eleven penalties and 44 minutes of penalty time on the evening, leading to three NMU power-play goals. Two Falcons were sent to the locker rooms early, including Max Grover (So., Kentwood, Mich.) whose game misconduct call preceded two Wildcat power-play scores sealing the game for the Wildcats.

Northern Michigan jumped out to a 2-0 lead, putting a score on the board in each of the first two periods. They set the tone early with an even-strength goal within the first two minutes of the opening period. On a broken play deep into the Bowling Green zone, a loose puck turned into a Wildcat goal. Northern Michigan obtained the puck along the endboards in the BGSU zone where Mike Maltese pushed the puck up to Phil Fox near the top of the near circle. With a weak wrist shot, Fox put the shot on goal and handcuffed BGSU goaltender Andrew Hammond (Surrey, British Columbia) as the puck squirted through his legs for the opening score.

The Bowling Green special teams were tested early as well but held its own. A pair of overlapping penalties by the Falcons gave the Wildcats twenty-three seconds of five-on-three action. Despite the advantage, Northern Michigan did not capitalize having both power plays killed off by the Falcons.

Whistles continued to put Bowling Green at a disadvantage treading into the second period. In the fourth minute of the second period, Bobby Shea (So., Harrison Township, Mich.) was whistled for a major checking from behind and given a game misconduct putting Northern Michigan on the power play for five minutes. After killing 2:13 of NMU power play, the Wildcats found a hole in the Falcon defense when Tyler Gron put a shot on net that was knocked down by Hammond. On the follow up, Fox struck again when he found an open area of the Falcon cage and put home the second goal of the night for a two goal lead.

Bowling Green's power play unit redeemed the lapse in special teams with a power-play goal later in the period. Preceding the goal, Jordan Samuels-Thomas (South Windsor, Conn.) had an opportunity to half the Wildcat lead when awarded a penalty shot early into the power play chance. On a scrum in front of the Wildcat cage, Samuels-Thomas was taken down while attempting to strike the puck. The Falcon bench elected to allow the sophomore to finish what he started but his shot after approach was denied by NMU goaltender, Reid Ellingson.

The BGSU power play unit took the momentum and bit into the Wildcat lead with a goal from freshman Brett Mohler (Yorba Linda, Calif.). Controlling puck in the NMU zone, Mohler went back door and snuck in behind the Wildcat net and received a perfect cross-ice pass from Camden Wojtala (Fr., Trenton, Mich.) allowing him to wrist a Falcon goal. Jake Sloat (Fr., Louisville, Colo.) also recorded the secondary assist on the play. This marks the second time that combination and line notched a power-play goal this weekend.

Going into the second intermission, the shots favored the Wildcats 27-12 but the game was far from over. The first half of the third period was back and forth with the momentum, but the Falcons' penalty struggles kept their playmakers off of the ice and put them on the defensive for much of the latter half.

The thirteenth minute began the shift of momentum and the separation between these two teams. Tyler Gron fired a missile from between the point and the slot from the far side to give the Wildcats a 3-1 lead.
Aggressive play turned into more BGSU penalties and led to two additional goals, both on the power play. After Grover was whistled for a contact to the head penalty and received the automatic game misconduct as a result, Northern Michigan turned up the heat. Andrew Cherniwchan and Korey Kaunisto both tallied scores to extend the NMU lead to 5-1, a score that would remain to the end.

Hammond saved 35 saves on the night, including double-digit saves in all three periods. He denied 17 shots in the first period alone and had just as many while Northern Michigan was on the power play.

On eleven Bowling Green penalties resulting in 11 power play opportunities for Northern Michigan, the Falcons spent nearly 18:47 on the penalty kill. The Falcons finished the weekend having committed 16 total penalties, but had shut out NMU on the power play, 0-for-5, in Friday night's victory. They finished 13-for-16 on the penalty kill for the weekend. They went a combined 2-for-11 on their own power play for the weekend.

The hunt for program win number-800 will be waiting for Bowling Green (5-7-0, 2-6-0) when they take on head coach Chris Bergeron's former employer, Miami University, next weekend. It will mark the first time Bergeron has played against his alma mater in his coaching career. The Falcons and RedHawks will meet at the BGSU Ice Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio) on Nov. 19-20 for a pair of games. Both games will begin at 7:05 p.m.