Falcons Fall Behind in Series With Game One Loss

Friday, March 4

Marquette, Mich. (CCHA First Round)

7:35 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Northern Michigan

March 04, 2011 | Ice Hockey

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

MARQUETTE, Michigan -- For two offenses that had struggles scoring goals in conference play, the Bowling Green Falcons and the Northern Michigan Wildcats did well lighting up the scoreboard for a total of nine combined goals in Friday night's series opening game to begin CCHA playoff play. The eleventh seeded Falcons traveled to Marquette, Mich. for the first round of the conference tournament to play the sixth seeded Wildcats of Northern Michigan and lost, 6-3, in game one action at the Berry Events Center.

Box score (.html) | Box score (.pdf) | Updated statistics (.html)
Post game audio with Chris Bergeron -- click here
Post game video with Chris Bergeron -- click here

The second period captured most of the night's action featuring five goals in the first ten minutes of the period, six penalties, five power play chances and one goaltending change. Northern Michigan began the frame just as it had ended the first period with a pair of goals scored within a minute of one another off before BGSU had the chance to respond.
Northern Michigan forward Stephan Vigier scored the second of his two goals on the night when he wrapped a rebound chance around Bowling Green goaltender Andrew Hammond (Surrey, British Columbia) at 5:12 of the second period. The Wildcats followed up just 49 seconds later with their third goal of the contest when Erik Higby received a back-door pass from defenseman Andrew Hernandez and plugged in goal number four at 6:01.

Trailing 4-1 at this point, a change was made in between the pipes on the Bowling Green end. After finishing with 21 saves on 25 shots against in 26:01 of time, Hammond was relieved for senior netminder Nick Eno (Howell, Mich.). The changed sparked some energy into the Falcons leading to an unassisted goal scored by junior forward Cameron Sinclair (Windsor, Ontario). Sinclair caused a turnover in the neutral zone and skated just outside of the far faceoff circle and sniped the puck just inside the post, beating NMU goaltender Reid Ellingson stick-side.

With a 4-2 score, the Falcons and the Wildcats swapped goals within 30 seconds of one another. Northern Michigan's Stephan Vigier scored his second of two goals on the night, capitalizing on a turnover in the Bowling Green zone at 8:38 of the second.

Bryce Williamson (Seba Beach, Alberta) tallied his third goal of the season just 26 seconds later when he followed up on a shot taken by Mike Fink (Minnetonka, Minnesota). Fink's shot, taken from inside the near faceoff circle, was deflected out by Ellingson but stationed out in front of the net, Williamson followed the puck out to the far post and one-timed the rock to the back of the cage to make the score 5-3. Scored at 9:26, the goal was netted just 41 seconds into a BGSU power play. It was Williamson's first lamp lighter on the power play and his first power-play point of the season. All goals were tallied within the first half of the second period and the 5-3 score remained heading into the second intermission.

The Falcons and Wildcats skated back and forth with ample opportunities to change the score throughout the period, but Eno and Ellingson both pitched perfect third periods. Eno stopped all nine shots he faced in the third, combining for a game total of 15, while Ellingson tossed aside all seven BGSU shots, ending the night with 25 saves.

Northern Michigan added an empty-net goal just under the two-minute mark of the third period after the move was made with 2:47 to go to pull Eno and add an extra skater. Another Bowling Green turnover forced by Justin Florek ended in a NMU goal, Florek's 14th of the year.

The Wildcats scored twice in the first period but not before Bowling Green marked up the scoreboard first. The Falcons took to the power play after Northern Michigan center Erik Higby was called for tripping and wasted no time before making the hosts pay for their mistake. After setting up the play, freshman Brett Mohler (Yorba Linda, Calif.) took a shot from the far wing that NMU goaltender Reid Ellingson got a body on and knocked down. The rebound bounced just outside the far post where fellow freshman Mike Fink followed up with a putback from point-blank range to score the game-opening goal at 7:03 of the first period. Assists were awarded to Mohler and Bryce Williamson on the goal. The goal was Fink's fourth of the season, second against a conference opponent.

With his goal and assist, Williamson recorded his first multi-point game of his career while Fink notched his second of the year with the same line for the night. Of the seven points the Falcons accumulated on the night, five were credited to members of the freshman class.

The Falcons (8-25-4) now face elimination in the best-of-three series after falling in game one to Northern Michigan (15-17-5). The teams will meet again in the Berry Events Center on Saturday, March 6, for game two. The drop of the puck will take place at 7:35 p.m. ET. Should the Falcons win on Satuday night, they will play in the decisive game three held on Sunday night at the same time.

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.