Falcons Hold Off Huskies Late, Earn 3-2 Decision

Saturday, January 17

Houghton, Mich.

5:07 P.M.

Bowling Green State University

14-4-4,10-2-2

Michigan Tech

16-7-1,11-4-1

Team	1	2	3	F
Bowling Green	0	3	0	3
Michigan Tech	0	2	0	2

January 17, 2015 | Ice Hockey

Box Score

The Falcons killed off a key five-minute major call over the final 3:15 to hold off Michigan Tech.

By: by BGSU Athletic Communications

Houghton, Mich. – The 7th-ranked Bowling Green State University ice hockey team defeated No. 11 Michigan Tech University, 3-2, Saturday (Jan. 17) evening in front of 3,435 fans at the John MacInnes Student ice Arena. The Falcons' Connor Kucera –who tallied his first goal of the season—, Brandon Hawkins and Pierre-Luc Mercier all recorded goals for the Orange and Brown, while Tommy Burke (5-2-3) turned away 38-of-40 shots in the winning effort.

With the win, Bowling Green moved to 4-0-0 following a loss, and improved to 14-4-4 (10-2-2 WCHA) overall on the season. The Falcons now have 22 points on the season, which trails Michigan Tech's 23 points for second place. The Orange and Brown are currently trailing league-leading Minnesota State –who is ranked No. 1 in the nation – by seven points with four games in hand.

"I thought we responded well. We just needed to compete at a higher level and we felt last night we didn't compete to a level we want," head coach Chris Bergeron said. "There's accountability when you do that and I thought our guys responded pretty well."

Leading by a 3-2 score entering the final frame, the Falcons got a resilient performance from Burke –10 saves in the period –, and proved its second-ranked penalty kill unit in the nation to earn a hard-fought two points against the Huskies.

"I thought he played well. I've seen him play better in that building before; we've left him out to dry worse than we did tonight," Bergeron said. "The second goal is one I know he'd like to have back, but I thought he closed the door nicely."

Trailing by one, the Huskies' aggressive play forced 10 shots on net towards Burke, including several 2-on-1 MTU opportunities. Bowling Green faced its biggest challenge of the tilt when sophomore defenseman Sean Walker was called for a five-minute major interference call with 3:15 remaining in regulation.

"It shows the resiliency our team has to battle through the final three minutes," Burke said. Our team has a lot of fight in them and we answered the challenge tonight."

The Falcons, who entered the game second in the nation with a 93.3 percent penalty kill unit, faced its biggest task all season. The Orange and Brown proved its resiliency, allowing only one shot on net over the final 3:15 to kill off the biggest power play opportunity by an opponent on the season.

"They have some really good forwards and offensive defensemen and you have to be ready," Burke said. "I just try to think a step ahead and it was good to hold them off tonight."

Much like last night, the Falcons and Huskies skated to a scoreless first period – where Burke turned away all 16 MTU shots, including killing a power play chance—, as the two WCHA conference rivals placed a combined 26 shots on net. However, neither team could solve the other netminder until the Falcons struck first at the 7:29 mark in the second period.

Kucera, a senior who hails from Twin Lakes, Indiana, took a pass from senior classmate Adam Berkle and ripped a shot towards Huskies' Jamie Phillips from the top of the circle. The puck slid under Phillip's pads and trickled to the back of the cage, giving the Falcons an early 1-0 lead – marking Kucera's first goal of the season.

You can listen to the goal call (Evan Pivnick) by CLICKING HERE!

The Orange and Brown, who entered the game averaging 3.29 goals-per-game, struck extended its lead by scoring two goals in 20 seconds. Hawkins, who scored in last night's game, once again beat Phillips top shelf just inside the right post to give Bowling Green a 2-0 lead. Quickly after, freshman Mark Friedman's pass across the slot to Mercier set-up the Montreal, Quebec native to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead.

You can listen to the goal call (Evan Pivnick) by CLICKING HERE (Hawkins)!

You can listen to the goal call (Evan Pivnick) by CLICKING HERE (Mercier)!

With the assist, Friedman has totaled a point in eight of his last nine games – giving him a 1-7—8 total during that span.

The Huskies, much like last night, battled back to score the final two goals of the middle frame to cut the deficit to within one entering the third period. Goals at the 12:30 mark and 17:32 cut the Falcons' lead to 3-2.

"Obviously when we went up 3-0 we didn't want the next three to five minutes to go like that, but it did. I think the end of the second came at a good time for us to regroup and just breathe a little bit. Both kills in the third were solid," Bergeron said. "We knew they were going to get their looks because they're a really good power play. But I thought the looks we gave them were fairly limited to what Tommy could handle."

Michigan Tech out-shot Bowling Green –including a game-high 16 shots in the first period— by a 40-28 margin, but Bowling Green moved to 5-2-1 when out-shot by their opponents for the season. The Falcons went 0-for-4 on the power play, and went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill in the game.

The Falcons will return to the BGSU Ice Arena next week, playing host to WCHA-foe Lake Superior State University in a two-game weekend set. The Orange and Brown will look to solidify its standings in league play, entering the weekend third in the conference. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. both nights.