No. 18 Falcons Fall To No. 17 Michigan Tech 4-1

Saturday, January 30

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:07 PM

Bowling Green State University

15-8-6, 11-4-5

Michigan Tech

14-7-5, 11-6-3

Michigan Tech

Bowling Green

Photo by: Craig Bell, BGSU Marketing and Communications

January 30, 2016 | Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: by Matt Daley, BGSUFalcons.com

Box Score

Bowling Green, Ohio - The No. 18 Bowling Green State University hockey team scored just 45 seconds into Saturday night's key contest with No. 17 Michigan Tech but the Falcons were unable to dent the scoreboard again in a 4-1 loss to the Huskies at the BGSU Ice Arena.

"The mistakes we made tonight were costly," BGSU Head Coach Chris Bergeron said. "I thought Michigan Tech was good tonight. They were the better team. We got beat by a team that was executing at a higher level than we were."

Moments after the game began, BGSU forced a face-off in the Huskies' defensive zone. Pierre-Luc Mercier beat Jake Lucchini to the puck, which went to Kevin Dufour. Dufour guided a shot from the middle of the left circle to the upper right corner of the net, just over the glove of MTU goaltender Jamie Phillips.

The remainder of the contest was a struggle for Bowling Green to find opportunities on offense. By the time the final horn sounded, the Falcons had managed a season-low 18 shots on goal. Michigan Tech blocked an additional 11 shots, which gave them 26 total blocks during the weekend.

The Falcon defense held strong against 14 Michigan Tech shots through almost all of the first period. However, a turnover in the final 30 seconds led to a two-on-one break for the Huskies. Alex Gillies fed Brent Baltus, who beat Chris Nell for the equalizer with only eight seconds left in the first period.

The game remained tied through ten minutes of the second period. With 9:26 to go in the frame, BGSU received its second power play chance of the night when Alex Petan was called for slashing. Just 20 seconds later, Matt Roy went to the penalty box for boarding, and the Falcons had a 5-on-3 power play.

Late in BGSU's two-man advantage, MTU's Reid Sturos blocked a shot and raced to the other end of the ice in a two-on-one break. He took a shot from Nell's right side and drove it home for an unassisted, short-handed goal and a 2-1 lead. It was only the second such goal allowed by the Falcons this season.

Jordan Ernst was called for cross-checking at the 16:47 mark of the second period to give MTU its second power-play chance of the evening. Only nine seconds later, the Huskies lit the lamp again for a 3-1 lead. This time, Petan added his 14th goal of the season with an assist from Shane Hanna.

Michigan Tech recorded power play goals against BGSU in all four games between the two teams this season. Overall, they were 4-for-9 in those situations against the Falcons.

The score remained 3-1 until the Huskies added an empty-net goal by Dylan Steman within the final minute of the game. The unassisted goal provided the final 4-1 margin.

Dufour's goal was his ninth of the season. He is now tied with Brandon Hawkins for second on the team on that category. The assist by Mercier was his ninth.

BGSU's goal was their 29th during January. It is the highest-scoring calendar month for the team during Chris Bergeron's six years as head coach. The Falcons' last month with that many goals was January of 2006, when they scored 32.

The Falcons are now 15-8-6 (11-4-5 WCHA), while Michigan Tech improves to 14-7-5 (11-6-3 WCHA). Bowling Green remains in second place in the WCHA and is two points ahead of MTU in the standings.

BGSU's next action will be next weekend at Minnesota State. The games are on Friday and Saturday night, with scheduled start times of 8:07 pm for both. The Falcons trail WCHA-leading MSU by two points.