Bowling Green Comes From Behind To Defeat Northern Michigan In Overtime

Friday, February 1

Marquette, Mich.

7:07 PM

Bowling Green State University

18-7-3, 13-6-2-2

Northern Michigan

13-13-0, 12-7-0-0

Team	1	2	3	OT 1	F
Bowling Green	1	0	1	1	3
Northern Michigan	0	1	1	0	2

Bowling Green Comes From Behind To Defeat Northern Michigan In Overtime

February 02, 2019 | Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: By Kellan Godfrey, BGSU Athletic Communications

MARQUETTE, Mich. – The No. 13 ranked Bowling Green State University hockey team came from behind to defeat Northern Michigan University in overtime in game one of their weekend series on Friday (Feb. 1) by a final score of three to two. The Falcons scored three times on 24 shots on goal. Sam Craggs would score a shorthanded goal for the Falcons in the first period. NMU would score in the second and third periods to take the lead before Connor Ford would score the game tying goal for BGSU. The game would go into overtime tied at two before, senior forward John Schilling would win it for Bowling Green scoring just 17 seconds into the first overtime period. The Falcons will wrap up this two game series at Northern Michigan on Saturday (Feb. 2) night as they go for a sweep of the Wildcats. Puck drop for game two is scheduled for 7:07 PM.

Box Score (PDF)

Scoring Plays

Sam Craggs would score his fourth goal of the season shorthanded to put the Falcons on the board first. Craggs would score unassisted through the five hole at 15:02 into the first period.
Northern Michigan's Adam Roeder would tie the game on a one timer 4:43 into the second period. He would be assisted by Luke Voltin and Tony Bretzman.
Northern Michigan would take the lead with a power play goal by Troy Loggins 2:30 into the third period. He was assisted by Philip Beaulieu and Ryan Black.
Connor Ford would take advantage of some excellent puck movement in front of the net and send it past NMU goaltender Atte Tolvanen to score. Stephen Baylis and John Schilling would tally assists on the play.
It was John Schilling who would score the game-winning overtime goal for Bowling Green just 17 seconds into the first overtime period. The senior gets his fourth goal of the season. Connor Ford would get the assist.

Goal Call

To hear the goal call of John Schilling's overtime game-winner by Ryan Vallon click HERE.

Other Key Plays

Following a heavy hit on Bowling Green's Taylor Schneider, Northern Michigan would be given a five minute major late in the second period that would then carry over into the third period. The Wildcats would find a way to kill off the penalty.
Bowling Green generated heavy offensive pressure on Northern Michigan throughout the third period despite giving up the lead. At 10:43 left to go in regulation, the Falcons would shoot a pair on the doorstep. A couple of great saves by Atte Tolvanen would keep the lead intact. BGSU would ultimately wear them down and find the back of the net two more times before the end of the contest.

Falcon Stat Facts

Senior forward John Schilling's game-winning overtime goal was his fourth of the season and number 16 of his career. With an assist as well, this is the seventh multi-point game of his career. He now has four goals and five assists for nine points this season.
Sam Craggs scored shorthanded goal number five for Bowling Green on the year. BGSU is tied at sixth for most shorthanded goals in the country. Craggs now has four goals and four assists for eight points this season.
Connor Ford tallied a goal and an assist in tonight's win. He has now surpassed his point total from his freshman year with 20 points so far during the 2018-19 campaign. This is also the fifth multi-point game of his season, and the seventh of his career with the Orange and Brown.
Bowling Green was able to win a full three points in the WCHA standings with Friday's (Feb. 1) overtime win. BGSU is in second place with 43 league points, while Northern Michigan drops to fourth place still with 36 points. Lake Superior State has moved into third place with 38 points going into Saturday's (Feb. 2) game.

Coach Bergeron's Take

"I thought our guys stuck with it. We were questioning ourselves on the bench, at least that's what it felt like for a bit. But then something happened, I'm not exactly sure what triggered it, but then we had a good hard push. At the end there, I thought we got exactly what we deserved, the tying goal. I thought we had pushed and had four or five pretty good shifts over the course of the next six minutes. I was proud of the group for sticking in there. Northern Michigan is a really good team, we know that, we're fighting for the same things and our guys hung in there and found a way."
The message on the bench prior to the start of overtime, "The message was keep doing what you're doing. Because if you think of the last six or seven minutes of that game, we were doing really good things. I'm not sure that they were big time chances, but there was play in front of their net. You're going to get rewarded, and I thought we got a good bounce. We haven't had many bounces over the last little bit here, and I thought we got a good fortunate bounce on that winning goal so we'll take it."

John Schilling's Take

"Its something we've been focusing on. We saw that lapse in the beginning of the first period, it took over to them in the second they had the momentum, and then they scored again. We just have that 'we're not going to be denied mentality' and we just really stuck with it and grinded out a road win."
On the overtime goal, " I focused on keeping the puck in first and I heard Ford calling for it down at the goal line. He tried to stuff play, and I just found a rebound and put it in."

Up Next

The Falcons will play the second game of this series versus Northern Michigan on Saturday (Feb. 2) night at 7:07 PM. Following this series, Bowling Green will have a bye week before returning to home ice to host the Nanooks of Alaska Fairbanks in Slater Family Ice Arena (Feb. 15-16).

Follow the Falcons

For more information on the hockey program, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGFalconHockey and @BGAthletics) and on Instagram (bgfalconhockey) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com