Comeback Falls Short As Huskies Defeated by BGSU
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bowling Green (14-4-4,10-2-2) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
|
Michigan Tech (16-7-1,11-4-1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – No. 11 Michigan Tech's comeback fell short on Saturday (Jan. 17) against No. 7 Bowling Green, falling 3-2 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. The Falcons took a 3-0 lead before a pair of goals by Blake Pietila cut the lead to one. The Huskies ended the game on a power play but couldn't get one past BGSU goaltender Tommy Burke down the stretch.
"Tonight's game was very similar to last night," Tech coach Mel Pearson said. "We dug ourselves a hole. We had pretty good control early in the game but then gave up some goals. We fought our way back, but just couldn't get over the hump.
"Playing from behind is tough, especially against a good team like Bowling Green."
All five of the game's goals were scored in the second period. Pietila lit the lamp 12:30 into the stanza, scoring on a rebound after a shot by Malcolm Gould to make it 3-1. Patrick Anderson picked up the secondary assist for his first career point in his first game in a Husky uniform.
Five minutes later, Pietila made it a one-goal game with a sharp-angled shot that snuck under Burke. Gould and Reid Sturos assisted on Pietila's eighth of the season and 39th of his career.
The Huskies started the third period on a power play and carried the momentum throughout the remainder of the game, outshooting the Falcons 10-4. With less than 5:00 to go, Dylan Steman carried the puck into the BGSU zone on a 2-on-1 but had his wrist shot swallowed up.
With 3:15 remaining, the Falcons were called for a five-minute major for interference, putting the Huskies on the man advantage to finish the game.
Tanner Kero drew iron after a one-timer early in the power play. The Falcons penalty kill then stepped up, not allowing the Huskies any good scoring chances, even after pulling goaltender Matt Wintjes with 67 seconds left for the two-man advantage.
Connor Kucera opened the game's scoring 7:29 into the second as he scooped up a long rebound and fired in a wrist shot from the top of the circle to the left of Jamie Phillips.
BGSU (14-4-4, 10-2-2 WCHA) then buried two goals in a 20-second span to take a 3-0 lead. Brandon Hawkins finished off a 2-on-1 at 9:04 and then Mark Friedman found Pierre-Luc Mercier wide open in front of Phillips moments later.
The Huskies had their chances to take the lead in the first period. CJ Eick went in on a short breakaway but had his shot tipped away by Burke. Pietila and Brent Baltus also had shots steered away in the early stages of the game.
Tech outshot BGSU 40-28, including 16 in the first period alone. Burke finished with 28 saves.
Phillips had 15 saves in the first 29 minutes of the game. Wintjes finished with 10 saves in the final period and a half.
The Huskies continue the nine-game home stand next weekend (Jan. 23-24) against Alaska. The two teams face off at 7:07 p.m. both nights.
"We can control what we do and what we can correct," added Pearson. "They're (Alaska) a good team, and they came here last year and embarrassed us. We're going to have to be ready to go next weekend."
GAME NOTES: Tech remains in second place in the WCHA standings with a one-point edge over Bowling Green…Eick and Petan each played their 100th career games on Saturday…It was Pietila's 19th career multiple point game…It was the second time (Jan. 2 at Wisconsin) this season he scored twice in a game.
