Lately the Falcons have been getting much needed help from more than just their everyday stars.
At 8:10 of the third period the Falcons bench erupted after sophomore forward Dana Hanson scored the game-winning goal in the Falcons 3-1 victory over Notre Dame on Thursday.
But it was more than just a game winning goal for Hanson, it was also his first ever point in his 37 game career.
“I actually just came off the bench,” Hanson said. “The goalie was just kind of scrambling to get back in his net, I saw the open net and fired it on net. It was kind of a bad angle but I was lucky it went in.”
Falcon head coach Scott Paluch said Hanson has always had a strong work ethic and with the way he has scored goals in practice, his chance had to come sooner or later.
“It’s a hard thing to do when you go through a full season and not get a point; that can wear at people,” Paluch said. “Dana’s a strong kid. He brings a lot to the game with his hard work. It was obviously a matter of time.”
Hanson’s goal gave the Falcons a boost as they are now over .500 (2-1-0) in CCHA conference games for the first time since 1999. The Falcons are also off to their best overall start in eight years (4-1-0 overall).
“I think it was a big goal for the team,” Hanson said. “We’ve been battling a lot for the last couple weeks. It was a key goal at a key time to put us up at the end of the game.”
Hanson’s hard work and determination hasn’t gone unnoticed with the rest of the team either. Senior captain Ryan Minnabarriet said it was great to see Hanson get the game-winning goal.
“Dana works hard every day,” Minnabarriet said. “It’s always a big plus when hard working guys can get big goals like that.”
But Hanson’s goal also gave the Falcons momentum throughout the rest of the game, resulting in a BG goal from freshman forward Alex Foster, his first of the season. Paluch said a lot more than just the same everyday players helped win this game.
“It’s nice when you can get contributions from different players and we got that tonight,” Paluch said.
