Bowling Green hockey (12-9-4, 8-6,4) slashed their way into the win column on Friday bringing home a hard-fought victory 3-2 against the Northern Michigan Wildcats (4-21-1, 3-14-1) in overtime. The win earns the Orange and Brown three points for the CCHA playoffs and gives BGSU their first win since Jan. 16 against Ferris State.
The match started slowly as both teams were unable to find the back of the net in the first period, however, the Falcons outshot the Wildcats 34-7, overwhelming Northern Michigan early.
Throughout the entire contest, BGSU seemed to be one step ahead of the Wildcats, outshooting Northern Michigan 74-53 and 37-24 on goal.
Despite a dominant show of control from the Falcons, BGSU could only create one goal in the second period, scored by graduate student defenseman Tommy Pasanen who tallied his second goal as a member of the Orange and Brown and his first of the season.
Heading into the third period, BGSU was looking to pull ahead, attempting three shots in a row before a quick series of strikes from the Wildcats put freshman Rasmus Larsson in a perfect position to also score his first goal of the season, drawing everything even.
With the game at a standstill, both teams needed a play that would separate them from the competition which was exactly what graduate student forward Ethan Scardina did as he won a face-off for the Falcons and quickly placed the puck in Northern Michigan’s goal for the go-ahead score.
For the next 14 minutes it looked like BGSU was on their way to a twelfth win on the season but with one minute and 20 seconds remaining, the Wildcats put together five straight shots, finished off by redshirt sophomore Tanner Latsch sending the match to the Falcons tenth overtime of the year.
It might have been overtime experience, or it might have been a hunger to win but whatever it was BGSU managed to maintain the momentum from the majority of the contest, and with one minute left in the overtime period senior forward Jackson Niedermayer put the game away setting BG one game away from a season sweep against Northern Michigan.
The Wildcats have one final chance to take a win away from BGSU as the team will rematch on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 6:07 p.m. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Ben Corak will have the call in Marquette, Mich. with pregame starting around 5:50 on WBGU 88.1 FM.
