After falling to the previously winless Northern Michigan (1-17-0, 1-9-0) on Friday night via a 3-2 scoreline, BGSU hockey (8-5-3, 6-3-3) entered Saturday in a must-win scenario to salvage the series.
Bowling Green would secure that much-needed win 4-3 in overtime to capture two points toward the CCHA standings.
A major contributor to Bowling Green’s victory was the strong performance by junior defenseman Breck McKinley.
McKinley finished the game with three points made up of two assists and a goal, along with five shots on goal and a +/- rating of +3.
McKinley’s first point of the game was an assist on sophomore defenseman Ivan Korodiuk’s goal in the second period.
McKinley would then assist on senior forward Quinn Emerson’s game-tying goal with only one minute and 15 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime.
Within said overtime period, McKinley would fire a shot off a rebound past an out-of-position William Gramme to score the overtime winning goal and give the victory to the Falcons.
McKinley’s three-point performance brings him to a season total of one goal and 13 assists for 14 points.
McKinley is currently tied with Emerson for the team lead in assists and +/- rating (+8) while being tied with freshman forward Dominik Rymon for second place on the team in points.
With Bowling Green entering the halfway point of the season, McKinley has already set new career highs for assists and points in a season, and his overtime winning goal tied him for his career high for goals in a season.
The overtime winner also stands as the first game-winning goal in the St. Albert, Alberta native’s college career.
“I think I’m just building confidence throughout the year,” said McKinley of his season so far. “I’ve been fortunate, I’ve been moving it to guys, and they’ve been, like (Emerson), they’ve been putting it in the net. I think just that confidence thing is huge for me. Just joining the rush, being in the play, setting my gap early, stuff like that, I think, has really made me successful.”
McKinley and the Falcons will have the next handful of weeks off due to a bye week next week, followed by the CCHA winter break. They will next take the ice at the Slater Family Ice Arena on Dec. 29 to face the Team USA National Developmental U-18 team in exhibition play before facing Ohio State (6-10-0, 2-6-0) in a home-and-home series on Jan. 2 and 3.
