No. 20 Michigan Tech (23-12-3, 16-7-3) held on to claim a 3-2 victory over Bowling Green in game two of their first-round series of the CCHA Mason Cup playoffs to complete the series sweep and end the Falcons’ season.
Following the loss, Bowling Green finished the season with a final record of 18-11-7.
Michigan Tech struck first on the scoresheet when a defensive turnover by the Falcons led to an odd-man rush for the Huskies that saw senior forward Stiven Sardarian finish off a passing play to give the Huskies an early 1-0 lead halfway through the first period. Assists on the goal were credited to freshman forward Michael Cicek and junior forward Owen Baker.
The Huskies extended their lead in the second period when junior forward Lauri Raiman scored off a rebound to give MTU a 2-0 lead. Assists were awarded to freshman defenseman Kalem Parker and Cicek on the play.
Going into the third period of play, Bowling Green trailed 2-0 and would have to step it up in the third period if they hoped to extend their season. Step it up, they did as the Falcons took a total of 18 shots during the third period while holding the Huskies to just four. Overall, the Orange and Brown outshot the Huskies 40-26 over the course of the game.
With around eight and a half minutes left in the final frame of the Falcons’ season, redshirt senior defenseman Jackson Niedermayer seemingly scored Bowling Green’s first goal of the game via a shot from the right faceoff dot that deflected in off a player in front of the net. However, following a review, the goal was disallowed due to goaltender interference.
Not long after, Niedermayer scored off a rebound opportunity to give the Falcons their first official goal of the game. Assists on the play were awarded to senior forward and alternate captain Quinn Emerson and freshman defenseman Ty Higgins.
With one minute remaining in regulation, sophomore defenseman Luca Fasciano scored an empty-netter to restore Michigan Tech’s two-goal lead. Assists were awarded to Sardarian and Baker.
While it ultimately couldn’t prevent the Tech goal from being scored, Bowling Green junior defenseman and alternate captain Gustav Stjernberg displayed a notable effort on the play by fully laying out to block the original shot by Baker before sliding headfirst into the boards behind the net. Stjernberg would leave the ice with an injury from the play and would not return to the game.
Bowling Green pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker again following the goal and a shot from the right faceoff dot by freshman forward Dominik Rymon scored to give the Falcons hope with 26.9 seconds remaining in the third period. Higgins and junior forward Ben Doran were credited with the assists on the play.
Despite continuing to create dangerous scoring chances all the way to the final whistle, Bowling Green couldn’t beat MTU’s junior netminder Owen Bartoszkiewicz again, and the Huskies would outlast the Falcons to claim the 3-2 victory and the series sweep to move on to the second round of the CCHA Mason Cup playoffs.
Bartoszkiewicz played well all night for the Huskies and made multiple important saves throughout the game to give Tech the victory. He finished the game having saved 38 of the 40 shots he faced to finish the contest with a .950 save percentage.
Bowling Green’s Cole Moore also played well despite the losing effort as the junior netminder made 23 saves and finished the game with a .920 save percentage.
Other efforts by the Falcons include Rymon, who, on top of scoring a late goal to bring the Orange and Brown to within one goal of tying the game, also led the Falcons in shots on goal with seven. Stjernberg (5), Niedermayer (4), and freshman defenseman Brayden Crampton (4) followed closely behind Rymon in the category.
The loss against Michigan Tech not only marked the end of the Falcon hockey season, but the end of seniors Emerson, Niedermayer, Jack Blake, Brett Pfoh, alternate captain Jaden Grant, and team captain Dalton Norris’ college hockey careers.
For Michigan Tech, they will move on to the second round of the CCHA Mason Cup playoffs, but will have to wait for the conclusion of the Minnesota State vs. Ferris State series to find out who they will be playing in the next round.
