The 14th ranked Falcon hockey team shutout 19th ranked Northern Michigan 5-0 on the road Saturday night.

Freshman goalie Chris Nell improved his overall record to 5-0-0 and recorded 26 saves in the victory.

“I liked Chris Nell’s play,” BG head coach Chris Bergeron said. “When the game was still tight, I thought he made some good saves. There are still some things I think we could’ve done better defensively, but all-in-all we were tighter.”

Ben Murphy and Pierre-Luc Mercier scored two goals each on the night. Adam Berkle also recorded a power play goal in the third period.

“We came up to a very difficult place to play and I thought we did a nice job. I’m happy with the weekend,” Bergeron said.

BG went 2-for-6 on the power play, while going 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. BG also outshot the Wildcats on the night, 29-26 shots.

In Friday night’s game, BG and Northern Michigan tied 5-5. The Falcons had a 5-3 lead in the second period, however the Wildcats rallied back with two goals to ultimately end the game in a tie.

BG goalie Tommy Burke recorded 28 saves in the game, and now has a record of 4-2-2 when starting. Ben Greiner scored his first two collegiate goals in the first period to give the Falcons an early 2-1 lead.

However, the Wildcats tied the game at two before the end of the first period. Early in the second period, defenseman Dajon Mingo scored his first goal of the season to give BG a 3-2 advantage.

Less than five minutes later Northern Michigan scored again to tie the game at three. Brandon Hawkins scored two goals in the second period to give the falcons a 5-3 lead.

But, the Falcons gave up two goals before the end of regulation and neither time could score in overtime.

“It was a high paced game tonight and we need to take more responsibility on the defensive end,” Hawkins said.

BG outshot the Wildcats on the night, 42-33, including a season-high 23 shots in a single period in the second period. BG went 1-for-2 on the power play, and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.

Forward Matt Pohlkamp recorded three assists on the night.

With the win on Saturday, BG improved their overall record to 11-3-2 and 8-1-1 in conference play. They earned three out of a possible four points during the weekend.

The Falcons’ next game will be outdoors on Saturday, Jan. 3, at Fifth Third Field in Toledo. This will be BG’s first ever outdoor hockey game.

They will take on Robert Morris University, a team the Falcons defeated in last year’s Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh.