By Ben Shanahan
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
Michigan Tech routed Bowling Green State University hockey, 7-0, in a Central Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Slater Family Ice Arena on Friday, snapping the Falcons’ six-game win streak.
BGSU falls to 13-17-1 overall and 11-9-1 in the CCHA, while Michigan Tech improves to 13-13-6 and 10-9-2.
“The start was really good. We had some chances, but we stopped playing hockey, and Michigan Tech didn’t. There was not a single facet of the game that they did not outplay us,” said Eigner
BG would get the first crack on the power play early in the first period when Michigan Tech freshman Nick Williams was called for a two-minute minor hooking penalty. Tech would bounce back from the early penalty call and kill off the Falcon power play with 14:54 remaining in the opening frame.
MTU lit up the scoreboard first as senior Jed Pieltila sniped a pass from the left hash to his captain Arvid Caderoth out in front of Cole Moore, making it 1-0 with 9:02 in the first.
The Huskies doubled their lead as BGSU goalie Cole Moore could not corral a loose puck, which was stolen by junior Alex Nordstrom, who netted the puck with 2:41 left in the first 20 minutes.
BG looked to finish off their tough first period only down two until disaster struck when a bad turnover with 11 seconds remaining first resulted in an Isaac Gordon goal with eight seconds remaining and the Huskies had a 3-0 lead going into the first intermission.
Just about halfway through the second period, Tech got their first chance on the power play after an interference call whistled against the Falcons. One minute and 20 seconds into that power play, both teams switched to 4-on-4 hockey when Michigan Techn’s Jack Works was called for a crosscheck. With 8:18 remaining, both teams finished off their respective penalties, and the game remained 3-0.
Three minutes later, Jed Pietila ended up back on the scoring sheet, this time with a goal, as his blast from the point with 5:16 left in the middle frame put the Huskies well out in front, 4-0.
BG gave up yet another goal in the last 30 seconds as Michigan Tech senior Tyrone Bronte’s shot trickled through Cole Moore’s legs, making the game 5-0 heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
BGSU junior goaltender Christian Stoever came in for relief for the Falcons to start the third period, hoping to end the bleeding and give his team a chance.
“It was not Cole’s fault. He made some key saves,” Eigner said. “I talked about potentially pulling him after the first. I had a feeling we were not playing, and if we took him out, it was how we were playing, not him. We wanted to put him back in, and hopefully it would turn into a game, but it didn’t.”
The third period got off to a hot start as two players from each team headed to the box for roughing. For BG, it was sophomore Quinn Emerson and freshman Ben Doran heading to the box and for Michigan Tech, senior captain Arvid Caderoth and senior captain Chase Pietila went to the other box.
The Huskies got an actual power play 15 seconds later when BGSU junior Owen Ozar was called for interference. Twelve seconds after the penalty, Tech added yet another goal when junior Marcus Pederson’s slot shot beat Stoever, making it 6-0 with 18:38 remaining in the game.
BG headed to the box yet again, this time as sophomore Brett Pfoh was caught for slashing the goalie after the whistle, but BG killed off the Tech power play with 15:19 remaining.
The penalties just kept coming at 7:32 as both teams would play 4-on-4 hockey, with Pfoh and Gordan both being called for slashing each other. During that 4-on-4, BG committed another penalty as Gustav Stjernberg was called for a high stick. All these penalties would be killed off, but the Huskies still held a daunting 6-0 lead with 4:53 remaining.
With 2:06 remaining, Michigan Tech made it 7-0 with an Alex Nordstrom goal, giving Tech a huge three points in such a tight CCHA standings.
The action will continue on Saturday, puck drop set for 7:07 p.m. at Slater Arena. Saturday will serve as BG City Schools Night, 80s Night, Senior Day, and the 1984 National Championship Reunion. Postgame there will be an autograph session with the 1984 team.
