MARQUETTE, Mich. — Bowling Green scored first Friday, but Northern Michigan responded with the next four
goals and held on for a 6-3 win in the first game of their Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoff
series.
Mike Fink’s power-play goal gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead at 7:03 of the first period. NMU then scored on
both ends of a two-man advantage to take the lead in the final five minutes of the period.
Tyler Gron tied the game at 15:45 and Stephan Vigier put NMU ahead for good at 2-1 just 42 seconds later.
NMU increased its lead to 4-1 in the second period on goals by Erik Higby at 5:12 and Brian Nugent 49
seconds later.
BG cut the deficit to 4-2 and 5-3, but couldn’t move any closer
NMU can close out the best-of-3 series with a win tonight, but a BG victory forces a third and deciding
game Sunday night. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:35.
The Wildcats, seeded sixth, improved to 15-17-5. BG, which finished last in the CCHA, fell to 8-25-4.
“We kept fighting, but it was one of those nights where we weren’t very sharp,” BG coach Chris Bergeron
said. “The effort was fine, but the execution overall wasn’t very good.”
Although NMU made good plays to score its goals, BG contributed to those goals with turnovers, odd-man
rushes, poor penalties, coverage breakdowns and poor decisions.
Each team scored two power-play goals in six attempts.
“There are times when people misunderstand about executing … it’s not just with the puck, and scoring
goals and making plays,” Bergeron said. “It’s also without the puck. It’s everywhere. It’s stick
position. It’s body position. It’s not taking poor penalties.
“We talked about discipline before the game and we talked about special teams making a difference. If we
had stayed out of the box more and killed those penalties off, the two power-play goals we scored would
have been the difference. We weren’t very good with our execution which means there’s effort there, but
no purpose to our effort and that’s not a winning combination.”
BG played without senior captain and forward David Solway, who is one the team’s best players, because of
a concussion. Solway made the trip to NMU, but Bergeron said there is “no chance” Solway would play
tonight.
BG also is without with Ian Ruel, who did not travel to NMU because of a concussion.
NMU held a 42-28 edge in shots, all of the margin coming in the first period when it had 21 shots to BG’s
five.
Fink and Bryce Williamson each had one goal and one assist for the Falcons, who had scored two or fewer
goals in 14 straight games. BG has scored three or more goals just 10 times in 37 games this season,
including three games against Alabama-Huntsville and once against Holy Cross.
BG’s Andrew Hammond and Nick Eno combined for 38 saves.
Hammond stopped 21-of-25 shots in the first 26:01 before he was replaced after Nugent’s goal. Hammond
made 19 saves in the first period.
“I was just looking for a little momentum, a little change,” Bergeron said of why he switched goalies.
Vigier’s goals were his second and third of the season, while Higby and Justin Florek both had one goal
and one assist. NMU’s Reid Ellingson made 25 saves.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN 6, BGSU 3
BGSU 1 2 0 —3
NMU 2 3 1 —6
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1, BG Fink 4 (Mohler, Williamson) 7:03. 2, NMU Gron 17 (Cherniwchan, Hanson) 15:45 (5-3 pp). 3,
NMU Viger 2 (Higby, Brown) 16:57 (5-4 pp).
Penalties: Higby, NMU, tripping, 6:54; Handley, NMU, tripping, 7:21; Mohler, BG, tripping, 13:47; Grover,
BG, tripping, 14:40; Peltoma, BG, hooking, 17:51.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 4, NMU Higby 5 (Epp, Florek) 5:12. 5, NMU Nugent 4 (Maltese, Fernandez) 6:01. 6, BG Sinclair 4
(unassisted) 6:32. 7, NMU Vigier 3 (Brown, Cherniwchan) 8:38. 8, BG Williamson 3 (Fink, Mohler) 9:04
(5-4 pp).
Penalties: Rodriguez, BG, roughing after the whistle, 8:45; Ludwig, NMU, hooking and roughing after the
whistle, 8:45; Spady, NMU, tripping, 9:26; Sloat, BG, hooking, 14:07; Ludwig, NMU, roughing, 17:28.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 6, NMU Florek 14 (unassisted) 18:01 (5-6 en).
Penalties: Fink, BG, tripping, 5:24; Gron, NMU, tripping, 6:13; Rodriguez, BG, slashing, 18:46; Vigier,
NMU, holding, 18:56.
SAVES BY PERIOD
Hammond, BG 19 2 X —21
Eno, BG X 6 9 —15
Ellingson, NMU 4 14 7 —25
Goalie statistics (goals against/minutes played): (BG) Hammond 4/216:01; Eno 1/33:03; Empty net 1/0:56;
(NMU) Ellingson 3/60.
Penalties-Minutes: BG 7-14, NMU 8-16. Power plays: BG 2-6, NMU 2-6. Attendance: 1,238.
