CHAOTIC 6-5 WIN TO SWEEP BOWLING GREEN SERIES ON HOME ICE
After shutting out the Bowling Green State Falcons 5-0 on Friday night, the Huskies finalized their sweep with a 6-5 win on Saturday and are now en route to the Mason Cup semifinals. MTU will join the semifinals alongside Minnesota, Bemidji, and Lake Superior State. The pair-up for this weekend’s game will be decided in the near future.
Bowling Green gained the lead early in the first period with an impressive shot from behind the goal line that managed to find its way into the Huskies’ net. They then increased their lead a few minutes later after a quick zone entry on the power play, making the game 2-0 only 7:36 into the game. After the Falcons’ quick start MTU regained control of the game, with Blais Richartz eventually scoring at 13:36. The first period ended after Tech drew a power play in the last minute which carried over into the second period, with the score at 2-1 for the Falcons, while shots on goal were 13-5 for the Huskies.
Tech struck quickly to start the second period, scoring 32 seconds in with a power play goal by Isaac Gordon. Just eight seconds later, they scored again off of a broken play following the center-ice faceoff. The home crowd went wild with excitement over the quick rally that gave the Huskies a lead of 3-2. Bowling Green would strike back later in the period with a goal at 8:49 to tie the game, then regain the lead at 10:53 with a goal on the power play from a holding penalty. Fortunately for the home crowd, the Huskies would cap off the second period the same way they started it, with another quick two goals to regain the lead. First, Tyrone Bronte tied the game with a 5-on-3 power play goal at 17:39 caused by two Bowling Green penalties: the first for indirect contact to the head, followed shortly by a roughing call on their goaltender for hitting a Tech player with his blocker. Jack Works ended the remaining power play with a goal one minute after Bronte, re-establishing Tech’s lead going into the third period with a score of 5-4 and a dominant SOG total of 31-8 for the Huskies.
Bowling Green fought back to start the third period, tying the game at 5-5 with a breakaway goal two minutes into the period. The Falcons would weather a powerful Michigan Tech offense, managing to kill off the first of two penalties. The game would remain tied until Michigan Tech drew another power play for tripping with under three minutes left in the period. Ryland Mosely scored a back-breaking goal just seconds before the penalty expired, leaving only 1:03 on the clock. The Huskies would maintain their last-minute lead and win the game with a score of 6-5 and SOG at 40-15 for the Huskies.
Reflecting on the up and down of emotions throughout the game, freshman forward Isaac Gordon remarked, “It was overall a rollercoaster, I mean it felt like there was momentum swinging both ways. Obviously they were fighting for their lives. We kept our emotions kind of steady throughout it and capitalized on our opportunities.” When asked about the challenge of starting in a two-goal deficit, Gordon added, “It was pretty early so I feel like we just had to go back to our game and get our energy up and play the way we can play.” After the game, Coach Shawhan said that he was proud of his players for responding well to giving up the early lead by stepping up to play through the nervous energy of an important elimination game.
