Michigan
6-1-0, 3-0-0CCHA
Bowling Green
2-8-0, 0-7-0CCHA
Four-Goal Period Propels Michigan Past Bowling Green
11/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
| | Mink |
Bowling Green scored first for just the third time in 10 games this season when the Falcons netting a goal 3:17 into the contest to take a 1-0 lead. Mark Wires was credited with the marker, skating the puck in the Michigan zone and around junior defenseman David Wyzgowski (North Street, Mich.) before wristing a shot past the stick of freshman Al Montoya (Glenview, Ill.). Michigan responded to take control of the game, netting five of the game's next six goals to take a 5-2 lead after two periods of play.
Sophomore defenseman Brandon Rogers (Rochester, N.H.) tied the game at 8:32 of the first period when he netted a goal on Michigan's second power play of the night. Sophomore forward David Moss (Livonia, Mich.) found Rogers for the score, feeding him from the left faceoff circle to the right side of the goal for a shot that sailed over the shoulder of BGSU netminder Tyler Masters.
Michigan opened the second period down two men due to late first-period penalties to senior forward John Shouneyia (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and sophomore forward Dwight Helminen (Brighton, Mich.) but still found a way to take the lead when Helminen returned to the ice, took a pass from Mink and skated past a BGSU defender before shelving a shot over the left shoulder of Masters for the shorthanded score. Moments later, Moss apparently put U-M up by a pair of goals, but the tally was waved off after the official ruled the net had been off its moorings.
Sophomore defenseman Eric Werner (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) eventually did give the Wolverines a two-goal advantage 5:36 into the second period when he teamed up with Helminen on a 2-on-1 breakaway. Helminen, skating down the left side, fed the puck across the ice to Werner for a quick shot past Masters. The Falcons responded just over two minutes later when Steve Brudzewski beat Montoya as Werner was in the penalty box serving a minor for high-sticking.
Michigan opened up the lead to three goals with a pair of markers 1:14 apart to take a 5-2 advantage. Mink helped U-M regain its two-goal lead at 15:00, scoring off an individual effort from Shouneyia, who deked past a defender before feeding it to Mink on the right side for the score. Sophomore forward Eric Nystrom (Syosset, N.Y.) put the Wolverines up by three just over a minute later when he beat Masters with a quick shot from the right side after receiving a pass from Werner, who intercepted the puck at center ice.
Bowling Green closed the seemingly insurmountable gap 4:30 into the final period when Brett Pilkington netted the Falcons' second power-play goal of the night. Entering the game, U-M had only allowed two power-play goals in its first six contests. The Wolverines responded on the power play at 10:10 when sophomore forward Michael Woodford (Westford, Mass.) poked in a loose puck off a shot by freshman forward Brandon Kaleniecki (Livonia, Mich.) to give a three-goal lead back to Michigan. The Falcons added a late goal when Kim Horner found the back of the net with six seconds remaining.
Each team finished the game 2-for-7 on the power play. Montoya stopped 20 of Bowling Green's 24 shots, while Tyler Masters made 27 saves as the Wolverines outshot the Falcons 33-24.
The Wolverines will conclude the series with Bowling Green at 7:05 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 9) at the BGSU Ice Arena.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Red Berenson
On the game ... "I think our kids played hard, but Bowling Green played hard and there wasn't a lot to chose between the two teams. We got the goalkeeping that we needed to have and I thought (Al) Montoya was a big factor keeping us in the game and then we had some good individual efforts to put the puck in the net when we needed the goals. It was not a lopsided game. It was an evenly played game."
On the scoring chances in the game ... "I thought the quality of their chances were better than the quality or ours. We feel fortunate to walk out of here with a win. Bowling Green's a good team, they did a lot of good things and they just missed on some of their chances. They had a 3-on-1 break with a one-goal differential and it could have been a whole different game."
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
