Northern Michigan extended its unbeaten streak to seven games with a 4-4 tie against Bowling Green on Saturday night.
After watching a 2-1 goaltender’s duel on Friday, the 3,640 fans that packed the Berry Events Center saw plenty of goals Saturday night – but the game proved to be yet another close contest between the two teams.
Bowling Green’s Greg Day and Northern Michigan’s Chris Gobert each had a pair of goals, while BGSU goalie Tyler Masters stopped 35 of the 39 shots he faced.
The Wildcats (5-1-3, 3-1-2 CCHA) outshot the Falcons 5-2 in overtime, including a flurry of opportunities in the closing seconds, all of which were denied by Masters. On the night, NMU had 39 shots to Bowling Green’s 28.
“I thought we played better today,” Wildcat coach Rick Comley said. “I thought we carried the play. We took some bad penalties … but I thought we had control of the hockey game. We needed to go up by two (in the third), but we couldn’t do it.”
The Falcons’ power play proved to be a key, converting on three of its four attempts. The final tally – a goal by Ryan Murphy at 10:35 of the third period – tied the game at 4.
NMU’s Fred Mattersdorfer opened the game’s scoring, going top shelf on Masters just over seven minutes into the contest. But the Falcons (1-5-2, 1-3-2) tied things up seven minutes later, when sophomore winger Tyler Knight beat Northern Michigan’s Dan Ragusett one-on-one.
The Falcons took their first lead of the game late in the first, when Day scored his first of the night on the power play.
The game remained 2-1 until the last six minutes of the second period, when NMU scored three goals. A streaking Gobert slipped the puck past Masters, notching his first of the evening and fourth of the year off a pass from defenseman Sean Owens to open the string. But Day was there to answer back, scoring his second power-play goal of the night to give his team a 3-2 lead at 15:20.
NMU’s Terry Harrison tied the game just 1:30 later, while Gobert reclaimed the lead for his team with 30 seconds left in the second, blasting a slap shot from the right circle.
Ragusett finished the game with 24 saves for Northern Michigan. The Wildcats will next see action at Munn Arena in East Lansing, Mich., on Thursday, when they face the Michigan State Spartans. Bowling Green will play at Ohio State next weekend.
