A two-goal second period and suffocating defense in the third period helped Bowling Green end a three-game home losing streak at No. 17 Bemidji State’s expense Friday night.
The Falcons’ 4-2 victory came after they had lost three games in a row to teams above them in the WCHA standings, including the Beavers on Thursday.
“It was important to get a split from this series, especially after the way we played last night,” Falcons coach Chris Bergeron said.
Bemidji had other plans in the first period, seizing a 2-0 lead with 4:30 left in the period. Kyle Bauman started the scoring, taking a pass from Jordan Heller on a 3-on-2 and blasting a shot past Bowling Green goaltender Ryan Bednard.
Shortly after the Falcons failed on a power play the Beavers converted on one of their own. T.J. Roo got a bounce off the back boards and buried a shot short side for a 2-0 lead.
The Falcons began their comeback with just under a minute left in the first. Lukas Craggs took a pass from Sean Walker and ripped a wrist shot into the net to cut the lead to 2-1.
“That was a huge goal getting on the board at the end of the period, but I thought the comeback started with the guys on the bench,” Bergeron said. “Even down 2-0 our guys never seemed down on the bench. They kept focus and that allowed us to come back and win this game.”
The Falcons tied the score 5:05 into the second period on a goal from Brett D’Andrea, who picked up the puck on the half boards, turned and fired it into the net. Bednard then made some key stops to keep the Falcons in the game.
“He has played very well in his last few games and earned the start tonight,” Bergeron said. “Not that (Chris) Nell played poorly last night but we wanted to get Ryan in tonight.”
Slightly more than two minutes after Bednard stopped a breakaway the Falcons cashed in on a power play to take the lead for good. Right off the faceoff D’Andrea fed fellow defenseman Mark Friedman at the right point. Friedman’s wrist shot got through traffic and beat Michael Bitzner over his blocker for a 3-2 Falcons lead.
The Falcons smothered the Beavers from that point on, outshooting them 11-2 in the third period and getting an insurance goal from Mitch McLain with 15 seconds left.
“I liked the way we finished off the game, especially the last half limiting the chances they got,” Bergeron said.
At Lake Superior State 3, Northern Michigan 2
The Lakers got two goals from Anthony Nellis to defeat the Huskies. Nellis scored in each of the first two periods, and Diego Cuglietta scored a power-play goal with 4:15 left in the second period to make it 3-0. Northern fought back behind goals from Brock Maschmeyer and Dominik Shine.
At No. 12 Notre Dame 3, Michigan Tech 1
Jack Jenkins broke a 1-1 ite at 7:28 of the third period and the Irish defeated the Huskies in non-conference action. Joel L’Esperance tied the score at 1 early in the third for Tech.
Minnesota State 3, at Alabama Huntsville 0
Brad McClure scored two goals and Aaron Nelson made 18 saves to lead the Mavericks to a road victory over the Chargers. Parker Tuomie scored the other goal for Minnesota State.
At Alaska Anchorage 4, Ferris State 1
Alex Jackstadt scored twice in the second period to give Anchorage a 3-1 lead, and Olivier Mantha made 26 saves to lift the Seawolves over the Bulldogs. Ryker Killins had tied the score at 1 for Ferris State.
