Wildcats sweep No. 8 Bowling Green
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — After going down 3-1 after two periods, the Northern Michigan University hockey team scored three unanswered third-period goals to complete a series sweep over No. 8 Bowling Green, 4-3 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action Saturday.
Bowling Green took a 2-0 lead on first period goals from Brent Tate and Mitchell McLain. Tate scored on the power play at 17:28 on assists from PIerre-Luc Mercler and Sean Walker. McLain scored on assists from Mark Friedman and Matt Pohlkamp at the 3:31 mark.
NMU sophomore forward Gerard Hanson put NMU on the board at the 14:55 mark of the second on assists from senior forward Reed Seckel and sophomore Shane Sooth. It marked the fifth goal of the season for Hanson.
The Falcons tacked on another goal on the power play when Mark Cooper converted a score from Mercler and Adam Berkle at 9:19 of the second.
Wildcat junior forward Justin Rose began the comeback for the Wildcats scoring his first career goal for NMU on assists from senior forward DJ Vandercook and junior defenseman Ryan Trenz at the 15:38 mark of the third.
Seckel scored back-to-back goals to lift NMU to victory. The first came at the 12:03 mark of the third on the power play from junior forward Darren Nowick and sophomore forward Shane Sooth.
Seckel then scored the game-winner with just 1:03 left in the game on assists from Hanson and freshman forward Zach Diamantoni. It was the sixth and seventh goals of the season for Seckel.
Junior goalie Michael Doan made 24 saves in net for the Wildcats including four in the third period to improve to 3-6-3 on the season.
The win pushed the Wildcats to .500 at 13-13-6 with a 10-10-4 league mark. BGSU fell to 18-9-5 with a 14-7-3 WCHA mark.
NMU was outshot 27-22 in the outing but controlled the puck in the third for a 10-4 advantage in the final period.
NMU was 1-4 on the power play while Bowling Green converted 2-5 chances.
The Wildcats return home to face Lake Superior State in a WCHA series next weekend. The series will also decide the annual Cappo Cup series which is contested between NMU and LSSU.
(Information Courtesy of NMU Athletics)