By Ben Shanahan
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
Michigan Tech defeated Bowling Green State University hockey 3-1 at the Slater Family Ice Arena on Saturday, but only after the 1984 national champion BGSU hockey team was honored.
Bowling Green falls to 13-18-1 overall and 11-10-1 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association while Michigan Tech improves to 14-13-6 and 11-9-2.
BG honored the 1984 national championship team to a deafening ovation from the sold-out Slater crowd in honor of the 40th anniversary celebration after the first period of action.
The 1984 Falcons were not the only Falcons honored, as it was also Senior Night in the sold-out Slater Family Ice Arena. Seniors honored were Josh Nodler and Spencer Kersten who both joined this offseason from the transfer portal.
“They were new to the program this year from the transfer portal, seamlessly joining this group and working positively with this group. It was nice to see that,” said BGSU coach Ty Eigner
Also announced was seniors Seth Fyten, Ethan Scardina, and Tommy Pasanen, but they will all be returning for their fifth and final year of eligibility next season, which was followed by a great ovation.
“Lots of excitement. We talked about it all year. This is a great group,” said Fyten. “The best group so far since I have been here. I’m just looking forward to coming back to these guys, but we still have a long way to go this season.”
Both squads played the first 18 and a half minutes back and forth conservatively until, with 1:34 left in the period, BGSU sophomore Quinn Emerson drew not one, but two penalties when MTU senior Ryland Mosley was called for elbowing and senior Jed Pietlia for hooking. Still, Michigan Tech killed off the rest of the period leaving the game scoreless.
Michigan Tech ended the second period by killing the two minor penalties, bringing the game to even strength for the next eight minutes. That was until the Huskies got their first power play of the game, with BG senior Josh Nodler called for a trip.
The Falcons killed off that penalty, and both teams went back to trading chances but not finding the back of the net heading into the final twenty minutes still tied at zero.
The scoreboard finally lit up early in the third when Pasanen found Fyten in the slot, making it 1-0 with 17:06 left in the third. Fyten scored his seventh goal of the season and 16th career goal and Pasanen tallied his fifth assist of the season and 13th career.
Michigan Tech did not take long to tie things when sophomore Evan Orr got the puck on his stick at the left dot and beat the BGSU goaltender to the low post, making the game 1-1 with 14:32 remaining.
The Huskies took the lead with 9:16 remaining when Chase Pietila’s blue line blast found the net, making the game 2-1.
Eigner called his timeout, looking to draw something up while pulling his goalie for the extra skater with 2:19 left in the regulation.
A minute later, disaster struck when Michigan Tech captain Logan Pietila put the game on ice with an empty net goal, making it 3-1.
BGSU’s Gustav Stjernberg recorded a season high of five blocks on the night. Stjernberg records 37 blocks on the season. Goaltender Cole Moore recorded 32 saves on the night.
Bowling Green will travel to Marquette, Michigan for the final series of the regular season. The first game is set for Friday, March 8 puck drop set for 7:07 p.m. The action will continue on Saturday, March 2 at 6:07 p.m in Berry Events Center.
