Down a goal with about five minutes left, the No. 20 Michigan Tech Huskies thought they had the equalizer when winger Tyler Heinonen scored with 5:02 remaining. However, the goal was disallowed, and the No. 15 Bowling Green State Falcons came away with a 3-2 win Saturday night at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
Heinonen got the puck near the point, skated it to the slot, fired a shot off the backboards, got his own rebound and scored. However, upon further review, it was determined that he had entered the zone offside before he ever touched the puck.
“It’s unfortunate that the outcome of a game has to be in question like it was,” said Huskies coach Mel Pearson. “It’s very disappointing. You ask your players to play hard and play the right way. It’s a tough way to lose a hockey game, but you can’t put yourselves in that position.”
The Falcons jumped out to a better start, as it took just 15 seconds for Kevin Dufour to skate in on a two-on-one and fire a backhand on goal, which Jamie Phillips stopped.
After the Huskies killed off a penalty to co-captain Cliff Watson, they got a power play of their own when Ben Murphy was called for holding. It took the Huskies 15 seconds to take the lead.
With control of the puck along the right boards, winger Joel L’Esperance fed it into the slot to Heinonen. Heinonen’s wrist shot was stopped, but he found the rebound and pushed it home at 7:41.
Huskies assistant captain Shane Hanna took a major penalty for slashing at 10:05, which changed the nature of the game.
Tyler Spezia tied the game for the Falcons 43 seconds into the advantage when he skated into the offensive zone, took a drop pass from Mark Cooper, cut across the slot and beat Phillips with a wrist shot at 10:48.
Just under a minute later, the Falcons struck again while Watson played without a stick in the defensive zone. Mark Friedman had the puck at the right point and fired a shot that Phillips stopped. The rebound bounced to Matt Pohlkamp, who Watson could not contain without his stick, and Pohlkamp buried the rebound.
“The effort was much better,” said Falcons coach Chris Bergeron. “We do have a proud group, especially that leadership. All we are asking is to be who we say we want to be every day. It starts with the leadership.”
A penalty to Shane Bednard forced the teams to play two minutes of four-on-four hockey. During one sequence, co-captain Alex Petan and assistant captain Mike Neville each had shots on goal, as Petan fired a wrister and Neville attempted a backhand on the rebound.
The Huskies (6-4-0 overall, 6-4-0 WCHA) came out strong to start the second period. A minute and a half in, Petan fed Neville in the slot. Neville attempted to deke to his backhand, but his shot was stopped.
The Huskies evened the game at 5:32 when Neville skated the puck into the slot and wired a pass across to winger Malcolm Gould, who unleashed a slap shot that whistled past Tommy Burke at 5:32.
A minute and a half later, center Jake Lucchini skated into the slot and fired a high shot at Burke, who dropped the puck. Winger Reid Sturos got to the loose puck, but could not bury his chance either.
The Falcons (5-3-3 overall, 2-2-2 WCHA) started the third period strong and were rewarded for it 4:09 in when Dufour fed the puck across to Mark Cooper on a two-on-one. Cooper wired a one-timer that snuck through Phillips and trickled over the goal line.
The Falcons had a chance to extend their lead just under midway through the period when John Schilling fed the puck from the right corner to Stephen Baylis in the slot. Baylis’ shot was stopped by Phillips.
Less than a minute later, Gould was sprung in the neutral zone. He skated in and attempted a deke to his forehand. He beat Burke, but not the post.
Pearson pulled Phillips with just over a minute left, but the Huskies’ best scoring chance came from L’Esperance, who missed the net from the slot.
