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As good as Gould: Gould, Misiak score as Huskies defeat Falcons, 2-0

Daily Mining Gazette/David Archambeau Michigan Tech’s Justin Misiak (17), Raymond Brice (23), Andrew Bellant (4) and Keegan Ford (7) celebrate after Misiak knocked a loose puck past Bowling Green goaltender Ryan Bednard in a game Friday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

HOUGHTON — For 40 minutes Friday, the Michigan Tech Huskies and the No. 10 Bowling Green State Falcons were deadlocked with neither team finding the back of the net. In the third period, the Huskies took control of the game, scoring twice to seal a 2-0 victory at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

“I’m more about the journey, not the destination,” said Huskies coach Joe Shawhan. “I thought we had a good week at practice; a lot of meetings (and) talking. I thought we got a lot of good leadership from our core tonight. I thought we played a good game”

“I liked the way we grew as the game went on.” said Shawhan.” Our first period was probably our poorest of the night. Second period was a little better and our third period was actually pretty good, guys competed hard.”

Finding the net was not easy. Shawhan was happy to see his team work through the adversity to lock in the first goal, which came off the stick of junior winger Gavin Gould 6:47 into the final frame.

“Tonight, towards the second half of the game, we had to go through our numbers to get to our net,” Shawhan said. “We managed the play to the point where somebody was going to get something, one side or the other. I’m glad it was us that got it.”

The Huskies had a few breakaway, 1-on-1 shot opportunities, along with close, high-traffic shots around the net throughout the first two periods, but couldn’t find the net.

Bowling Green had the better scoring chances in the second period. However, sophomore goaltender Robbie Beydoun, who made 22 of his 27 saves on the night in the first 40 minutes, was equal to the task.

Huskies sophomore defenseman Tyler Rockwell worked his way down the ice and got a shot on goal. Gould pounced on a sizable rebound off Falcons netminder Ryan Bednard’s pad and buried the puck behind the goalie for the game-winning tally.

“I got it in deep. (It was) a good play (thanks to the) forecheck,” said Gould. “I got it in deep. (There was a) good play by (Andrew) Bellant, (who) got the puck up to “Rockie” (Tyler Rockwell). He had a good shot, just had to get it through. The goalie made a pad save and I was just lucky enough to (be) right in front of the net to tap her home.”

Gould was happy to return to the lineup after sitting out against the Minnesota State games last weekend.

“It was great,” he said. “You never want to be out or anything like that. You don’t want to miss anything, being out there with the guys and battling. Coming off the game with bumps and bruises doesn’t exactly feel good, but it feels good to finally get that with the guys.”

The Huskies added some insurance 3:26 later when freshman forward Andrew Bellant drove the net with the puck and got a shot off that Bednard had trouble handling. Sophomore wingers Raymond Brice and Justin Misiak crashed the net and Misiak poked the loose puck home.

“Bellant made a nice move on the defenseman and was able to put it five hole and I just stopped and crashed at the net,” said Misiak. “Luckily it was in the paint up high enough and I (was able to) put it in.”

Misiak felt the Huskies got stronger as the game went along.

“We got better as the game went on,” said Misiak. “I think our third period was our best period by far. They took it to us in the first and second. We had some good resiliency and then kind of took over the game in the third. Guys were just making the right plays, not doing anything too much (and) keeping it simple.”

Falcons coach Chris Bergeron saw a tight two periods of play on the ice and felt that his team struggled with the third.

“(There wasn’t) a whole lot of room on the ice for two and a half periods,” said Bergeron. “I thought both teams defended pretty well, for the most part. They made two plays in the third period and we didn’t. Around the other team’s net, we need to be way better than that. We have been way better than that.”

“Full marks to Michigan Tech. Their goaltending (and) defending was great. They were better than us tonight…I thought it was a hard fought game. They were better than us overall.”

The Falcons will face the Huskies again Saturday night though and Bergeron hopes to see his team bring more pressure around the net in the contest.

“First of all, we have to score, that’s a pretty obvious statement, but your not going to win many not scoring,” he said. “I think we’re going to have to defend at the same level and just be more aware on every puck.”

“Those two plays come to mind that ended up in the net. We have to find a way to be on the right side of those plays.”

Scoring

Bowling Green 0 0 0 – 0

Michigan Tech 0 0 2 – 2

First period

None

Second period

None

Third Period

1, MTU, Gavin Gould (Tyler Rockwell), 6:47

2, MTU, Justin Misiak (Andrew Bellant, Raymond Brice), 10:13

Saves

BGSU, Bednard 12 8 8 – 28

MTU, Beydoun 13 9 5 – 27

Power plays

BGSU: 0/3; MTU: 0/5

Penalties

BGSU: 5/10; MTU 3/6

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