Michigan Tech forward Carson Birnie keeps the puck away from a Bowling Green State defender during a CCHA quarterfinal game Saturday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — With a 5-3 win Friday and a 3-2 win Saturday, the No. 20 Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team swept their CCHA quarterfinal series with the Bowling Green State Falcons at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

With the wins, the Huskies improved to 23-12-3 overall record.

Huskies 3, Falcons 2

The Huskies scored the game’s first two goals and added an insurance tally late to earn a 3-2 win over the Falcons Saturday.

With the win, the Huskies closed out the series, which was the goal coming into the game.

“Honestly, it’s huge,” said Huskies coach Bill Muckalt. “You don’t want to play three, and obviously, it looks like Saturday when we’re going to travel. We’re a little banged up, but for the most part, I think we’re relatively healthy, which is important as we continue to move on.”

Senior forward Stiven Sardarian got things started for the Huskies 8:22 in. Junior forward Owen Baker got the play started by making a key play on the puck in the offensive zone before feeding it over to freshman forward Michael Cicek. Cicek found Sardarian crashing the low slot, and fed him a pass he could one-time for the goal.

Sardarian said he was happy to have scored a goal on a play that included Baker.

“It started all from my forecheck, and then Owen Baker took a puck and it was kind of a 3-on-1, 3-on-2. Unbelievable play by Baker, also. He gave me a really good pass yesterday, didn’t score, but thank God I scored today.

“Baker gave it to Cicek, and he gave me an unbelievable pass, and I scored. These guys, it was really good play by them.”

The Huskies’ second goal came 11:37 into the middle frame when junior forward Lauri Raiman crashed the net and pushed a pass from freshman defenseman Kalem Parker past Falcons goaltender Cole Moore.

Muckalt was proud of the efforts by both Baker and Raiman, as they both figured into the final score.

“Inserted Lauri Raiman and Owen Baker in, and man, they made our staff look good this weekend,” he said. “So proud of them. They put in work, and they never doubted, just kept working, kept believing, kept trusting in us. We just have competition, and guys that are going to play. We needed that lift.”

The Falcons pulled back within one on a goal by Jackson Niedermayer 15:16 into the third period, but sophomore defenseman Luca Fasciano was able to get the two-goal lead back for the Huskies with 59.5 seconds left when he scored an empty-net goal.

Bowling Green cut the lead back to one again at 19:33 when Dominik Rymon beat junior goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz with a wrist shot.

Bartoszkiewicz made 15 saves in the third period as part of a 38-save night to earn the win. Moore stopped 23 in the loss.

Huskies 5, Falcons 3

The Huskies held three one-goal leads, but in the end they needed an empty-net goal from captain Isaac Gordon to seal a 5-3 win over the Falcons.

“It’s the first one to two,” said Muckalt. “It’s a good start. It beats the alternative. But, it’s all about tomorrow. We have to get two wins.

“I’m happy with the result. I think there’s some things we can do a little bit better.”

Freshman forward Carson Birnie got the Huskies on the board just 3:42 into the game when he fired a shot on net that hit a defender and found the back of the net. Freshman forward Matthew Van Blaricom had the primary assist on the goal.

The Falcons evened things at 11:14 when Maxwell Martin tipped a pass from the right boards over Bartoszkiewicz and in.

Michigan Tech then regained a one-goal lead when sophomore forward Elias Janssen tipped a shot from Gordon through the legs of Falcons goaltender Tyler Palmer. Freshman forward Teydon Trembecky tried to pounce on the rebound, but the puck was knocked into the net by a Bowling Green defender at 14:17.

The Falcons then picked up their second of the night to even things again 8:22 into the middle frame when Gustav Stjernberg tipped a pass from Niedermayer past Bartoszkiewicz.

Freshman forward Noah Reinhart put the Huskies back up by one again at 17:53. With the Huskies on the power play, he got knocked down in the slot. Reinhart got back to his feet, got into position, and one-timed a pass from sophomore forward Tom Leppa past Palmer.

Trembecky then put the Huskies up 4-2 in the third period when he snuck behind the Falcons’ defense in the neutral zone. Alternate captain Joe Prouty found him with a pass and Trembecky scored on the ensuing breakaway at 13:10.

“I kind of just saw that their ‘D’ (defensemen) were kind of cheating a little bit, and I decided to try to get behind them,” he said, “(it was an) unreal sauce there by Prouty, and I was able to get across the goalie.”

The Falcons cut the lead back to one when Jeremie Minville found the net at 16:22 on the power play. They had pulled Palmer for a two-man advantage, and Minville crashed the net to knock a rebound home.

Gordon sealed the win with an empty net goal at 19:36 to put the game out of reach. Prouty picked up a second assist on the goal.

Sardarian reaches career milestone

Sardarian, who had a goal and an assist Saturday, reached 100 career points with his assist on the Huskies’ empty net goal by Fasciano.

“Honestly, no, because I don’t think about points in this time,” said Sardarian, when asked if he thought about how close to the milestone he was. “I’m going to do all for this team. (It is) a privilege to play here, and I just want to help. If I have to play in ‘D’ (defensive) zone and eat pucks, I will do it. But, of course, I’m happy to score a goal if I see it. It’s always good, gives you confidence, energy.

“It’s good (to get) 100 points in college. Why not? I will take it all day long.”

Up next

The Huskies were awaiting the results of Sunday’s game between the Minnesota State Mavericks and the Ferris State Bulldogs to find out where they will play their CCHA semifinal game. The scenarios are as follows: if the Mavericks win, the Huskies would travel to Mankato, Minnesota. If the Bulldogs win, the Huskies would travel to St. Paul, Minnesota, to face the St. Thomas Tommies.