WOLVERINES HANG ON TO DEFEAT FALCONS, 3-2

The Michigan hockey team gave up a two goal lead, but retook the lead
on a late second period goal by Brandon Naurato and hung on in the
third to defeat Bowling Green, 3-2.

It was a chippy affair that saw the Wolverines special teams
outperform the Falcons special teams unit. Michigan held BGSU to
1-of-9 on the power play, while the Wolverines went 2-for-6 with the
man-advantage and also scored a shorthander.

Freshman Matt Rust scored that shorty 3:42 into the first period.
Rust intercepted a pass at the U-M blueline and zipped down the left
side. He cut across the net and top shelved a backhander on Falcons
goalie Nick Eno.

The Wolverines went ahead 2-0 on the power play with 7:29 left in the
opening stanza when Kevin Porter beat Eno with a one-timer from the
right circle.

U-M appeared to be in firm control, but penalty trouble mounted early
and often in the second period allowing the Falcons a chance to regain
the momentum.

Tristin Llewellyn and Mark Mitera were whistled for infractions just
seven seconds apart early in the middle stanza to give the Falcons a
long two-man advantage. Jacob Cepis used a screen in front of U-M
goalie Bryan Hogan to beat the freshman netminder and cut the lead in
half.

After the Wolverines killed off Mitera's penalty, Falcons leading
scorer Derek Whitmore stole the puck at the U-M blueline and went in
all alone and Hogan stoned him.

Things would get real interesting soon after as the penalties hit both
teams rapidly, resulting in about 30 seconds of 3-on-3 hockey, but
neither team scored.

With 7:50 left in the period, John Mazzei took a shot from deep along
the right boards that Hogan stopped, but Cepis swooped in and slammed
home the rebound to tie the game.

The Wolverines would go on the power play with 36 seconds left in the
period and that's when Brandon Naurato fired a wrist shot past Eno
with six seconds remaining to give U-M the lead heading to the third.

"We got dominated in that second period," Naurato said. "Bowling
Green had two goals. But any goal in the first or last two minutes of
a period is huge for momentum. So, that was a big goal."

Just over a minute into the third Kevin Porter was sent to the box for
high sticking, but the penalty killers went to work again and this
time Travis Turnbull had a clear breakaway. He tried going to his
right, but Eno read him the whole way and turned his shot aside.

In the back half of the period, BGSU leading scorer Derek Whitmore got
around the Wolverine defenseman and Hogan stopped his opportunity.

With 2:10 to play, Chad Kolarik was whistled for high sticking,
essentially giving the Falcons a power play to end the game.

Shortly into the man-advantage, it was the Wolverines skating down ice
two-on-one and Eno made a huge save to keep the Falcons hopes alive.

With Eno out of net, the Wolverines played strong and did everything
but ice the game.

Bryan Hogan sent the puck the length of the ice and hit the post,
probably the closest any U-M goalie has ever come to scoring. Porter
just missed an open net from the BGSU blue line, then Tim Miller sent
one wide as time was winding down.

"I was just thinking about clearing the puck and the only lane I saw
was down the middle," Hogan said. "Well, (honestly), yeah, I was
thinking, 'Oh my god, I have a chance here.' But it is what it is; I
will remember that for the rest of my life."

While an insurance goal would have been nice, the Wolverines still
hung on to win, 3-2, and end the first half of the season atop the
CCHA standings.

"No one really expected us to do this well," Porter said. "We were
ranked fourth in the CCHA (in the preseason poll) and now we are
ranked second in the country. So, I think everyone is a little
surprised. But now we are going into the second half, and we
shouldn't be that surprising anymore. We know that we are one of the
top teams in the nation, so if we come out and work hard, we should
have a good second half as well."

The Wolverines are off for a few weeks for winter break and return to
the ice for the annual Great Lakes Invitational at the end of the month.

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CCHA SCORES
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Alaska 3, at Miami 0
at Michigan State 4, Ferris State 1
at Nebraska-Omaha 3, Lake Superior 3
Notre Dame 7, at Princeton 0
St. Lawrence 5, at Ohio State 4
at Western Michigan 5, Wayne State 1

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That's all for now...

Go Blue!

Jason
Michigan Hockey Net
http://MichiganHockey.net/