Michigan Technological University forward Ryland Mosley, 11, and defenseman Chase Pietila play during the CCHA quarterfinals against Bowling Green State University on Saturday at McInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. After scoring the winning goal, they hug each other. (David Archambault/For the Gazette)
HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team continued its winning streak with wins Friday and Saturday night, sweeping the Bowling Green State Falcons in the CCHA quarterfinal series at McInnes Student Ice Arena. . The Huskies won Friday's opener 5-0 and fought back twice Saturday to win 6-5.
The Huskies led the Huskies to two wins in the series, led by alternate captain Ryland Mosley with three goals and four points, co-captain Logan Pietila with one goal and five points, and freshman winger Isaac Gordon with two goals and six points. lead.
Alternate captain Blake Pietila had both net wins Friday night, earning his 24th career shutout.
With the win, the Huskies improved to 17-14-6 overall.
Huskies Cruz wins 5-0 on Friday
Michigan Tech forward Henry Bartle celebrated Friday after scoring his first career goal in the CCHA quarterfinals against Bowling Green State at McInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (David Archambault/For the Gazette)
It took the Huskies 11 minutes and 44 seconds to attack, but once they did, they never looked back en route to a 5-0 victory.
The win puts the Huskies in position to win Saturday's CCHA quarterfinal series, which was their goal heading into the contest.
“I give full credit to the players for their performance tonight, but that credit is no longer there.” Huskies coach Joe Shoan said. “It's the playoffs now. It's hard to put a team out and end a team's season.”
The Huskies controlled the play early and were eventually rewarded when Logan Pietila tried to make a pass across the slot. The puck hit Falcons goaltender Cole Moore's stick, and it went through his legs and into the goal at 11:44 of the opening frame.
The game went into the second period 1-0, but Gordon found time and space. He took a pass from Logan Pietila and took a quick shot that beat Moore's shoulder at 10:14.
Hoping to extend their lead before the period ended, the Huskies did just that as freshman winger Henry Bartle scored his first career goal at 13:09. After junior winger Alex Nordstrom took a shot on net, senior center Brace Richards was the first to get the rebound but fell down. The puck bounced off him to Bartle, who buried wrister.
“I mean, (it) feels really good.” Bartle said. “But we have a very deep lineup, we have a lot of seniors, and luckily for me personally we had some players injured so we were able to get a chance. That's all you can ask for. . (I'm) just trying to work hard and stay in the fight.”
It took just 54 seconds for the Huskies to strike in the third period. Gordon got a loose puck off Moore's faceoff to the left and fed it to Mosley in the slot. Mosley turned and took the shot, which weaved past Falcons defenders and into the net.
“We have a lot of guys here that play in the playoffs, but a lot of (them) didn’t go their way.” said Moseley. “We’ve grown and learned from them and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
Co-captain Arvid Caderos scored for the Huskies at 3:57 when he tipped a rebound off a shot by freshman center Max Koskipirutti past Moore.
Huskies fight back for victory on Saturday
Trailing 2-0 early and 4-3 in the second period, the Huskies fought back both times to win 6-5 and eliminate the Falcons.
The match was by no means easy as emotions heated up and cooled down during the match.
“It’s been a roller coaster overall.” said Gordon. “So it felt like momentum was swinging in both directions. Obviously, they were fighting for their lives. So their intensity was tough. They gave everything they had. They came at us looking for them. I think we kept our emotions consistent throughout.”
The game was tied 5-5 late in the game, and the Huskies were given a power play with 2:45 remaining.
With the man advantage, the Huskies took a few shots early, but nothing was really dangerous for Falcons goaltender Christian Stover. However, as time reached the final moments of regulation, freshman defenseman Chase Pietila had the puck at that point. He passed to Mosley, who took a one-time shot with 1:03 left, which sailed past Stover and into the goal.
From there, the Huskies held on for the win.
“I thought Bowling Green did everything they could to block shots, play in transition and get to the edge of the net.” said Shohan. “They should be proud, I'm sure their guys stepped up. I thought they defended hard as it came down to the last shot. I thought they made life really miserable and took the middle of the ice really well.”
The Huskies trailed 2-0 in the first period when Richards entered the game at 13:36 after receiving a pass from freshman defenseman Nick Williams low in the right circle. Richards took a quick shot that went through Stover's legs and into the goal.
Still trailing in the second period, the Huskies tied the game and took the lead with eight seconds to play.
First, during the remainder of the power play late in the first period, Gordon completed just one pass from senior winger Tyrone Bronte, putting the Huskies ahead with just 32 seconds to go in the second period.
Then, 40 seconds into the game, the Huskies struck again, this time with Mosley quickly slipping a shot between Stover's legs for a goal.
The Falcons fought back with two goals within two minutes to regain the lead at 4-3.
Bronte tied the game against the Huskies at 4-4 with another power play at 17:39. When Michigan Tech was building a two-man advantage, Logan Pietila set it up once but missed the goal. The second time he received a pass, he didn't miss.
“He's scoring goals, that's great.” He said. “Obviously we have to keep our opponents from scoring, but I like the way our team is playing. I like the confidence we have in scoring. Our power play was obviously tremendous tonight. So I'm really happy with where we are now.”
On the ensuing 5-on-4 power play, junior winger Jack Works buried a pass from Gordon and scored at 18:40 to give the Huskies a 5-4 lead going into the third period.
But the Falcons weren't done yet. Brett Pfau scored on a breakaway for Brett Pfau's second goal of the night to tie the game again at 5-5.
At 1:24 p.m., the Huskies appeared to take the lead when Bronte beat Stover with a wrist shot. However, upon review, that goal was reversed.
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The Huskies advanced to the CCHA semifinals with the victory. They will wait for the results of Sunday night's third game between Lake Superior State University and the University of St. Thomas to decide whether to play one semifinal game or have to travel.
