BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Western Michigan earned two points to move up into a second place tie in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association after defeating Bowling Green in a shootout after a 3-3 tie in regulation at the Bowling Green Ice Arena on Friday night.
Kyle O'Kane was the only player to tally in the shootout and
Frank Slubowski made two saves to give WMU the extra point. The Broncos picked up goals from
Brett Beebe,
J.J. Crew and
Trevor Elias but surrendered a 3-1 lead in the final three minutes of regulation.
Bowling Green took an early 1-0 lead just after Adam Berkle was ejected from the game on a checking from behind penalty. The Broncos went out for their five minute power play but a strong shot by
Matt Tennyson bounced off the boards and into the neutral zone where Andrew Wallace pushed it to Bobby Shea. Shea fought off a Bronco down the ice and back-handed it into the net at 3:05 in the first period.
WMU tied it on its second power play of the game at 9:38 in the first period after Roehl intercepted a pass on the right boards and fired a shot towards the net. Beebe came racing from behind the net and the puck bounced off of him and into the net. The power play goal was the third goal of the season and Roehl tallied his fourth assist of the season.
The Broncos took a 2-1 lead at 11:58 in the second period on their second power play goal of the night. Roehl fired a shot from the left edge of the right circle and BG goalie Andrew Hammond made the save but it kicked right out to Crew, who buried it for his second of the season. Roehl tallied his second assist of the night and
Luke Witkowski picked up his fourth helper of the season.
Western Michigan extended its lead to 3-1 just before the end of the period at 17:56 on Elias's fifth of the season. The Broncos started a breakout in their zone and
Dane Walters centered it to
Chase Balisy at the blue line. Balisy had Elias on his left and the junior winger went top-shelf on Hammond's stick side.
Bowling Green answered with two goals in the final three minutes to force overtime. The first goal was a blast from the right point by Marcus Perrier that beat Slubowski high on his stick side. The second one came with 57 seconds remaining in the third period as Bobby Shea punched in a rebound as the Falcons had the extra attacker.
Both teams had a power play in the overtime period but neither team could take advantage. Elias had a breakaway as time expired but he was well marked and his shot was saved.
Western Michigan and Bowling Green meet again on Saturday night in Kalamazoo at 7:05 p.m.
