Junior Jeremy Bachusz netted a goal at the 7:23 mark of the third period to give Lake Superior State a 3-2 win over visiting Bowling Green Saturday at Taffy Abel Arena.
The win broke a five-game losing streak for the struggling Lakers and marked the first time they have defeated Bowling Green since winning a 7-5 contest in Nov., 1999.
Freshman goaltender Matt Violin made 49 saves for the Lakers and recorded his first win of the season. Violin played 39:20 in relief of junior Scott Murray on Friday night and made some key saves for the Lakers both nights.
“Violin made a lot of important stops when we were panicking,” said Lake Superior State coach Frank Anzalone. “Bowling Green did the smart thing at the end of the game, they threw everything to the net, but tonight we had a little bit of luck and Violin came up big.”
Lake Superior State took an early lead when Captain Chris McNamara scored his fifth goal of the season at the 4:59 mark of the first period. McNamara’s unassisted goal was scored from just outside the Bowling Green crease.
At 4:41 in the second, Roger Leonard scored for the Falcons to tie the game at one. Then, with 21 seconds remaining in the period, Ryan Wetterberg sent a pass to Grady Moore who scored to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead heading to the third.
Sophomore Chris Peterson answered Bowling Green’s goal with one of his own just 1:23 into the final period. Freshman Jeff Mushaluk and sophomore Kyle Anderson added the assists on Peterson’s second goal of the weekend.
Six minutes later, Bachusz scored what was later determined to be the game-winning goal off a pass from sophomore Adam Nightingale.
The Lakers got a break late in the third when Scott Hewson was sent to the box for roughing. Hewson was then awarded a 10-minute misconduct and the Falcons were forced to play shorthanded for the remainder of the game.
BGSU pulled goaltender Tyler Masters with 20 seconds remaining in the game, but was unable to generate a goal.
“We did good things, but we get panicky,” said Anzalone. “The point is we came back in the third. Chris Peterson and Jeremy Bachusz scored good goals. That is the kind of play we need from our upperclassmen now as we reinvigorate this program.”
The 3-2 win was the first for the Lakers since they defeated the Alaska-Fairbanks, 4-1, on Oct. 27 in Sault Ste. Marie.
LSSU improved to 2-8-0 in the CCHA and 3-9-0 overall. Bowling Green fell to 4-7-3 (3-6-1 CCHA).
