ST. PAUL, Minn. — In his triumphant return to the Twin Cities, Tyler Heinonen has his Michigan Tech Huskies on the verge of something the team has never accomplished.
Heinonen scored twice and had an assist, and Jamie Phillips made 22 saves to lead Michigan Tech to a 5-2 victory over Bowling Green on Friday in the first semifinal of the WCHA Final Five.
[scg_html_wcha2015]”It’s a great homecoming,” said Heinonen, a Delano, Minn., native who has nine points in his last five games. “It was an awesome night.”
And thanks to Heinonen’s heroics and a three-goal outburst in the third period, Michigan Tech is returning to the title game for the first time since 1996, when they were routed by Minnesota.
“We really fought the puck tonight,” said Huskies coach Mel Pearson. “We created some good chances.”
Mitchell McLain and Brent Tate scored for Bowling Green, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a fierce Huskies attack, and as a result their NCAA tournament hopes took a serious hit.
“There’s obviously hockey to be played,” said Falcons coach Chris Bergeron, referring to the slim chances his team still has thanks to more college hockey around the nation. “That’s what we’ll talk about over the next 24 to 36 hours as it plays itself out.”
Bowling Green opened the scoring nearly halfway through the first period when McLain one-timed a centering feed from Pierre Mercier for a 1-0 lead.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as Reid Sturos tied it nearly two minutes later for Michigan Tech. The Huskies grabbed the lead five minutes later when Heinonen scored the first of his two goals, making it a 2-1 Tech lead after one period.
After a scoreless second, the Falcons tied the game just over three minutes into the third when Brent Tate made a beautiful tip on a Dajon Mingo shot past Phillips.
Despite the momentum-shifting goal, Bowling Green was running out of gas, and it didn’t take long for the Huskies to respond. Heinonen, the Twin Cities native playing in the Xcel Energy Center for the first time, beat Falcons goaltender Tommy Burke (27 saves) on a breakaway just two minutes after the Falcons equalizer, and it proved to be the game-winner.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000fQn31OZeRts” g_name=”20150320-BGSU-MTU” f_show_caption=”t” f_show_slidenum=”t” img_title=”casc” pho_credit=”iptc” f_link=”t” f_bbar=”t” fsvis=”f” width=”500″ height=”375″ bgcolor=”#AAAAAA” bgtrans=”t” btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” crop=”f” trans=”xfade” tbs=”4000″ f_ap=”t” linkdest=”c” f_fullscreen=”f” f_constrain=”f” twoup=”f” f_topbar=”f” f_bbarbig=”” f_htmllinks=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”f” f_show_watermark=”f” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”f” f_up=”f” target=”_self” wmds=”llQ6QNgpeC.p1Ucz7U.f22Fbo5BPRuXHL4BJ1cFeLmRxVs8xTRhXuVQoaxG77CLBTJBB0A–” ]Goals by Michael Neville and Joel L’Esperance provided late insurance for the Huskies, who moved one step closer to winning the Broadmoor Trophy for the first time. They will face the Ferris State-Minnesota State winner in the championship game Saturday night.
Bowling Green, meanwhile, will have to sit and wait for its NCAA fate thanks to not getting the job done.
“We stressed execution,” said Bergeron. “They made us pay.”
