Bowling Green earns first-ever GLI championship

DETROIT --Tuesday was a historic night at Little Caesars Arena as the Bowling Green Falcons captured their first-ever Great Lakes Invitational championship.

Bowling Green, which made just its third GLI appearance all-time, continued momentum from its 6-4 win over Michigan in Monday's opening game and defeated tournament host Michigan Tech, 4-1, in Tuesday's championship game to take home the MacInnes Cup for the first time in school history.
"It's a pretty special thing," said Bowling Green coach Chris Bergeron. "It's one thing to get invited (24-36 months in advance). Then you start to piece it together that this is the first year in the new building and all the excitement and energy that comes with that. And then to play two good games to walk away with a championship, I was really happy and excited for our guys and proud of our guys to take advantage of that opportunity.
"Lots of reasons to be excited pre-tournament. Obviously lots of reasons to be excited as we leave here with some hardware."
But it wasn't easy for Bowling Green in the early going. The Falcons were initially on their heels as the Huskies pushed the tempo, peppering Bowling Green freshman goalie Eric Dop with early shots. Michigan Tech outshot Bowling Green, 7-1, seven minutes into the game and appeared to have control from the opening face-off.
But after a hectic exchange with several crushing hits near the end of the first period, Bowling Green went on a 4-on-3 power play and senior forward Brett D'Andrea--who celebrated his 24th birthday Tuesday--beat Michigan Tech freshman goalie Robbie Beydoun glove side to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.
The Huskies responded 2:37 into the second period when junior forward Jake Lucchini scored a power-play goal on a pretty wrist shot that beat Dop top shelf to tie the game, 1-1.
But the Falcons re-took the lead a few minutes later when freshman forward Connor Ford put away a wide-open rebound to give Bowling Green a 2-1 lead with 11:56 remaining in the second period.
Perhaps the biggest moment of the game took place with 1:24 left in the second when it appeared Michigan Tech tied the game again on a rebound goal by freshman forward and St. Clair Shores native Justin Misiak. But after an extensive review, the goal was disallowed because of a high-stick deflection, and the Falcons kept their 2-1 lead going into the second intermission.
"It stopped any momentum that goal would have created, which would have been a lot," Bergeron said. "You go into the third period tied or you go into the third period up a goal, it's two different situations. I do think it was a huge moment in the game, for sure, that worked in our favor."
Bowling Green took advantage of the momentum and extended its lead 12:10 into the third period when sophomore forward Lukas Craggs made an impressive play inside the blue line to steal the puck before finding senior forward Mitch McLain, who made an easy pass to junior forward John Schilling on the doorstep for a wide-open goal to make it a 3-1 game.
Craggs, who earned GLI MVP honors with two goals, three assists and a plus-4 rating in the tournament, said he relished the opportunity to play at Little Caesars Arena.
"It was definitely special," Craggs said. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It was a cool environment for sure."

The Falcons put the game away 1:03 later when senior forward Tyler Spezia beat Beydoun on the short side, giving Bowling Green a commanding 4-1 lead with under seven minutes to play.
Bergeron, who has eight Michigan natives on his roster, said he's happy for the opportunity the local players had to come home and win a championship in front of friends and family.
"It means a lot," Bergeron said. "These are guys that have been Red Wings fans, coming to Red Wings games (growing up). I know those guys followed the tournament, and now here they are playing in it in the new building. I can only imagine it means a lot to them."
Michigan Tech (10-8-5 overall, 7-6-5 WCHA) fell in the GLI championship game for the third consecutive season and the fourth time in the last five years.
Bergeron said he's ecstatic about the GLI championship, but said the most important thing is gaining confidence and momentum as the Falcons (10-6-6 overall, 7-2-5 WCHA) begin the second half of their season.
"I don't see how it doesn't create confidence and momentum for our group," he said. "We believe when we play well, we can play with anybody. I think it proves that. I'm a firm believer in Michigan Tech's team. They skate, they compete, they're deep. And I thought we played nose to nose with them.
"And again, it reaffirms to our group that if we play the game a certain way, we can be difficult to score against because we can defend. A couple things that come to mind are confidence and momentum as we head to the second half of league play."
Third-Place Game:After losing to Bowling Green, 6-4, on Day 1, Michigan rebounded to beat Michigan State by the same 6-4 score to capture third place in the Great Lakes Invitational for the second year in a row.
Michigan was led by a hat trick from forward Cooper Marody, who helped the Wolverines erase an early two-goal deficit. Michigan also got goals from forwards James Sanchez and Michael Pastujov and defenseman Cutler Martin, while goalie Hayden Lavigne earned the win in net with 22 saves on 26 shots.
Michigan and Michigan State will meet again at Little Caesars Arena on February 10 in the annual
Duel in the D
, when the oldest rivalry in college hockey will once again drop the puck for in-state bragging rights and a chance to hoist the Iron D Trophy.
All-Tournament Team:While Craggs earned tournament MVP honors, he was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Dop and sophomore defenseman Alec Rauhauser. Dop earned the championship game win in net with 29 saves on 30 shots, and Rauhauser earned three assists in the tournament and was plus-4. Other All-Tournament selections were Marody, Michigan Tech defenseman Mitch Reinke and Michigan State forward Patrick Khodorenko.