Bowling Green, Ohio — Hunter Wallace scored 4 minutes and 32 seconds into overtime Friday night to give Niagara a 3-2 win over #18/19 Bowling Green.
The Purple Eagles improved to 2-3-0, while the Falcons fell to 2-3-0.
First period
Bowling Green took the early lead on a penalty shot. Niagara was whistled for slashing at 5:52, and Hotson beat Anderson on the penalty shot to make it 1-0.
Niagara answered at 10:41. Wallace and Spencer Young worked the puck to Murakami, whose shot tied it at 1-1. It was Murakami's first goal of the season.
Bowling Green was called for too many players on the ice at 12:05, but the Purple Eagles managed only one shot on the power play, a Jack Richard attempt that Palmer saved.
Niagara finished the period with a 9-6 shot advantage. It then took its own too-many-men penalty with 21 seconds left, and Anderson stopped two Ben Doran shots in the final 12 seconds to hold the tie.
Second period
Niagara killed the rest of the penalty to start the period, but Bowling Green went ahead one second after it expired. Hotson scored at 1:40, set up by Noah Morneau and Connor Levis, to make it 2-1.
The Purple Eagles killed a cross-checking penalty on Van Mulligen at 5:01, allowing one Bowling Green shot. At 11:17, Young went to the box for cross-checking and Hotson was called for embellishment, and the teams played 4-on-4 for two minutes.
Niagara got its best look at the power play after Doran was penalized for interference at 15:32. Marshall Finnie, Wallace, Lemieux and Jacob Maillet each tested the net or its frame, with Finnie and Wallace both putting shots on Palmer, but the Purple Eagles could not convert.
Niagara tied the game once again at 18:12, with 1:48 left in the period. Ryan Humphrey and Finnie set up Van Mulligen, who scored his first of the season to make it 2-2.
Bowling Green's Morneau hit the post in the final two minutes, and Ross Roloson and Jacob Maillet blocked shots to keep it tied.
Third period
Neither team scored, and Anderson made all nine saves he faced. Niagara killed a Lemieux slashing penalty at 1:16, allowing four shot attempts but only one on goal, a Maxwell Martin shot that Anderson saved.
At 4:41, penalties on Richard (roughing) for Niagara and Adam Zlnka (slashing) and Brandon Whynott (roughing) for Bowling Green gave the Purple Eagles a two-minute 4-on-3 advantage. They did not get a shot on goal.
Bowling Green controlled much of the middle of the period, with Anderson turning aside shots from Martin, Peteris Bulans, Jacob Steinman and Brayden Crampton. Van Mulligen hit the pipe with 6:26 left. Niagara called timeout after Hotson was called for interference at 18:21, but Wallace's shot on the power play was saved, and the penalty carried into overtime.
Overtime
Niagara opened the five-minute overtime with the power play but got no shot through. Finnie had two attempts blocked by Breck McKinley and Ivan Korodiuk, and the 3-on-3 play began when Hotson's penalty ended at 0:21.
Anderson stopped Evan Bushy at 0:52 and made two more saves on Hotson at 2:37 and 3:22. Van Mulligen and Maillet each forced Palmer into saves for Niagara, and Lemieux sent two shots wide.
Then Wallace ended it. With Lemieux and Noah Hackett on the ice, Wallace scored his second goal of the season at 4:32, just 28 seconds before the end of overtime as the Purple Eagles knocked off the Falcons 3-2.
Niagara Notes
Niagara is now 5-3-2 all-time against Bowling Green
This was the Purple Eagles' first victory on the road against the Falcons
This was Niagara's first win against a ranked opponent since 1/11/24 against RIT
The Purple Eagles are on a three-game winning streak against the Falcons
Van Mulligen recorded his first collegiate goal in the victory
Humphrey tallied his first point as a Purple Eagle
Up Next
Niagara wraps up the weekend against Bowling Green Saturday October 17 at 5:07 pm inside the Slater Family Ice Arena.
