BOWLING GREEN — They are the neighbors that grew up two doors down in a small town, the co-workers who share a cubicle wall, or the brothers constantly sparring for the top bunk.
Bowling Green and Northern Michigan, to put it mildly, have met.
The Falcons and Wildcats will play each other in a best-of-three Western Collegiate Hockey Association semifinal series this weekend at NMU, and the juxtaposition is only fitting. The two programs will play in the postseason for the fourth time in the past nine years, having met in this exact round in this exact place last season.
The Wildcats moved on with an overtime winner in the decisive Game 3 last year.
Friday will mark the 10th meeting between Bowling Green and Northern Michigan in the past 15 months, and now are the added stakes that both programs are looking to secure a place in the WCHA championship game.
“I think with those two things right there,” Bowling Green coach Chris Bergeron said, “you’ve got a healthy rivalry.”
Bowling Green is 4-1-1 in the past three weekends, and advanced to the WCHA semifinals with a 2-0 series win against Michigan Tech last week at Slater Family Ice Arena. Northern Michigan advanced by beating Alaska twice in a row.
The Falcons (23-9-5) and Wildcats (21-14-2) split the four regular-season meetings this year at two wins per side.
The Falcons remain on the NCAA tournament bubble, currently ranked No. 16 in the PairWise rankings used to determine the 16-team NCAA field. The WCHA’s automatic bid is the only way to guarantee inclusions, and Northern Michigan happens to be the next team up for BG.
Bergeron said he likes the way the Falcons have played as of late as the team prepared to head to Marquette, Mich., on Wednesday.
“We’re going to rely on our confidence and our older guys, and hopefully some momentum that we created last weekend, too, to give us at least confidence going into the weekend,” he said.
Northern Michigan has the benefit of home ice for the series, but given the extensive history, the two evenly matched sides know each other well.
“At this point, you know, I can’t imagine they’re changing much. We’re not changing much,” Bergeron said. “It’s going to come down to execution like any other game. They know our personnel; we know theirs.”
Among the notable personnel in the series are two of the best goaltending teams in the conference.
Bowling Green’s Ryan Bednard ranks second in the WCHA in save percentage (.923) and goals-against average (1.81). Northern Michigan’s Atte Tolvanen is third in the WCHA in GAA (2.28) and save percentage (.918).
In a series that could come down to goaltending, Bergerson said he wants Bednard and backup Eric Dop to embrace the competition.
“I don’t want them to look at pressure, because I think pressure can be sometimes negative and sometimes get in the way,” Bergeron said. What we just need is for our goalies to be the best versions of themselves. That’ll give us an opportunity.”
First Published March 13, 2019, 6:09 p.m.
