BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — John Siemer netted his fifth goal of the season early in the third period to draw the Northern Michigan hockey team within a single strike, but No. 15 Bowling Green held on for a 2-1 victory Friday night at BGSU Ice Arena.

Atte Tolvanen made 28 saves for the Wildcats, who fall to 4-4-5 (3-3-3 WCHA) with the loss.

The Falcons capitalized on their first man advantage, and their second shot of the game, at 2:24 in the first. Mark Friedman rifled a shot past Tolvanen from the point, snapping the Wildcats' streak of not allowing a power play goal on its 15th penalty kill attempt.

Neither team could generate any quality chances the rest of the opening stanza, though Bowling Green built an 11-4 advantage in shots.

At 3:54 in the second period, Chris Pohlkamp's point shot deflected off of a Wildcat in front and into the net, but the goal was disallowed because a Falcon in the crease interfered with Tolvanen.

A little over two minutes later, Tolvanen, who made 11 saves in the second, stood tall to keep Northern Michigan within one, denying a point-blank Falcon shot from inside the slot and then a follow-up try on the doorstep.

Bowling Green's defense stymied the Wildcats on both of their man advantages in the second frame. During their second power play, the Falcon penalty killers blocked four shots and largely forced Northern Michigan to keep the puck to the outside.

Bowling Green extended its lead to 2-0 right at 1:31 in the third period right off of a draw. John Schilling beat a Wildcat to a bouncing puck and sent it to Tyler Speiza to snap past Tolvanen in tight.

Siemer cut the deficit back to one, taking full advantage of a fortuitous bounce at 6:57. Darren Nowick cleared the puck around the boards, and it rattled ahead to Siemer, sending him on a breakaway. The Falcon defenseman couldn't get back, and Siemer slipped the puck through Chris Nell's five-hole on his backhand.

With just over a minute left on the clock, Northern Michigan pulled Tolvanen for the extra skater. The Wildcats pressed for the equalizer, but they couldn't find the back of the net, and a Falcon managed to clear the puck off of a Wildcat to ice the game.

Northern Michigan and Bowling Green conclude their series tomorrow at 7:07 p.m.

NOTES: The Falcons lead the all-time series, 45-41-9 ... While the Wildcats skated to five ties so far this season, they had yet to have a game decided by a single goal ... Barrett Kaib returned to the lineup; the senior was out due to injury from Oct. 30 to Nov. 21 ... Entering the game, the Wildcats had not given up a power play goal on 14-straight penalty kill attempts dating back to Nov. 6 ... Siemer now leads Northern Michigan in goals while Nowick (3g-4a) tied Gerard Hanson (7a) and Jordan Klimek (1g-6a) for the team lead in points ... Siemer has netted a goal in two-straight games; he last scored in back-to-back games Oct. 24 and 25, 2014 at Lake Superior State, and he accomplished the feat twice as a freshman (Jan. 17 and 18, 2014 against Alaska-Fairbanks and Feb. 28 and Mar. 1, 2014 against Bowling Green).