Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons, Spartans Play Home-and-Home
November 28, 2005 | Ice Hockey
Nov. 28, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University hockey team will look to get back on the winning track this weekend, as they will play a home-and-home series with Michigan State. The Spartans will host the Falcons on Friday, with Bowling Green returning the favor the following night. Both contests are set to begin at 7:05 p.m.
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The Series With Michigan State
The Spartans lead the all-time series 59-27-8, including a 10-4-1 mark in the past 15 meetings. The teams split their four-game series last season when they were in the same cluster. The Falcons won each game by a 2-1 score while MSU posted 6-4 and 6-3 victories. Senior Colton Fretter and junior Drew Miller both registered 2-3-5 against BGSU last season, while Brett Pilkington had seven points (1g, 6a) in four games and Alex Foster (1g, 3a) in three games versus the Spartans last year.
Recap of Last Weekend
BGSU 1, Miami 6
Miami 5, BGSU 3
Miami completed a series sweep last weekend over the Falcons with the help of four power-play goals (16 attempts), while the Orange and Brown could muster only one goal with the man advantage in 17 tries. On Saturday BGSU and Miami combined for 75 penalty minutes, the most this season for a Falcon hockey game. In the third period alone BGSU picked up 33 PIM, while the RedHawks added 18 PIM. Most of those minutes came at the 5:22 mark of the third when both teams sent five players apiece to the penalty box after a scuffle in front of the Miami goal. With in the next 50 seconds each team picked up one more penalty, placing six men in each sin bin.
Take Me To Your Leader
Sophomore Alex Foster not only leads the country with 1.85 points per game, but he also leads the nation with 1.46 assists per game. On the year he has 24 points (5g, 19a), two points ahead of any other CCHA competitor. He also ranks second in the Perani Cup standings with 15 points, one behind current leader Jeff Zatkoff. Foster is currently on a five game point streak (3-8--11) and has scored at least one point in all but two games this season.
The Incredible Falk
Mike Falk entered the 2005-06 season with a career 24 goals in 89 career games. This season alone he has already amassed 10 goals, which ranks first in the CCHA. The senior recorded eight goals in 27 games last season and had his career-best 11 goals in 35 games his freshman year. Falk ranks 8th in the country with .77 goals/game.
Matsumoto Reaches 50 Career Points
After leading the team with 32 points (18g, 14a) last season as a freshman, now sophomore Jonathan Matsumoto has picked up right where he left off. This year, in only 13 games the forward has recorded 21 points (7g, 14a). Matsumoto ranks eighth in the country with 1.62 points/game and ninth with 1.08 assists/game. He had his first career hat trick versus Boston College and had a four point night (1-3--4) in an 8-4 win over Nebraska-Omaha. For his career he has 25 goals and 28 assists in 49 career games.
Shoot The Puck
BGSU has out shot their opponent in nine of 13 contests this season. Since entering conference action Bowling Green has out shot their CCHA opponent in seven of 11 games this year. They recorded more shots then FSU (28-19), UNO (32-28 and 35-30), NMU (38-35) and Miami (31-28) in game two last weekend. For the year they are averaging 31.7 shots/game, while surrendering 29.8.
Home Cooking
Bowling Green is currently on a home stand that will see them play three of their next four games at home. They host Michigan State (Dec. 3), as well as a home stand with a pair of non-conference games versus Clarkson (Dec. 9) and St. Lawrence (Dec. 10) before a 19-day lay-off for Christmas break.
Unger and Svendsen Find Their Stride
Entering the weekend series with Miami, junior James Unger had only six points in 10 games, but in his last three games the forward has posted two goals and two assists. Fellow forward Brandon Svendsen has two goals in the last three games, after scoring only one goal in his first 10 career games. In CCHA games only Unger ranks fifth in goals (5) and shots (39) and fourth in power-play goals (4), while Svendsen is tied for eighth in shots with 32. The Falcons are 3-2 when either Unger or Svendsen record a goal.
Foster Sorry To See November Go
Alex Foster record 18 points in eight games in the month of November. He had four goals and 14 assists during the month. He also finished with a plus-7 rating in the eight games. The sophomore scored at least one point in seven of the eight games and had multiple point games in six of those same eight contests.
He had a five-point night (1-4) versus Nebraska-Omaha back on Nov. 4 and added two more assists the following night. He was rewarded CCHA offensive Player of the Week for his efforts after the weekend series. He is currently on a five-game point streak (3-8-11) after recording a four-point night versus Northern Michigan on Nov. 19 as well as two-point nights versus Notre Dame (0-2-2), NMU (1-1-2) and Miami (0-2-2).
Offense, Offense and More Offense
The Falcon offense ranks 16th in the country and fourth in the CCHA with 3.46 goals/game. Already this season they have put up six goals versus Boston College, seven goals against Nebraska-Omaha and eight tallies versus Northern Michigan.
Bales and Ralph See Action
Brian Bales saw his first collegiate action back on Nov. 19 versus Northern Michigan and John Ralph played in only his second game this season last weekend versus Miami. They are joined by fellow newcomers Russ Sinkewich, Kevin Schmidt, Brandon Svendsen and Jimmy Spratt to see major playing time this year. These six freshmen, combined with seven sophomores gives the Falcons 13 underclassmen that contribute on a regular basis.
Matsumoto, Foster and Falk Carry The Load
The combination of Alex Foster (5-19-24), Jonathan Matsumoto (7-14-21) and Mike Falk (10-2-12) have combined for 49% (22-45) of the Falcons goals this season. They also own 45% of the team's assists (35-78) and 46% of the team's total points (57-123). As a group they average 1.69 goals, 2.69 assists and 4.08 points per game. All three rank in the top-15 for CCHA scoring.
Falcon Experience
Senior Mike Falk played in his 100th game last back on Nov. 19 versus Northern Michigan. He is joined by Brett Pilkington (107), Don Morrison (118) and Jon Sitko (110) to surpass the 100 game plateau in their Falcon career.
So Close...
Of the Falcons nine losses this season BGSU was either leading or tied for the lead in four of those games entering the third. They had a 2-1 advantage late in the third period versus Merrimack. They were tied 6-6 early in the third versus #4 Boston College, and had a 2-1 lead five minutes into the third at Ohio State. They were also tied after one period in both contests last weekend versus Miami.
Falcon Power Play
BGSU has scored 17 power-play goals this season. The team is led by Matsumoto (6), Mike Falk (4) and James Unger (3). Kevin Schmidt, Don Morrison, Derek Whitmore and Alex Foster have also score PP goals this season. Matsumoto ranks third in the country and first in the CCHA with those six power-play goals. The Falcons rank 34th nationally on the power play(15.9%).
Falcon Penalty Kill
While facing some of the toughest competition in the country early this season the Falcon penalty kill has played solid defense. On the year they have killed 81-of-98 opposing power-play opportunities, holding #4 Boston College 2-for-9 and #2/3 Ohio State 3-for-14 (2 games) with the man advantage. They also held Merrimack 0-for-6 to open the season, and FSU 0-for-4 in their home opener. They held UNO 1-for-16 three weekends ago (2 games) and surrendered only two power-play goals in 15 tries versus NMU back on Nov.18-19. They rank 33rd on the PK (82.3%).
