Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Hit The Road For A Pair
November 07, 2005 | Ice Hockey
Nov. 7, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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The Bowling Green State University hockey team, fresh off a weekend sweep of Nebraska-Omaha, makes a trip to South Bend, Indiana for a pair of road contests this Thursday and Friday with the Irish of Notre Dame. Both contests are slated to be gin at 7:35 p.m.
The Series With Notre Dame
Bowling Green owns an all-time 34-32-5 series record, including a 3-0-1 record last season versus the Irish, giving the Falcons their first series win over ND since 1995-96. Senior Brett Pilkington has eight career points (2g, 6a) in 10 games versus the Irish, while junior James Unger has four goals and four assists in game games versus Notre Dame. Prior to last season the Irish were on a 9-1-1 run against the Falcons.
Falcon Penalty Kill Slams The Door
That Falcon penalty kill has been on a tear as of late. In their last four contests they have held the opposing team's power play scoreless 26-of-28 times (.929), including a 15-of-16 (.938) effort this past weekend versus UNO. For the season they are 43-of-49 on the penalty kill (.878).
Shoot The Puck
BGSU has outshot their opponent in 5-of-7 contests this season, including a 34-33 advantage over #4 Boston College, a 47-23 display over Merrimack, as well as their last three CCHA opponents, Ferris State (28-24), and UNO (32-28 and 35-30).
Foster Named CCHA Offensive Player of the Week
Sophomore Alex Foster recorded seven points (1g, 6a) helping the Falcons to a weekend sweep over Nebraska-Omaha. On Friday night the forward tallied a career-high five points (1g, 4a) in the Falcons 7-3 victory. His five points came on five straight goals, including an assist on the game winner. The following night he picked up two more helpers in the Falcons 4-3 comeback victory. His second assist that night helped tie the game at 3-3. For the weekend he also registered one power-play goal, nine shot and a plus-3 rating. He was also a mainstay on the Falcon penalty kill that held the Mavericks 1-for-16 with the man advantage over the weekend.
On the season the sophomore has two goals, 11 assists and 26 shots. He is also first on the team with 13 points.
Home Cooking
Bowling Green is currently on a homestand that will see them play six of their next 10 games at home. They started the homestand out last weekend with a pair of wins over UNO. BGSU will also play host to Northern Michigan (Nov. 18-19), as well as one game a piece with Miami and Michigan State. They finish the homestand 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.
Spread The Wealth
Already this season BGSU has had 18 different players record points. They have also had 12 different Falcons record goals this year.
Matsumoto, Foster and Falk Carry The Load
The combination of Alex Foster (2-11-13), Jonathan Matsumoto (5-7-12) and Mike Falk (5-1-6) have combined for 50% (12-24) of the Falcons goals this season. They also own 43% of the team's assists (19-44) and 46% of the team's total points (31-68).
Boom Or Bust
Through seven games the Orange and Brown offense has recorded 24 goals, or 3.43 goals/game. In four of their seven contests this season they have recorded two or fewer goals. In the other three games BGSU has posted six goals vs. Boston College (9-6 loss), seven goals against Nebraska-Omaha last Friday (7-3 win) and four goals versus the Mavericks the following night (4-3 win).
Offensive Explosion
Entering last weekend's contest with Nebraska-Omaha the Falcons had recorded only 13 goals in five games for 2.60 goals per game, which ranked them 44th in the country and ninth in the CCHA. Following a 7-3 and 4-3 victory the Falcons are averaging 3.43 goals/game, ranking them 15th in the country and 3rd in conference action.
Foster "Helps" The Falcon Cause
Sophomore Alex Foster may only have two goals on the season, but his 11 assists in seven games ranks first in the country with 1.57 helpers per game. This past week the forward picked up four assists on four straight Falcon goals last Friday, before picking up two more assists the following night. His 13 total points (2-11-13) rank him fifth in the country with 1.86 points per game. He leads the team in points (13), assists (11) and is second in shots (26)
