Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Look To Keep It Going This Weekend vs. WMU
January 10, 2006 | Ice Hockey
Jan. 10, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO -
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GAME #23-24
BGSU vs. Western Michigan
Fri-Sat (Jan. 13-14)
7:05 p.m. & 7:35 p.m.
RECORDS: BGSU 10-11-1, 6-8-1 CCHA // Western Michigan 4-13-2, 4-8-2 CCHA
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Andy Evans
SERIES: BGSU leads, 65-45-4
LAST MEETING: BGSU W, 5-2 (Feb. 19, 2005)
The Bowling Green State University hockey team, fresh off their first sweep in nearly seven years over Ohio State, will be looking to extend their current win streak of six games this weekend with a home-and-home contest with Western Michigan. Friday night's contest will be inside the BGSU Ice Arena, starting at 7:05.
The Series With Western Michigan
BGSU owns an all-time series advantage of 65-45-4 over Western Michigan. Last season the Falcons swept WMU by scores of 4-1 and 5-2. Mike Falk (1-5--6), Brett Pilkington (4-3--7) and James Unger (3-1--4) have had the best success versus the Broncos.
The Series With Ferris State
The Monday tilt with Ferris State is the makeup game with the Bulldogs back on Oct. 27, when there was an ice problem, causing the game to be postponed and eventually cancelled. Despite the two teams skating to a 0-0 tie through one period, the game will feature a full three periods of action. The Falcons own an all-time record of 48-37-11 over the Bulldogs. Last season the Falcons took home three-of-four points with a 5-5 tie and a 4-2 win. Already this season Ferris captured a 2-1 win back on Oct. 29 in Big Rapids, Mich.
Take Me To Your Leader
Sophomore Alex Foster is currently first in the country with 29 assists and is third with 36 overall points. He also ranks second with 1.32 helpers per game and 1.64 points per contest. Foster recorded eight points (0g, 8a) for the month of December after being named CCHA Offensive Player of the month in November (4g, 14a). He is currently on an eight-game point streak (2-10-12) and has scored a point in every game but three this season.
Falcons During The Six Game Win Streak
• BGSU is currently on a six-game win streak, tied for second best in the country. The last time the Falcons had a streak that long was during the 1994-95 season.
• The Falcons are averaging 4.5 goals per game, while holding the opposition to 1.7 goals per game.
• The BGSU power play has converted on 9-of-34 (.265) power-play opportunities, while stopping 27-of-30 (.900) opposing power-play attempts.
• Senior Jon Horrell is 6-0-0 with a 1.52 gaa and a .954 save percentage. He has stopped 188-of-197 shots faced in the last six games.
• The Falcons have beat four ranked opponents including #14 St. Lawrence, #12 Colgate and a pair of wins over #16 Ohio State.
• Players averaging at least one point a game include: Alex Foster (2-8-10), Jonathan Matsumoto (4-2-6) John Mazzei (1-5-6), and Mike Falk (1-5-6).
• They are dominating the opening two periods of the contests, out-scoring the opposition 8-2 in the first period and 12-5 in the second. They also hold a 7-3 advantage in the third.
• Senior Jon Horrell at one point went 112:10 seconds without giving up a goal (last 40:46 at UConn, 60:00 mins. vs. Colgate and 11:24 mins. into the OSU contest). He currently has given up two goals in his last 220:46 of action (span of four games).
• 13 different Falcons have scored a goal in the last six games, while 17 total Falcons have scored at least one point.
• The shutout of #12 Colgate (4-0) and #16 Ohio State (2-0) was the first time the Falcons had a pair of shutouts in the same week since Feb. 8, 1997 (11-0 vs. WMU) and Feb. 12, 1977 (4-0 vs. NMU).
The Incredible Falk
Mike Falk entered the 2005-06 season with a career 24 goals in 89 games. This season alone he has already amassed 11 goals, which places him second on the team, one behind Matsumoto. 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 42nd in the country with .50 goals/game. He also is T-25th in the nation with five power-play goals. On the year the senior forward has 11 goals and seven assists in 22 games, four points shy of his career-high, set his freshman campaign.
Falcons In The CCHA
Entering the weekend with Ohio State the Falcons were tied for last-place in the CCHA with nine points. Following the sweep of OSU, the Brown and Orange climbed all the way into a tie for fifth-place in the CCHA with 13 points. The Falcons are only two points out of fourth (Northern Michigan has 15 points) and a first round bye in the CCHA playoffs.
Horrell Earns CCHA Goalie Of The Week...Again
Senior Jon Horrell was named CCHA Goaltender of the Week (Jan.9) after posting a 3-0-0 record, a 0.67 goals-against average, as well as a .976 save percentage and two shutouts. This is the third time he has won this award after earning Goalie of the Week last week (Jan. 2), posting a 2-0 record at the UConn Classic, stopping 70-of-73 combined shots. He also earned the award back on Oct. 24 in a 2-2 tie versus Ohio State, stopping 41-of-43 Buckeye shots.
In his last six starts, senior Jon Horrell not only owns a 6-0-0 overall record, but also has posted a 1.52 gaa and a .954 save percentage since getting the nod on Dec. 10 versus St. Lawrence. In that contest he stopped 35-of-39 shots and followed that up with a 40-of-42 saves in a win over UMass and 30-of-31 in the championship contest with UConn. Then, last Tuesday night the senior recorded his first career shutout, stopping all 22 Raider shots in the 4-0 Falcon win. This past weekend he stopped 61-of-63 shots versus #16 Ohio State, earning his second career shutout in five days. Entering that contest with St. Lawrence Horrell had a 3.71 gaa and a .879 save percentage. He now owns a 2.75 gaa and an impressive .914 save percentage.
Notes Following The Sweep Of Ohio State
• The weekend sweep over Ohio State was the first sweep over the Buckeyes since March of 1999.
• The win on Friday was the first win for any Falcon on the current team over OSU and gave BGSU head coach Scott Paluch his first win over the Buckeyes as well.
• The last time BGSU shutout the Buckeyes came back on March 6, 1999.
• Bowling Green had their best defensive effort for a weekend, allowing just two goals in the two games.
• Jon Horrell averaged 1.00 goals per game, stopped 61-63 shots faced and recorded a .968 save percentage.
• The Falcons had their largest home crowd of the season on Saturday night with 3,680 spectators in attendance.
• BGSU was 2-for-14 on the power play, while OSU was 0-for-13 with the man advantage.
• The Falcons finished the regular season with a 2-1-1 record over OSU. The last time BGSU captured five points in the regular season series with the Buckeyes was the 1996-97 season.
Now That Is A Crazy Schedule
In a span of 19 days, the Bowling Green hockey team will play a total of eight games. The team has already completed the first five games of a crazy few weeks by capturing the UConn Classic championship, defeating Colgate 4-0 and completed a weekend sweep of Ohio State just last weekend. The final three games of the swing include a home-and-home with Western Michigan (Jan. 13-14) as well as one game with Ferris State (Jan. 16). The 19 days before the UConn Classic the Falcons played a total of zero games.
Unger Has The Magic Touch
Junior James Unger is fourth on the team with 17 points (8g, 9a). In games where Unger has scored a goal the Falcons are 5-3 overall. He scored goals in back-to-back games in the sweep over UNO, a goal in the 8-4 win over NMU, one goal in the 4-2 victory over MSU and picked up one tally in the 9-2 win over UConn. He currently has 11 points (5g, 6a) in his last 11 games. Unger ranks 25th in the country with five power-play goals.
Falcons Have Played A Tough Schedule
Ten of the 22 games the Falcons have played this season have been against team's ranked in the top-20 of the USCHO.com poll at the time they faced them. BGSU has already faced #4 Boston College, two games with #2 Ohio State, two games with #11 Miami (now #3), and two more games with #16 Ohio State. They also have one game apiece with #14 Clarkson, #12 St. Lawrence and #12 Colgate.
Barnett Records A Career-Best
Ryan Barnett has already amassed 10 points (3g, 7a) in 20 games this season, one better then his nine points (4g, 5a) he set his freshman season. His first goal of the season was the game-winner back on Nov. 5 in a 4-3 win over UNO. He also recorded the Falcons second goal of a 3-2 win over Ohio State. In his first three seasons with the Falcons Barnett had recorded seven goals and seven assists in 71 career games.
Offense, Offense and More Offense
The Falcon offense ranks sixth in the country with 3.64 goals/game. Already this season they have put up six goals versus Boston College and St. Lawrence, seven goals against Nebraska-Omaha, eight tallies versus Northern Michigan and are coming off a season-best nine lamp lighters in the win over UConn back on Dec. 30. In terms of goals scored the Falcons are led by Jonathan Matsumoto (12), Mike Falk (11), James Unger (8), Derek Whitmore (8), Alex Foster (7) and Brandon Svendsen (6).
