Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Ohio State This Weekend
November 14, 2006 | Ice Hockey
Nov. 14, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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GAME #11-12
BGSU vs. Ohio State
Nov. 17-18, 2006 (BG Ice Arena, 7:05 p.m.)
RECORDS: BGSU 3-6-1, 1-5-0 CCHA // Ohio State 2-6-2, 2-4-2 CCHA
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Andy Evans--pre-game starts 30 mins. prior.
SERIES: BGSU leads 88-57-5
The Bowling Green State University hockey team will look to snap their two game losing streak as they host the Ohio State University Buckeyes this weekend (Nov. 17-18). The Falcons, who went 2-1-1 last season versus OSU, will look to extend their win streak to four games over the Buckeyes after sweeping Ohio State last January with scores of 3-2 and 2-0.
Series With The Buckeyes
BGSU leads the all-time series over the Buckeyes 88-57-5. Last season the Falcons won the four game series 2-1-1, for the first series win over OSU since the 1996-97 season when the Falcons also went 2-1-1.
Recap of the Past Weekend
BGSU 2 at Notre Dame 5
BGSU 0 at Notre Dame 4
Last Friday both teams entered the third period with a 2-2 tie before Notre Dame recorded three goals in the final 15 minutes of the contest to skate away with a 5-2 win. The following night the Falcons out-shot the Irish 28-26, but ND's goaltender, David Brown stopped all 26 Falcon shots for a 4-0 shutout win. For the weekend, Notre Dame went 3-for-13 on the power play, while the Falcons went 0-for-11.
Falcons Versus Ohio State Last Season
BGSU posted a 2-1-1 record last season over the Buckeyes for their first season series win over OSU since the 1996-97 campaign. In game one of the four game series the Buckeyes posted a 7-2 win inside the BG Ice Arena. The following three games BGSU went 2-0-1, while averaging 2.33 goals per game, but only allowed 1.33 goals per game versus the Bucks. In those final three games the BGSU PK went 20-of-21.
Minor Penalty
Last season the Falcons averaged 19.1 penalty minutes and 8.5 penalties per game. This season the Falcons are averaging just 12.80 penalty minutes and 6.9 penalties per game, both which rank third-lowest in the country. BGSU trails only UMass (10.6) and UMass Lowell (11.7) in penalty minutes per game.
Shots, Shots and More Shots
Through 10 games this season the Falcons have out-shot their opponent seven times. In those seven games BGSU holds a 3-3-1 record. The Orange and Brown have out-shot UConn (32-17), UAH (45-28), Providence (28-25), Miami (34-23), both games with Lake Superior (35-32 and 43-28) and game two with Notre Dame (28-26). Only Boston College (43-26), Miami (45-30) and Notre Dame (33-26) have posted more shots than BGSU.
Freshman Impact
BGSU welcomed 13 new players to the 2006-07 squad and 11 of them have already seen action. Tomas Petruska (4g, 4a), Todd McIlrath (1g, 3a) , Tim Maxwell (0g, 3a), Kai Kantola (1g, 2a), James Perkin (1g, 2a) and Kyle Page (0g, 2a) have all recorded points this season. Tommy Dee (6 games), Brian Moore (3 games), Josh Boyd (1 game) along with goaltenders Eddie Neville (1-3-1, 3.22, .899) and Phil Greer have also dressed. Overall the newcomer class owns 32% (7 of 22) of the team's goals, 39% (16 of 41) of the team's assists and 37% (23 of 63) of the team's total points. Also to note, freshman netminder Eddie Neville leads the team with a 3.22 gaa and a .899 save percentage.
Young Guns
As stated above, 11 newcomers have seen significant playing time this season (with six playing in every game), but combine that with five sophomores that have been regularly dressed the Falcons are dressing just eight upper-classmen per game (Derek Whitmore, Jonathan Matsumoto, Ben Geelan, Rich Meloche, John Mazzei, Jon Erickson, Mike Nesdill and Michael Hodgson). Rich Meloche is the lone senior listed. In fact, last Friday versus Notre Dame BGSU dressed 10 newcomers and four sophomores.
Falcons Have Faced Top Goaltenders
Needless to say the Falcons have struggled to score goals this season. You could point to the youth on the team, or some of the top competition they have faced, but what about the goaltenders? The Falcons have faced eight different goaltenders this season, with five of them ranking in the top-21 in gaa and four of them rank ninth or better in save percentage in the nation.
Goalie (Team)...........gaa (Rank).....Save % (Rank)....Times Faced
David Brown (Notre Dame)...1.20 (1)....... .953 (1)..............2
Jeff Zatkoff (Miami)..........1.84 (6)....... .928 (9)..............1
Jeff Jakaitis (LSSU)..........2.06 (10)...... .945 (2)..............2
Cory Schnieder (BC)........2.14 (16)...... .928 (9)..............1
Charlie Effinger (Miami).....2.35 (21)...... .899 (42).............1
Not For A Lack of Trying
Since going 4-for-13 on the power play in a 5-5 tie with Alabama-Huntsville, the BGSU power play has gone scoreless in their last 38 opportunities. Despite the lack of goals scored the Falcons have been averaging five shots per game on the power play. Two weekends ago versus Lake Superior, even though the Falcons did go 0-for-8 with the man advantage they posted 19 shots in those eight attempts.
The Drought
10/20/06 vs. Providence 0-7 (13 shots) 10/21/06 vs. Boston College 0-7 (6 shots) 10/27/06 vs. Miami 0-1 (3 shots) 10/28/06 vs. Miami 0-4 (1 shot) 11/03/06 vs. LSSU 0-3 (10 shots) 11/04/06 vs. LSSU 0-5 (9 shots) 11/10/06 vs. Notre Dame 0-5 (7 shots) 11/11/06 vs. Notre Dame 0-6 (6 shots)
Special teams a major factor in college hockey
Since scoring four power-play goals in a 5-5 tie with UAH and having a +4 special team's margin (4 PP goals for, zero against) in the first two games, BGSU has given up a total of 28 goals, while scoring just 15. While the -13 goal differential may be alarming, the Falcons are a -10 in the special teams in that span (zero PP goals for, 10 against), meaning that the Falcons are just a -3 at even strength in their last eight games.
