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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face-off With Pair of ECAC Teams This Weekend
November 21, 2006 | Ice Hockey
Nov. 21, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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GAME #13-14
BGSU vs. Clarkson & St. Lawrence
Nov. 24-25, 2006 Cheel Arena & Appleton Arena, 7:05 p.m.
RECORDS: BGSU 3-8-1, 1-7-0 CCHA // Clarkson 6-5-1, 2-2-0 ECAC//St. Lawrence 6-3-0, 4-0-0 ECAC
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Andy Evans--pre-game starts 30 mins. prior.
SERIES: Clarkson leads 12-10-1, BGSU leads 7-4-2 over St. Lawrence
The Bowling Green State University hockey team will look to snap their four game losing streak this weekend as they travel to New York state for contests with Clarkson (Nov. 24) and St. Lawrence (Nov. 25), two members of the ECAC Hockey League. Both games are slated to begin at 7:05 p.m.
Series With Clarkson
BGSU trails 10-12-1 in the all-time series with the Golden Knights, with Clarkson holding down a 4-2-1 all-time record on their home ice. The Falcons last win on the road versus Clarkson came back on Nov. 3, 1995. The coach of the Golden Knights is George Roll, who graduated from Bowling Green in 1986. Roll, who also played for the Falcons from 1981-1985, captained the Falcons to a 21-12-0 record his senior year. In his four years wearing the Orange and Brown Roll played in 161 games, recording 152 points (62g, 90a).
Series With St. Lawrence
The Falcons hold a 7-4-2 series advantage all-time over the Saints, but are just 1-3-1 on the road versus St. Lawrence. BGSU one and only win on the road at St. Lawrence came back on Nov. 29, 1974 in a 6-5 win in double overtime.
Recap of the Past Weekend
BGSU 3, Ohio State 9
BGSU 1, Ohio State 4
Last Friday the Falcons surrendered their most goals in nearly two years as they dropped a 9-3 decision to the Ohio State Buckeyes. The last time they gave up at least nine goals was back on Nov. 20, 2004 in a 9-3 loss to Wayne State. In the loss Derek Whitmore scored a power-play and short-handed goal. The following night the Falcons fell 4-1 to those same Buckeyes, despite only being outshot 29-21.
It's Been a Long Time
When was the last time that the Falcons were currently led in scoring by someone other than Jonathan Matsumoto or Alex Foster? At this time Derek Whitmore's 13 points (9g, 4a), leads Matsumoto (12 pts.) by one point, snapping a streak of 756 straight days that either Matsumoto or Foster were at least tied for the team lead in points. The last player to lead the team in scoring not named Matsumoto or Foster was D'Arcy McConvey who finished with 25 points to end the 2003-04 season.
In Matsumoto's first ever game as a Falcon he recorded three points (1g, 2a) and had at least a share of the team lead for all of 2004-05. The following year Matsumoto, along with three other Falcons scored one point apiece in a loss to Merrimack. The next night Matsumoto recorded a hat trick versus Boston College and Foster added 13 points in his first seven games to take the team lead in scoring for the remainder of the year.
Minor Penalty
Last season the Falcons averaged 19.1 penalty minutes and 8.5 penalties per game. This season the Falcons are averaging just 14.1 penalty minutes and 6.6 penalties per game, both which rank fourth-lowest in the country. BGSU trails only UMass (11.2), UMass Lowell (11.5) and St. Cloud (12.3) in penalty minutes per game.
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, 4a) , Tim Maxwell (0g, 5a), 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 (1-4-1, 3.63, .881) and Phil Greer have also dressed. Overall the newcomer class owns 27% (7 of 26) of the team's goals, 40% (19 of 47) of the team's assists and 36% (26 of 73) of the team's total points. Also to note, freshman netminder Eddie Neville leads the team with a 3.63 gaa and a .881 save percentage.
Young Guns
As stated before, 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 or nine upper-classmen per game (Derek Whitmore, Jonathan Matsumoto, Ben Geelan (who is out with an injury), Rich Meloche, John Mazzei, Jon Erickson, Mike Nesdill, Jeremy Bronson and Michael Hodgson).
Last Year Versus Clarkson
Last season the Falcons welcomed back one of their former players in George Roll, and the Falcons did so by roaring out to a 3-0 lead in the first 24 minutes of action. The Golden Knights answered back with the next five goals in a span of 17 minutes. The Falcons got as close as 5-4 on a Jonathan Matsumoto goal late in the third, but a Clarkson empty net goal with just one second remaining capped the scoring.
Last Year Versus St. Lawrence
Several highlights came from last season's game with the Saints. Just 24 hours after being carted off the ice on a stretcher (versus Clarkson), the then freshman Brandon Svendsen returned to face St. Lawrence and recorded his fourth goal of the season. Also of note, the Falcons 6-4 win over St. Lawrence began the Falcons six game win streak last season and helped the Falcons win seven of their next eight games.
On the game itself, Bowling Green scored two goals in the first period, but the Saints got the next to markers to knot the score at two apiece midway through the second period. Goals by Svendsen and Jonathan Matsumoto in a span of 1:01 stretched the Falcon lead to 4-2 and an eventual 6-4 win.
Schedule is Doing BG No Favors
Through 12 games this year the Falcons have already squared-off with #1 Boston College, two games with #7 Miami, and two with #9 Notre Dame. BGSU also played one game with Providence and two with Lake Superior, while both of them were also receiving votes in the weekly polls. This weekend the Falcons play Clarkson on Friday and St. Lawrence on Saturday, with both of these teams receiving votes this week. To close out the first half of the season the Falcons travel to play Alaska, who is currently ranked #16. Overall the Falcons will have played seven games against teams in the top-20 (all on the road) and another five games (3 on the road) against teams that are ready to crack into the polls (12 total) in their first 18 games.
This note is on when BG played their opponent, not their current status in the polls.
Matsumoto Closes In On 100
In 84 career games, the junior assistant captain has scored 92 points (41g, 51a) and is just eight points shy of becoming just the 68th Falcon in school history to reach the 100 point plateau. The last Falcon to do so was D'Arcy McConvey, who scored 102 points (31g, 71a) in 153 career games from 2000-04.
Whitmore Opens 06-07 with a Bang
Junior Derek Whitmore opened the 06-07 campaign scoring a goal in each of his first five games, including a pair in a 5-5 tie with Alabama-Huntsville. The Rochester, New York native recorded his eighth and ninth goals of the season this past weekend, in just his 12th contest. Whitmore, who is currently on pace for 28 goals, had 13 goals all of last season.
