Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons To Play A Pair With #9 Notre Dame
November 07, 2006 | Ice Hockey
Nov. 7, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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GAME #9-10
BGSU vs. Notre Dame
Nov. 10-11, 2006 (Joyce Center, 7:35 p.m./7:05 p.m.)
RECORDS: BGSU 3-4-1, 1-3-0 CCHA // Notre Dame 6-1-1, 1-0-1 CCHA
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Andy Evans--pre-game starts 30 mins. prior.
SERIES: Notre Dame leads 35-34-6
The Bowling Green State University hockey team, fresh off their first conference win of the season, will look to continue their winning ways with a pair of road contest with #9 Notre Dame this weekend (Nov. 10-11). The two games will be the first of four the Falcons will play against the Irish this season.
Series With The Irish
BGSU is 34-35-6 (.493) all-time versus the Irish after ND went 3-0-1 last season versus the Falcons. In 2004-05 BGSU went 3-0-1 versus Notre Dame. Head coach Scott Paluch owns a 5-9-2 life-time record versus ND. Jonathan Matsumoto has scored eight points (1g, 7a) in eight career games versus Notre Dame. James Unger, currently out with a wrist injury, has nine points (5g, 4a) in 12 career games versus the Irish.
Recap of the Past Weekend
LSSU 3 at BGSU 1
LSSU 2 at BGSU 4
Last Friday the Falcons fell 3-1 to Lake Superior State as both goaltenders were outstanding. LSSU's Jeff Jakaitis stopped 34-of-35 shots, while the Falcons' Eddie Neville had 29 saves in the loss. The following night BGSU rebounded with a 4-2 win, getting goals from four different Falcons: Derek Whitmore, Tomas Petruska, Rich Meloche and James Perkin. The Perkin goal was the first of his career. For the weekend six different Falcons finished with two points. As a team, the Falcons out-shot the Lakers 78-60 over the weekend. The BGSU power play went 0-for-8, while LSSU went 2-for-10 with the man advantage.
Falcons versus Notre Dame Last Season
Notre Dame claimed seven of the eight points on the year, with the Falcons' lone point coming in a 1-1 tie, the last of the four contests. The Irish out-scored the Falcons 21-11, while BGSU held a 144-115 shot advantage. Bowling Green recorded five power-play goals on 27 chances (.185), while the Irish went 8-for-30 (.267) on the year.
Minor Penalty
Last season the Falcons averaged 19.1 penalty minutes and 8.5 penalties per game. This season the Falcons have nearly cut that in half, averaging just 11.80 penalty minutes and 5.9 penalties per game, both which rank second-lowest in the country. BGSU trails only Massachusetts, who is averaging 11.00 penalty minutes and 5.5 penalties per contest.
Shots, Shots and More Shots
Through eight games this season the Falcons have out-shot their opponent six times. In those six games BGSU holds a 3-2-1 record. The Orange and Brown have out-shot UConn (32-17), UAH (45-28), Providence (28-25), Miami (34-23), and both games with Lake Superior (35-32 and 43-28). Only Boston College (43-26) and Miami (45-30) have posted more shots than BGSU.
Freshman Impact
BGSU welcomed 13 new players to the 2006-07 squad and nine of them have already seen action. Tomas Petruska (3g, 4a), Todd McIlrath (1g, 2a) , 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 (4 games) along with goaltenders Eddie Neville (1-2-1, 2.77, .913) and Phil Greer have also dressed. Overall the newcomer class owns 30% (6 of 20) of the team's goals, 39% (15 of 38) of the team's assists and 36% (21 of 58) of the team's total points. Also to note, freshman netminder Eddie Neville leads the team with a 2.77 gaa and a .913 save percentage.
Young Guns
As stated above, nine 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.
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 26 opportunities. Despite the lack of goals scored the Falcons have been averaging six shots per game on the power play. This past weekend 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 0-6 (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)
Matsumoto Turns Over A New Leaf
Through eight games Jonathan Matsumoto does lead the team with 10 points (3g, 7a), but his biggest contribution this season may be at the other end of the ice. While also being a mainstay on the Falcons' PK this season, he also leads the team with a plus-6 rating, which also ranks T-7th in the CCHA. At this point last season (8 games) Matsumoto was a minus-5.
Matsumoto Follows 2005-06 Campaign
Junior Jonathan Matsumoto leads the team with 10 points (3g, 7a) in eight game this year, and in fact dating back to last season the Orleans, Ont. native has scored 58 points (23g, 35a) in just 44 games. In that span the junior has scored at least one point in 34 of those 44 games and has 19 multiple point efforts.
Schedule is Doing BG No Favors
Entering this weekend with the Irish the Falcons have already played games with #1 Boston College, and two games versus #7 Miami. BGSU also played one game with Providence and two with Lake Superior, while both of them were also receiving votes in the weekly polls. Following the weekend with Notre Dame, the Falcons will have played half of their games with teams ranked in the top-10 and another three games with teams just outside the top-20 in their first 10 contests.
After ND, BGSU plays two with Ohio State (who is tied for third in the CCHA), a game each with Clarkson and St. Lawrence (who is getting votes in the polls) and two with Nebraska-Omaha (also receiving votes in the polls). To close out the first half of the season BGSU will travel to Alaska, who is currently ranked #15.
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 seventh goal of the year this past weekend in a win over Lake Superior, in just his eighth contest. In 2005-06 Whitmore did not post his seventh goal until January 6, 2006, his 17th game of the year.
Matsumoto Closes In On 100
In 80 career games, the junior assistant captain has scored 90 points (41g, 49a) and is just 10 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.
