Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Close Regular Season With Home-and-Home Versus Miami
February 20, 2006 | Ice Hockey
Feb. 20, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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GAME #35-36
BGSU vs. Miami
Feb. 23 & 25, 2006 (Thursday, BGSU Ice Arena, 7:05 p.m.) (Saturday, Goggin Ice Arena, 7:35 p.m.)
RECORDS: BGSU 13-19-2, 8-16-2 CCHA // Miami 21-7-4, 18-6-2 CCHA
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Andy Evans
SERIES: BGSU leads 57-26-7
LAST MEETING: Miami, 5-3 • Nov. 26, 2005
The Bowling Green State University hockey team will finish the 2005-06 regular season this weekend as the play a home-and-home with the Miami RedHawks. The Falcons host Miami on Thursday (Feb. 23) at 7:05 p.m., and then play at Miami on Saturday (Feb. 25) at 7:35 p.m.
The Series With Miami
BGSU owns a 57-26-7 all-time series advantage, despite Miami's 2-0-0 record over the Falcons already this season. Back in late November Miami swept Bowling Green by a count of 6-1 and 5-3. Saturday night's contest is the final regular season contest ever inside the Goggin Ice Arena. The Falcons are 4-1-2 at home in their last seven contests with the RedHawks
Foster "Helps" The Falcon Cause
Sophomore Alex Foster is currently second in the country with 36 assists. UNO's Scott Parse leads the country with 38 assists, ending Foster's 13 week reign atop the assist meter. Foster also ranks 11th in the country with 1.35 points/game and was named CCHA Offensive Player of the Month in November (4g, 14a). He has scored a point in every game but seven this season and has 14 multiple point games this year.
Recap of Last Weekend
ND 7, BGSU 4
ND 1, BGSU 1
The weekend series with Notre Dame saw a shootout on Friday with Notre Dame coming away with a 7-4 win with the help of three power-play goals. The following night the two teams combined to score just two goals in a 1-1 tie. Game two saw freshman Jimmy Spratt stop 31-of-32 ND shots, while Notre Dame's goaltender, David Brown turned-aside 34 BGSU shots.
20-Plus Points For Falcons Are Rare
Heading into the weekend series with Miami six Falcons have already crossed the 20-point plateau, with another two not far behind. Alex Foster (46), Jonathan Matsumoto (42), Brett Pilkington (25), James Unger (24), Mike Falk (23) and Don Morrison (21) each have 20-plus points with Derek Whitmore (19) and Brandon Svendsen (19) just one point away. The last time eight Falcons scored at least 20 points in a season came back in the 1996-97 campaign when Mike Johnson (62), Curtis Fry (61), Brett Punchard (39), Kelly Perrault (37), Dan Price (32), Adam Edinger (29), Dave Faulkner (24) and Peter Ratchuk (21) each surpassed the 20-point plateau.
Mighty Matsumoto
Sophomore Jonathan Matsumoto has 42 points (17g, 25a) this season, which places him ninth in the country in scoring. His 17 goals is just one shy of last season's total of 18, while he is just three assists shy from doubling his total from last season (14). Matsumoto can also be found in several other national categories including points/game (1.31, 15th), goals (17, T-16th), assists/game (.78, 24th), assists (25, T-14th) and power-play goals (nine, 13th). Highlights this season include a hat trick versus #4 Boston College and a four-point night (1g, 3a) in a 7-3 win over UNO. He has scored a point in 27-of-34 games this season and has 13 multiple-point games this season.
Bronson Scores First Career Goal On Friday
Junior Jeremy Bronson has played 73 games as a Falcon and recorded his first career tally in his 72nd game of his BGSU career last Friday versus Notre Dame. The defenseman now has five points (1g, 4a) with the Orange and Brown in his career.
Morrison In His Last 10 Games
Senior captain Don Morrison is tops among the Falcon defensemen with 21 points (5g, 16a) and ranks 36th in the nation among defensemen with those 21 points. His 21 points and 15 assists are both career-bests for the captain after establishing 16 points (2g, 14a) last season as a junior. In his last 10 games the senior has nine points (1g, 8a), including two different three-game point streaks.
The Morrison highlights do not stop there. He was named captain of the Falcon squad at the start of the season, and followed that up by scoring the Falcons first goal of the year back on Oct. 14 versus Merrimack. Morrison is the lone captain this season. The last time BGSU had a lone captain was back during the 1987-88 season when now head coach Scott Paluch wore the "C". Morrison will join Paluch (1987-88), George Roll (1984-85), Mike Bartley (1973-74), Chuck Gyles (1972-73), and Glen Shirton (1971-72) as lone season captains.
Falcons Shooting Out The Record Books
This season the Falcons have taken 1,085 shots for an average of 31.91 attempts per game. The last time BGSU had at least that many shots came back in the 2001-02 season when they fired 1,160 attempts in 40 games. The 31.91 shots per game this season are the highest since the 1995-96 squad averaged 34.90 attempts per contest. Sophomore Alex Foster ranks second in the CCHA with 147 shots, while freshman Brandon Svendsen is fourth with 130.
Falcons And The CCHA Playoffs
BGSU will not be hosting a playoff game this season, and even with only two contests remaining the Falcons could be traveling to any of the teams currently seeded fourth through tenth-place. If the CCHA playoffs were to begin at this moment the Falcons would be returning to Lake Superior, after dropping both games to the Lakers back on Jan. 27-28. The conference has a five-step tie-breaker procedure; 1. Most league wins 2. Head-to-head record 3. Goal differential in head-to-head games 4. Record versus other teams beginning with first place 5. Coin toss.
BGSU's PK Is On A Role
In their last six contests the Falcons penalty kill is 29-of-34 (.853), and if you remove the 3-for-7 effort by Notre Dame last Friday, the Falcon PK is 25-of-27 in those five games for a rate of .926. In that span they stopped LSSU (4-of-5), RIT (7-of-7), UAF (9-of-10) and ND (5-of-5)
Power Playing
The Falcons power play, which ranks 26th in the country and sixth in the CCHA, has scored 40 goals on 228 attempts (.175). BGSU is led by Jonathan Matsumoto (9), who ranks 13th in the country, while sophomore Derek Whitmore ranks 18th in the country with his eight power-play goals. James Unger (6), Mike Falk (5) and Alex Foster (4) round out the top five Falcons with the man-advantage.
Falcons Are A Second Day Team
In CCHA action this season the Orange and Brown are a combined 6-4-2 on day two of a weekend conference series, but are only 2-10-0 in the opening contest. In fact the total goals scored/allowed on day two of the series is 39-32, while on day one they have scored only 33 goals and have allowed 64. Note: The Ferris State series was ignored in these numbers due to the large delay between games.
Offense, Offense and More Offense
The Falcon offense ranks 12th in the country and third in the CCHA with 3.38 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 nine lamp lighters in the win over UConn back on Dec. 30. They have also scored five goals three other times this season. In terms of goals scored the Falcons are led by Jonathan Matsumoto (17), Derek Whitmore (13), Mike Falk (12), James Unger (12), Brandon Svendsen (10) and Alex Foster (10).
Falcons Have Played A Tough Schedule
With two games this upcoming week with Miami the Falcons will finish the regular season having played 19-of-36 games 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 #9 Miami, two with #20 Northern Michigan, two more games with #16 Ohio State, #6 Michigan and #19 Lake Superior. They also have one game apiece with #14 Clarkson, #12 St. Lawrence, #19 Ferris State and #12 Colgate. The Falcons are 6-10-1 against top-20 competition.
Whit-More Goals The Falcons Win
Since December 10, sophomore Derek Whitmore has recorded 10 goals in the past 18 games, most among the team. Since the St. Lawrence contest the Falcons are 6-2 in games where Whitmore has scored. He has 13 points (10g, 3a) in that span including multiple goal games versus St. Lawrence and Michigan. He has 18 points (12g, 6a) in his last 23 games, after posting only one point in his first seven games this year.
Falcons And The First Five Minutes
Twenty-eight goals have been scored in the opening five minutes of Falcon hockey games this season, 14 by BGSU and 14 by the opposition. In games where the Falcons score in the first five minutes they are 7-3-1, but are only 2-8-1 when their opponent scores in the opening five minutes. BGSU is also 2-2-0 when both teams score in the first five minutes.
Defense Wins Games
With the 1-1 tie with Notre Dame this past weekend, the Falcons improved to 9-1-2 on the year when they surrender two goals or fewer this season. Their lone loss was a 2-1 defeat to Ferris State.
Quality, Not Quantity?
By firing 43 shots versus UAF on Feb. 11, the Falcons are now 1-4-0 on the season when they fire 40-plus shots this season. They had 47 shots in a 3-2 loss to Merrimack, 41 in a 6-4 loss to Clarkson, 40 in a 6-5 loss to Ferris State and 43 shots in a 4-3 loss to UAF. The Falcons lone win with 40-plus shots is a 5-2 win over Michigan after firing a season-high 49 shots.
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 12 goals (a career-high), which places him third on the team. The senior recorded eight goals in 27 games last season and 11 goals in 35 games his freshman year. On the year the senior forward has 12 goals and 11 assists in 34 games, setting a new career-best with 23 points
Fast Starts = Falcon Wins
That first goal of the game has been a major factor this season for the BGSU hockey team. In games where the Falcons score first they are 10-6-1, but when they surrender the opening goal they are only 3-13-1. In fact, they are 5-5-1 in the CCHA when they score first, but only 3-11-1 when a fellow CCHA opponent scores first.
Paluch Knows How To Play With A Lead
Continuing with the fast start theme, when the Falcons claim a 2-0 advantage this season they are 8-2 on the year. Their wins include UNO (7-3), Northern Michigan (8-4), St. Lawrence (6-4), UMass (3-2), UConn (9-2), Clarkson (4-0), Ohio State (2-0) and Michigan (5-2). Their two defeats came versus Clarkson (6-4) a game they at one point led 3-0 and a 4-3 loss to UAF after claiming a 2-0 advantage just 1:59 into the contest. In games where the Falcons claim that 2-0 advantage they have scored a total of 51 goals (5.10 per game), while surrendering only 27 goals (2.70 per game).
