Falcons Return To CCHA Action, Host Western Michigan This Weekend

Jan. 3, 2007

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -

GAME #21-22
BGSU vs. Western Michigan

Jan. 5-6, 2007  BG Ice Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio), 7:35 p.m./7:05 p.m.

RECORDS: BGSU 4-15-1, 2-10-0 CCHA // WMU 6-10-1, 5-7-1 CCHA
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Andy Evans--pre-game starts 30 mins. prior.
TV: FSN Detroit (Friday)  BCSN (Saturday)

Game Notes vs. Western Michigan (28 pages)
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The Bowling Green State University hockey team plays host to Western Michigan this weekend (Jan. 5-6) as the Falcons return back to Central Collegiate Hockey Association action. Friday night's action starts at 7:35 p.m., while Saturday's contest will begin at 7:05 p.m.
Series With Western Michigan
BGSU holds a 66-46-4 all-time series advantage. Last season the two teams split a two game series with the road team winning both games. WMU captured a 5-4 win inside the BG Ice Arena, while the Falcons won 5-2 the following night in Kalamazoo. BGSU head coach Scott Paluch is 4-5-1 all-time versus the Broncos, but has won four of his last five versus WMU. James Unger (4-3-7, 6 games), Jonathan Matsumoto (3-3-6, 4 games), Derek Whitmore (1-3-4, 4 games) and John Mazzei (2-1-3, 4 games) are the top career point-getters versus the Broncos.
Recap of Ohio Hockey Classic
BGSU 2, Miami 3
BGSU 3, Minnesota Duluth 4
BGSU dropped a pair of one goal losses this past weekend at the third annual Ohio Hockey Classic, held inside Nationwide Arena, in Columbus, Ohio. On Friday the Falcons went toe-to-toe with #4 Miami, falling 3-2. In the loss James Unger scored his first goal of the year (in just his second game), while junior Jonathan Matsumoto scored a goal in his third straight game.
The following night BGSU squared off with Minnesota Duluth in a rematch of the 1984 NCAA Championship game, with the Bulldogs walking away with this win. In the loss the Falcons received goals from three freshman: Tommy Dee, Todd McIlrath and Kai Kantola. The Dee goal was the first of his career.
What A Difference 19 Days Makes
The Falcons are currently in a 15 day span that will see them play a total of seven games, after playing no games from Dec. 10-28. They played two games on Dec.29-30 at the Ohio Hockey Classic and follow that up with a Jan.5-6 weekend series in Bowling Green, Ohio with Western Michigan. They then play on Jan. 9 (Tuesday) at Michigan and hit the road for a pair with UNO, out in Omaha, Nebraska.
Freshman Impact
BGSU welcomed 13 new players to the 2006-07 squad and 12 of them have seen playing time throughout the season. Tomas Petruska (5g, 5a), Todd McIlrath (4g, 5a) , Tim Maxwell (0g, 9a), Kai Kantola (3g, 2a), James Perkin (2g, 3a), Kyle Page (0g, 3a), Tommy Dee (1g, 2a), Brett Molnar (0g, 1a) and Josh Boyd (1g, 0a) have all recorded points this season. Brian Moore (6 games) along with goaltenders Eddie Neville (1-6-1, 4.24, .863) and Phil Greer have also dressed. Overall the newcomer class owns 38% (16 of 42) of the team's goals, 40% (30 of 76) of the team's assists and 39% (46 of 118) of the team's total points.
More On The Young Guns
 Newcomers Tomas Petruska (5-5-10), Tim Maxwell (0-9-9) and Todd McIlrath are third and T-fourth on the team in scoring.
 Overall, five of the Falcons top-10 scorers are newbies.
 Six different newcomers have scored goals and nine have picked up an assist.
 Petruska and James Perkin have 50% of the teams game-winning goals.  Newcomers have five of the Falcons 13 power-play goals.

Power Playing
After scoring just six power-play goals in their first 14 games (95 attempts) the Falcons have now scored a man-advantage goal in six straight games (7-38). Leading the way offensively on the power play is Jonathan Matsumoto, with four power-play goals, while Derek Whitmore (1g, 2a) and Mike Nesdill (0g, 3a) each have three points with the man-advantage in that span. Todd McIlrath and Kai Kantola also each have power-play goals.
Last Season Versus Western Michigan
BGSU entered the weekend series with WMU last season, riding a six game win streak that came to a close with a 5-4 loss to the Broncos inside the BG Ice Arena. The Falcons raced out to a 3-1 lead with goals by James Unger, Ryan Barnett and John Mazzei, but a 20 minute span saw three straight WMU goals to give the Broncos a 4-3 advantage with 15 minutes remaining in the contest. An Alex Foster goal once again tied the score, but Brent Walton's fourth goal of the game capped the scoring and a 5-4 win for Western Michigan.
The following night Western Michigan scored two goals early in the second period to race out to a 2-0 lead in Kalamazoo, but five straight tallies by the Falcons in 27 minutes gave the Falcons a 5-2 victory. Recording goals were Derek Whitmore, Brett Pilkington, Mike Falk, Jonathan Matsumoto and John Mazzei. Jimmy Spratt stopped 18-of-20 shots to pick up the win.
Falcons In Non-Conference
The Falcons finished their non-conference season with a 2-5-1 record this season and will now play 16 straight CCHA contests to close the regular season. Jonathan Matsumoto (4g, 3a), Derek Whitmore (5g, 1a) and Michael Hodgson (0g, 5a) are the top point-getters in non-conference action this season.
Spratt Since Last February
After a rough start to his Falcon career, Jimmy Spratt has turned his numbers upside-down. After posting a 5.02 goals-against average and an .833 save percentage in his first 12 games, Spratt now owns a career 4.14 gaa and an .865 save percentage. And in fact since last Feb. 11 Spratt owns a 3.38 gaa and an .887 save percentage in his last 18 starts.
Whitmore Nearly Matches Last Season's Total
The first half of the 2006-07 season has been a memorable one for junior Derek Whitmore. Through 20 games the Rochester, New York native has 17 points (10g, 7a), and is just three points shy of his 20 point (13g, 7a) effort set all of last season (34 games). In fact, he is currently on pace for 33 points, which would be just four points shy of his first two years combined in the Orange and Brown. 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, and had a career-high three assists in a 4-3 loss at Alaska.
Matsumoto Closes In On 100
In 92 career games, the junior assistant captain has scored 98 points (45g, 53a) and is two 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.
Maxwell's House
Sophomore Tim Maxwell, in his first year with BGSU, has had an impressive start to his Falcon career. The transfer from Maine recorded a helper in each of his first two games, had an assist in a 4-2 win over LSSU and had three assists in the weekend at Alaska. His nine points (0g, 9a) rank him fourth on the team in scoring and first among defenseman. In fact, in games where Maxwell records a point BGSU is 3-3-1 and are 1-1-0 when he has a pair of points.