Falcons Host #2 Notre Dame This Weekend

Jan. 30, 2007

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -

GAME #30-31
BGSU vs. Notre Dame

Feb. 2-3, 2007  BGSU Ice Arena, 7:05 p.m.

RECORDS: BGSU 5-22-2, 3-17-1 CCHA // Notre Dame 21-5-2, 15-3-2 CCHA
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Andy Evans--pre-game starts 30 mins. prior.
TV: BCSN (Greg Franky and Buddy Powers)--Friday Only

BGSU vs. Notre Dame Game Notes (32 pages)
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The Bowling Green State University hockey team plays host to the #2 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame this weekend (Feb. 2-3), with both contests starting at 7:05 p.m. inside the BGSU Ice Arena. This will be the seventh and eighth time this season the Falcons face faced a team ranked in the top-10 nationally.
Series With Notre Dame
Notre Dame leads the all-time series 37-34-6, after capturing back-to-back wins on Nov. 10-11 in South Bend, Indiana with scores of 5-2 and 4-0. The Irish are 5-0-1 in their last six games with the Falcons. Last season in Bowling Green, Ohio, Notre Dame won 7-4, while the teams tied 1-1 in the final contest. BGSU head coach Scott Paluch is 5-11-1 all-time versus the Irish and is 3-4-1 at home versus ND in his career.
Top Falcons Versus The Irish
With Notre Dame being the Falcons' rivalry partner, no other team in the CCHA have the Falcons been more accustom to seeing on the ice. In fact, six different Falcons have played at least 10 games versus the Irish.
Player...........Games Played.....Notes
Jeremy Bronson...........12..........1 goal, 7-14 PIM, -3
James Unger................12..........5 goals, 4 assists, 11-30 PIM, +3
Jonathan Matsumoto.....10..........1 goal, 8 assists, 6-12 PIM
Michael Hodgson..........10..........0 goals, 4 assists, 4-8 PIM
Derek Whitmore...........10..........3 goals, 1 assist, 3-17 PIM, 2 PP
John Mazzei.................10..........1 goal, 4 assists, 6-12 PIM, +3

Alaska Weekend Recap
BGSU 2, UAF 5
BGSU 2, UAF 2
The two teams entered the third period in both games this past weekend tied up (2-2 and 1-1), with the Nanooks scoring three power-play goals in the third period to skate away with a 5-2 win in game one. The following night UAF recorded a power-play goal early in the third, before Todd McIlrath scored his fifth goal of the season with just over four minutes remaining in the contest. BGSU netminder Jimmy Spratt made 74 saves versus the Nanooks (37 both nights), finishing with a .914 save percentage for the weekend.
Role Reversal
After allowing four power-play goals on Friday night to Alaska on nine attempts (55.6%) in a 5-2 loss, the BGSU penalty kill unit had arguably their finest effort of the season the following night, allowing just one power-play goal on 12 attempts (91.7%). In fact, Saturday night's contest included three 5-on-3 man advantages (all lasting more than a minute in length, and they scored on none). Also on Saturday, Alaska did not score until their 11th power-play attempt (going 0-10 in the first two periods), finishing the night with 22 shots on the power play.
Take Me Home Tonight
With all the travel the Falcons have made this season, they have only been home for six weekends through the first four months of the season. From Dec. 3 through Jan. 25 (53 days) the Falcons had just two home games (Jan. 5-6) versus Western Michigan. The home series with Notre Dame is the second straight home series for the Falcons, the first time this season the Falcons have had back-to-back home series.
104 And Counting
Junior Jonathan Matsumoto scored his 100th career point versus Western Michigan back on Jan. 5. He became the 68th Falcon in school history to accomplish this feat and is also just the eighth Falcon in the last 10 years to score at least 100 points in their careers. He added a goal versus UNO and added two assists versus NMU, as well as a goal last Friday versus UAF for 104 career points to date. Matsumoto, who averages 1.03 points/game for his career is just one of 45 players in school history to have 100 points and average at least one point per game for their career. See page three for who Matsumoto could be passing in the BGSU record books the next few weeks.
As Matsumoto Goes, So Do The Falcons
Jonathan Matsumoto has recorded multiple point games seven times this season, and in those seven games the Falcons are 5-2-0. In games where the junior records a goal the Orange and Brown are 4-4-1.
Spratt Sets Career Mark
This past weekend Jimmy Spratt made 74 saves on 81 (.914) shots faced, recording 37 saves on both nights. The 74 saves in a weekend were a career-high. His previous-best was 66 saves in back-to-back games versus Alaska back on Dec. 8-9. While allowing seven goals in a weekend may not sound that impressive, one goal hit a broken stick in the corner and came in front of the BG cage, with Spratt nearly behind his own net, and another two goals were back-door plays while trying to kill 5-on-3 power-play attempts. Taking away those three shots, he goes 74-for-78 for an impressive .949 save percentage.
Jack Bauer Is Not the Only Exciting "24"
"24", a hit show on Fox began season six on Jan. 14 (their lead character's name is Jack Bauer), but Bowling Green fans have been seeing an exciting 24 of their own the last few weeks. Freshman Todd McIlrath, who wears number 24, has seven points (4g, 3a) in his last 13 games (dating back to Dec. 8, in Fairbanks, Alaska). He scored goals in back-to-back games versus the Nanooks (on Dec. 8-9), added his third goal at the Ohio Hockey Classic versus Minnesota Duluth, and picked up an assist versus both Western Michigan and Nebraska-Omaha. This past weekend he had two points (1g, 1a) in a 2-2 tie with the Nanooks.
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 (7g, 6a), Todd McIlrath (5g, 8a) , Tim Maxwell (0g, 10a), Kai Kantola (3g, 5a), James Perkin (2g, 3a), Kyle Page (0g, 4a), Tommy Dee (2g, 2a), Brett Molnar (0g, 1a) and Josh Boyd (1g, 0a) have all recorded points this season. Brian Moore (7 games) along with goaltenders Eddie Neville (1-7-1, 4.18, .860) and Phil Greer have also dressed. Overall the newcomer class owns 37% (20 of 54) of the team's goals, 42% (39 of 94) of the team's assists and 40% (59 of 148) of the team's total points.
Power-Play Attempts
The Bowling Green power play is averaging just over seven attempts per contest (7.03) and have 204 attempts this season. Those 204 attempts rank fourth-most in the country. BGSU also ranks first in CCHA games with 142 attempts in 21 games (6.76/game).
Earlier This Year at Notre Dame
In game one at Notre Dame back on Nov. 10 Kevin Schmidt scored midway through the first for his first goal of the season to spot the Falcons a 1-0 lead. Notre Dame's Mark Van Guilder and Ryan Thang also scored goals in the opening period, while Tomas Petruska scored at the 6:24 mark of the second to knot the score at two apiece. The Irish capped the scoring with three goals in the final period, including two power-play goals for the 5-2 win.
The following night BGSU was shut out 4-0, despite out-shooting the Irish 28-26.
For the weekend ND was 3-for-13 on the power play, while the Falcons went scoreless on 11 attempts. The Irish held a 59-54 shot advantage, while the Falcons committed 17 penalties for 34 minutes and ND had 16 penalties for 32 PIM.
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 10 points (0g, 10a) rank him sixth on the team in scoring and first among defenseman. In fact, in games where Maxwell records a point BGSU is 3-3-2 and are 1-1-0 when he has a pair of points. His 10 assists are second on the team, trailing only Matsumoto's 14 assists.