Bowling Green State University Athletics
Hockey Hosts No. 12 Notre Dame Tuesday Evening In CCHA Home Opener
October 22, 2007 | Ice Hockey
Oct. 22, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University hockey team returns home from New York this week to play their home opener against the No. 12 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Face-off between the Falcons and Irish is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday evening at the BGSU Ice Arena. The game will mark the start of Central Collegiate Hockey Association play for both squads, as BG comes in 1-1-0 on the season, while the Irish are 2-2-0. It'll also mark the first of four matchups between the two CCHA clustermates this season.
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Game #3
#12 Notre Dame at Bowling Green
Oct. 23, 2007 • BGSU Ice Arena, 7:05 p.m.
TELEVISION:Comcast Local: Ben Holden (Play-by-Play), Lyle Phair (color analyst
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play), Bob Mills (color)
Radio Broadcast
Thursday and Friday night's action from New York can be heard on WBGU 88.1 FM. Danny Nieves will be providing all the play-by-play of the action, while Bob Mills will be providing the the color commentary. A pregame show will be airing 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off. The broadcast can be heard locally on WBGU 88.1 FM and globally on both www.bgsufalcons.com and www.bgrso.org.
Television Broadcast
Tuesday night's action between BGSU and Notre Dame at the BGSU Ice Arena can be seen by tuning into Comcast Local, as Ben Holden (play-by-play) and Lyle Phair (color analyst) will be giving all the play-by-play action of the game. The game will be proceeded by the CCHA Tonite pre-game show airing at 6:30 p.m. Comcast Local is a 24-hour regional sports network that provides exclusive sports programming to 1.6 million cable subscribers in Michigan and Indiana. In southeast Michigan Comcast Local can be seen for the most part by tuning into Channel 8. For a complete channel listing you can visit www.comcastlocal.com.
Live Stats
Live stats for Tuesday's game will be available at www.bgsufalcons.com via gametracker, which can be found on the team's schedule page.
Falcon Quick Hits
• In their last game featured on Comcast Local, the Falcons beat the Michigan Wolverines 3-2 at the BGSU Ice Arena on a last minute goal by sophomore forward Tomas Petruska.
• The Falcons are 19-16-1 all-time in CCHA home openers, but 0-5 in the last five seasons and just 2-7-1 in the last 10 seasons.
• Overall BG is 21-17 all-time in home openers, but just 1-4 the last five years with last season's 2-1 overtime win over UConn being the only home-opening win in that time period.
• The Falcons were 3-11 against ranked opponents last season and 2-8 against the top four teams in the final CCHA regular season standings.
• Falcon seniors Ben Geelan (3g, 1a), Michael Hodgson (0g, 4a) and Derek Whitmore (1g, 3a) lead all Falcon scorers against Notre Dame with four points each.
• BG will be looking to slow down the Irish pair of Erik Condra and Mark Van Guilder, who have tallied 25 combined points against the Falcons. In eight games against BG, Condra has recorded two goals and 11 assists while Van Guilder has recorded seven goals and five assists in 12 games against. Last season the two combined for nine points in four Irish wins against BG.
• BG has combined to outshoot their opponents 69-42 in the their first two games, holding a 32-20 shot advatage over Niagara and a 37-32 advantage over RIT.
• BG saw six of its' seven newcomers see action in the first two games of the season with three (Jacob Cepis, Andrew Krelove and Patrick Tiesling) collecting their first collegiate points, while freshman goaltender Nick Eno picked up his first career victory in his first collegiate start making 29 saves on 32 shots.
• Thanks to Eno's performance in the 5-3 win over RIT on Friday, the Falcons are now 22-4-2 under head coach Scott Paluch in games where they score five or more goals.
• Under Scott Paluch, the Falcons are now 11-6-1 in their first two weekends of the season, which includes the exhibition contest and the opening weekend. Last season BG went 2-0-1, as they collected wins over Windsor (7-1) and UConn (2-1 OT) in their season opener, before tying Alabama-Huntsville (5-5). This sesaon the Falcons defeated Windsor 12-1, before losing 2-0 to Niagara and winning 5-3 at RIT.
• BG had four players tie single-game career-highs for scoring in Friday's game as sophomore forward Kai Kantola tied his single-game high of three points (1g, 2a), senior forward Ben Geelan tied his single-game high of one point with an assist and junior defensemen Kevin Schmidt and Tim Maxwell both tallied two assists to tie their career single-game highs of two points.
• In his last nine regular season games going back to last season, senior forward Derek Whitmore has scored 11 points (9-2--11), which includes goals in both games of the CCHA playoffs at Nebraska-Omaha and two goals this past Friday at RIT.
• Whitmore finished 38th in the CCHA last season in scoring with 29 points (19g, 10a) and is tied for 20th among those returning this season. He is also tied for sixth in the CCHA among those returning in goals (19).
• Falcon freshmen Dan Sexton and David Solway both have some interesting ties to professional sports, aside from their ties to each other on the ice. Not only did the duo help lead Sioux Falls of the USHL to the Clark Cup championship last season, but they have family or friends that have made themselves popular in the world of professional sports. In Sexton's case, his twin brother Joe, has made his name as a professional snowboarder. In Solway's case and his family's, they have found themselves visiting the Favre family in Green Bay on quite a regular basis, as the elder Solway is one of Brett Farve's best friends in the Green Bay area.
• Tuesday night will feature a little reunion between former Sioux Falls Stampeders' Sexton, Solway and Patrick Tiesling of the Falcons going against freshman forward Ryan Guentzel of the Irish. The four helped lead the Stampede to the 2006-07 Clark Cup championship last season.
Last Week Recap
BGSU 0, Niagara 2
BGSU 5, RIT 3
Although they out-shot Niagara 32-20 on Thursday, the Falcons were unable to solve Purple Eagles goalie Juliano Pagliero, who recorded 32 saves on the evening to keep BG off the board. BG Junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt tried his best to keep his team close, stopping 18 of 20 shots he faced on the night, but two Purple Eagle power play goals would do the Falcons in, as NU improved their nation's best home unbeaten streak to 18 games. The Following night, would be a night to remember for BG senior tri-captain Derek Whitmore. The native of Rochester, N.Y. would put on a two-goal performance in front of 75 friends and family members, as he led the Falcons to their first win of the season with a 5-3 win at the Rochester Institute of Technology in his first game in Rochester since 2001. Sophomore forward Kai Kantola would add a game-high three points on a goal and two assists, as freshman goaltender Nick Eno earned his first career victory in his first collegiate start. Eno, a seventh-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, would stop 29 of 32 shots he faced, including 10 in the final period of play as the Falcons clung to a slim 4-3 lead. James Perkin's first goal of the season with just 1:35 to play would put the final nail in the coffin, as BG coaches' Scott Paluch, Doug Schueller and Todd Reirden won the battle between the coaching staffs that featured five former Falcons players and coaches, as they defeated RIT's Wayne Wilson and Brian Hills.
Scouting The Fighting Irish
Last season's Central Collegiate Hockey Association's regular season and tournament champions, the Fighting Irish come into Tuesday evening 2-2 on the season after splitting their first two weekends. On their opening weekend, ND earned a third-place finish at the Lefty McFadden Invitational in Dayton, Ohio losing 4-1 to Wisconsin before rebounding for a 4-0 win over Mercyhurst in the consolation game. This past weekend the Irish split a pair of home games with the Denver Pioneers winning 4-3 on Thursday, before dropping a 3-1 decision on Friday. Leading the way up front for the Irish is freshman forward Ben Ryan, who currently leads all ND scorers with four points (1g, 3a). Sophomore Ryan Thang (3g, 0a) and senior Mark Van Guilder (3g, 0a) both own a team-best three goals, while juniors Garrett Regan (2g, 1a) and Erik Condra (0g, 3a) have also chipped in three points, which ranks tied for second-best on the team. Last season as a sophomore, Condra led all Irish scorers with 48 points (14g, 34a), which was the sixth-best point total in the CCHA. All five of ND's top five scorers from last season are returning with Thang (20g, 21a), sophomore Kevin Deeth (17g, 22a), Van Guilder (18g, 16a) and Regan (14g, 12a) all returning. On defense the Irish have been led by sophomores Brett Blatchford (0g, 3a) and Kyle Lawson (1g, 1a), along with senior Brock Sheahan (0g, 2a) and freshman Ian Cole (0g, 1a). Lawson, a member of the Preseason All-CCHA First Team, leads all returning defensemen for the Irish as he tallied 19 points (4g, 15a) a season ago as a freshman. The blueliners help protect a young Irish net that features junior Jordan Pearce (2-2-0, 2.26, .907), sophomore Tom O'Brien and freshman Brad Phillips, who have a combined 16 games of experience with Pearce being the only one with playing time. Thus far in 2007 though, Pearce has been one of the top goaltenders in the league and has already recorded a shutout against Mercyhurst, as he'll come into Tuesday evening sporting a record of 2-2-0 with a 2.26 goals-against average and a save percentage of .907.
NOTRE DAME SERIES
Tuesday night's game with the Fighting Irish will mark the 80th time that the Falcons and Irish have met and the third time that the two have opened the BGSU Ice Arena's regular season schedule. The Falcons and Irish also played in BG's regular season home openers in 2003 (3-0 ND win) and 1972 (9-5 BG win). Though ND owns an overall 39-34-6 lead in the all-time series, the Falcons have a 22-16-2 edge at the Ice Arena. Last season the Falcons dropped all four games to the Irish, losing 5-2 (Nov. 10) and 4-0 (Nov. 11) in South Bend, Ind. at the Joyce Center, before playing two tough one-goal games against them at home where they lost 3-2 (Feb. 2) and 2-1 (Feb. 3) when ND entered the weekend as the No. 2 team in the country. BG is just 2-7-1 in the last 10 meetings with the Irish and winless in the series since ND coach Jeff Jackson took the helm two seasons ago, going 0-7-1 in eight meetings.
Memorable Series Moment
The Falcons and Fighting Irish met in the 1983 CCHA quarterfinals, as BG won 8-3 thanks to a BGSU record-tying five-goal performance by forward Jamie Wansbrough. The five goals by Wansbrough also set a new CCHA Tournament record, as he finished the series with the Irish with a BG record seven total goals for the series, while the Falcons eliminated the Irish in their final two games of varsity competition before later rejoining the CCHA in the 1992-93 season.
Something's gotta give in the Second Period
Though they say games are won in crunch time, the Falcons and Fighting Irish have been winning games so far this season towards the mid-way point of their contests. Entering Tuesday through four games, the Irish have scored seven second period goals, while the Falcons have scored four second period goals through two games. ND leads the CCHA in second period tallies, but also ranks first in the CCHA for fewest goals allowed in the second period, as they've yet to allow a second stanza goal. BG on the other hand has allowed four second period goals, which ranks tied for the third-highest in the league.
Fast Starts equal Success in Falcon Country
Getting off to a fast start has been the recipe to success in years past for the Falcons, as all, but one team with a .500 record or better in the last 20 years for BG has had at least five wins in their first 10 games of the season. Below is look at what those teams did.
Year First 10 record Final Record Team Accomplishment
1987-88 5-4-1 30-13-2 CCHA Tournament Champions
1988-89 7-3 26-18-3 Finished 5th in the CCHA
1989-90 * 4-6 25-17-2 Finished 3rd in the CCHA
1993-94 6-2-2 19-17-2 Finished 6th in the CCHA
1994-95 7-3 25-11-2 Finished 2nd in the CCHA
1995-96 7-2-1 26-14-1 Finished 5th in the CCHA
1996-97 5-5 17-16-5 Finished Tied for 5th in the CCHA
2004-05 6-3-1 16-16-4 Finished 5th in the CCHA
Defense Generating Offense
A big reason for last season's offensive woes revolved around the fact that the Falcons only got 45 total combined points from their defensive core. Just two players would break 10 points on the season, as Mike Nesdill (1g, 10a) and Tim Maxwell (0g, 11a) led all Falcon defensemen with 11 points each. Through the first two games this season, the defensive core has already combined for five points, as three different defensemen have tallied points. Juniors Kevin Schmidt and Tim Maxwell both had two helpers to their credit in the Falcons' 5-3 win at RIT, while freshman Andrew Krelove added an assist on the final goal of the game to record his first collegiate point.
Is This the making of A Dynamic Duo?
This past week's action for the Falcons in New York saw both junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt and freshman goaltender Nick Eno share starting duties between the pipes. Spratt, who played in 31 games last season, would make 18 stops on 20 shots in the Falcons 2-0 loss Thursday to Niagara, as he kept the Falcons in the game. The lone Purple Eagle goals would come via the power play. On Friday evening, Eno, making his first collegiate start, stopped 29-of-32 shots he faced to earn his first victory while wearing the orange and brown. The seventh-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, who became the first member of the EJHL's Green Mountain squad to be drafted, would stop all 10 shots he faced in the third period to keep the Falcons in the lead. Together, the two have given BG a combined 2.50 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. The last time the Falcons finished the season with a combined goals-against average under 3.00 and save percentage of over .900 happened during the 2003-04 season when Jordan Sigalet and Bob Frazee combined for a 2.88 goals-against average and a .917 save percentag with Sigalet seeing action in 37 games that season. Theres only been four times in the last decade that the Falcons had two net-minders see action in more than 15 games in a season with the last coming in 2005-06 when senior Jon Horrell saw action in 23 games, while Spratt in his freshman season, saw action in 16 games.
Cluster It Up
Tuesday's game against Notre Dame will mark the first of five-straight contests for the Falcons against their 2007 CCHA clustermates. Following their date with the Fighting Irish, the Falcons will next face clustermate Western Michigan in a home-and-home series (Nov. 2-3), before heading to Big Rapids, Mich. for a two-game set with the Ferris State Bulldogs. BG only went 1-7 against their clustermates last season with a 5-1 home win over WMU keeping them from being winless.
Racking Up the time in the box
Though the Falcons were able to gain a road split on their opening weekend of the season, one thing they didn't gain was time spent on the ice with five players. BG racked up a total of 42 minutes in penalties through the first two games, averaging 21 minutes a game as they enter the week ranking as the third-highest penalty minutes per-game average in the CCHA. Thus far, the biggest culprits for BG have been freshman forward Jacob Cepis (3-6), sophomore forward James Perkin (3-6) and junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt (3-6), as they've each collected six total minutes in the box in the first 120 minutes of hockey this season.
