Bowling Green State University Athletics
#25 Falcon Hockey Set For Home-And-Home Series With Western Michigan
January 15, 2008 | Ice Hockey
Jan. 15, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University hockey team will be looking for their first regular-season Central Collegiate Hockey Association series victory this weekend when they play a two-game home-and-home series with clustermate Western Michigan. BG won the season's first two meetings with the Broncos, winning both contests in overtime as junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt and freshman forward David Solway tallied the game-winners in the extra-frames. The Falcons last earned a series victory over the WMU in the 2004-05 campaign when they swept them in a two-game home set. Game one of the series will faceoff at 7:05 p.m. on Friday from the BGSU Ice Arena, before the series will conclude on Saturday with the first puck dropping at 7:35 p.m. from WMU's Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Complete Release in PDF Format (40 pages)
Game #21
Western Michigan at #25 Bowling Green
Jan.18, 2008 • BGSU Ice Arena, 7:05 p.m.
Television: BCSN: Greg Franke (play-by-play), Buddy Powers (color commentary)RECORDS: BGSU 10-10-0, 7-7-0 CCHA // WMU 6-15-1, 2-12-0 CCHA
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play), Brian Fisher (color commentary)
Game #22
#25 Bowling Green at Western Michigan
Jan.19, 2008 • Lawson Ice Arena, 7:35 p.m.
Television: None
RECORDS: BGSU 10-10-0, 7-7-0 CCHA // WMU 6-15-1, 2-12-0 CCHA
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play), Brian Fisher (color commentary)
Radio Broadcast
Friday and Saturday night's action between the Falcons and Broncos can be heard by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM. Danny Nieves will be providing all the play-by-play of the action. A pregame show will air 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
Friday's action at the BGSU Ice Arena between the Falcons and the Broncos can be seen by tuning into BCSN. Greg Franke will be providing the play-by-play of the action with former Falcon hockey coach Buddy Powers doing the color commentary. The game, which will be tape delayed, will show at 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning and will be shown again at 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday as well.
LIVE STATS
Live stats for Friday and Saturday's games will be available at www.bgsufalcons.com via gametracker, which can be found on the team's schedule page.
THE OPENING FACEOFF (STORYLINES)
Falcons To Be Featured On New CSTV Web Feature
• CSTV.com recently launched on Monday, a new college hockey feature called "BREAKOUT, BREAK IN," which will profile four Division I college hockey teams as they compete for a 2008 NCAA Tournament berth. The Falcons will be among the four teams profiled in the feature, along with Michigan Tech of the WCHA, Northeastern of Hockey East and Rensselaer of the ECAC. The feature, aimed at giving fans an inside look at the four programs, will feature a weekly blog from an assistant coach from each program as BG will be represented by first-year assistant coach Todd Reirden. Reirden's blog will give fans in-depth reports on how the Falcons are progressing as a team as well as look at the challenges that come up along BG's path to trying to earn their first NCAA Tournament bid since the 1989-90 season.
Two Periods That Have Really Told The Tale
• One the biggest reasons why the Falcons have gone 4-6-0 in their last 10 games has been the difference in scoring between themselves and their opposition in the first and third periods. Over the course of the last 10 games, BG has been out-scored, 23-15, in the two periods combined, while they've owned a 15-8 advantage in the second period. The opposition has out-scored the Falcons, 12-10, in the first period as the Falcons have trailed entering the first intermission on six occasions during that span. On the flip side, the Falcons saw two games they were leading in the third period get away from them in losses to Northeastern and at home against Michigan, while in other games they either let the opposition increase their lead in the third period or were unable to pull out a tying goal as they were out-scored, 11-5, in the game's final 20 minutes.
Halfway Home
• This weekend's games with Western Michigan will mark the start of the second time thru the cluster for the Falcons, who've already squared-off with a clustermate on six occasions this season. So far, each of BG's 2007-08 clustermates have played six games in the cluster and thru the first six games, the Falcons currently find themselves in second-place in the standings to Notre Dame, the only clustermate to defeat the Falcons this season. Below is a look at the cluster standings entering the second go-around.
Team Cluster Record:
Notre Dame 5-1
Bowling Green 4-2
Ferris State 3-3
Western Michigan 0-6
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons of sixth-year head coach Scott Paluch currently sit at 10-10-0 overall with a 7-7-0 mark in the CCHA, which currently has them in sixth-place, one point behind Nebraska-Omaha in fifth ... they are 6-5-0 on the road this season, 4-4-0 at home and 0-1-0 in neutral site contests ... BG comes into the weekend 4-6 in their last 10 games, but five of those losses came to teams ranked in the top-13 or higher in the national polls, including three losses to the No.1 and No. 2 teams...overall on the season, seven of the Falcons' 10 losses came to ranked opponents ... the Falcons however, have only lost two games all season decided by three goals or more with both coming the past two weekends ... leading the way for the Falcons in the scoring column is senior forward Derek Whitmore (15-5-20) and freshman forward Jacob Cepis (10-10-20) who both have tallied 20 points ... Whitmore leads the team with 15 goals scored, while Cepis is second on the team with 10 ... on the blue line, the Falcons are led by junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt who has 16 points this season on three goals and 13 assists ... senior defenseman Mike Nesdill has 13, while junior defenseman Tim Maxwell then has 12 ... in net, BG has gotten 11 starts from junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt and nine from freshman Nick Eno as the two have combined for a 2.83 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage ... against non-ranked opponents though, the duo has combined for a 2.31 GAA and a .900 save percentage ... the Falcons came into the season returning 20 letterwinners, including 11 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies ... they also welcomed in seven newcomers, including five forwards, one defenseman and one goalie .. overall BG returned 73% of their goals from last season and 78% of their points.
A LOOK AT THE BRONCOS
The Broncos of ninth-year head coach Jim Culhane currently sit at 6-15-1 overall with a 2-12-0 record in the CCHA, which currently has them one point behind Lake Superior State for 12th-place in the league standings ... they are 5-7-0 at home this season, 1-7-0 on the road and 0-1-1 in neutral site contests ... WMU comes into the weekend having dropped four-straight and six of their last seven overall with a 1-1 tie against Holy Cross at the Catamount Cup over the Holidays keeping them from having dropped seven-straight ... this past weekend the Broncos lost a pair to No. 1 Michigan in a two-game home-and-home series, losing game one in Ann Arbor, 6-1 and losing game two, 5-1, in Kalamazoo ... WMU was held to a combined 1-11 on the power play over the weekend, while the Wolverine power play went 4-10 against the Bronco penalty-kill ... defensemen Nathan Ansell and Steve Silver were the lone goal scorers for WMU in the two games ... leading the Bronco offense is junior forward Patrick Galivan, who has tallied a line of 7-15-22 this season ... on the blue line, WMU is led by sophomore defenseman Tyler Ludwig who has an accumulated line of 3-6-9 ... in net, the Broncos have gotten 17 starts out of sophomore goaltender Riley Gill, who has a a 4-12-0 record with a 3.44 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage ... freshman Jerry Kuhn has also seen plenty of time between the pipes, making five starts in his rookie season with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage .. the two have combined for a 3.23 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage.
THE WESTERN MICHIGAN SERIES
This weekend's games between the Falcons and Broncos will mark the 121st and 122nd times that the two programs have met dating back to their first-ever meeting on Feb. 1, 1974. The Falcons own a 69-47-4 record in the all-time series, a 30-25-4 record in games played at WMU and a 42-19 record against the Broncos at the BGSU Ice Arena ... last season the two squads split a pair of games at the Ice Arena with the Falcons earning a 5-1 win (Jan.5) in the first game, before the Broncos came back and won 5-0 (Jan.6) in game two ... in the Falcons 5-1 win to open the series, BG scored five unanswered goals to capture the victory, as they out-shot WMU 35-19 ... Derek Whitmore, Kevin Schmidt, Brandon Svendsen and Tomas Petruska all picked up goals in the effort, while Kai Kantola set a single-game career high with three assists ... the Broncos and goaltender Riley Gill would get even though the following night, as Gill made 37 stops to record the shutout win ...earlier this season, the Falcons earned a pair of overtime wins over WMU, winning 3-2 the first night in Kalamazoo, before losing a four-goal lead in game two at the BGSU Ice Arean, prior to a goal by Kevin Schmidt in the extra-frame ... for Schmidt, the goal was the first game-winning goal of his collegiate career ... in game one, freshman goaltender Nick Eno picked up his second-consecutive win in goal to start his career as the Falcons came back from a late, 2-1 deficit to capture the win ... Mike Nesdill tied the game with just 2:15 remaining in regulation and then just 1:57 into overtime, freshman David Solway poked in a rebound from a corner shot by James Perkin in front to give the Falcons their first overtime win since last season when they beat UConn in the first game of the year.
Tidbits Related to the Western Michigan Series
• BG has had nine double-digit games against the Broncos, the most versus any opponent (five at home, three in Kalamazoo and one on neutral ice.
• BG has had 31 total penalty shots (for and against) in its 38 seasons of play with four coming against WMU as each squad has scored on one occasion with BG 1-1 on the penalty shots against the Broncos and the Broncos 1-3 against the Falcons.
• Falcon coach Scott Paluch owns or shares seven BG records for a defenseman and three have involved contests with the Broncos. In his senior year in 1988, Paluch had a Feb.19th and 20th series against the Broncos that saw him score eight total points, tying a school-record for a defenseman. That same series saw him become only the third (four now) defenseman in BG history to tally a hat trick in a game and saw him tally four total goals for the series, which also is tied for tops on the school list a defenseman.
• BG has beaten the Broncos just seven times in 120 meetings when scoring less than four goals and has never won a game in the series when scoring less than three, as they are 7-10-2 in games where the winning team scored three goals or fewer, including the overtime, 3-2, win in game one this season.
• Only three meetings in 120 meetings have occurred where each team scored less than three goals and never before has there been two or fewer combined goals scored in a contest between the schools.
• Senior forwards Derek Whitmore and John Mazzei lead all BG scorer's against WMU with six career points.
• Falcon senior defenseman Michael Hodgson has a career +4 rating in eight career games against the Broncos.
• Senior forward John Mazzei has a career +2 rating against WMU in eight career games, as the tri-captain has tallied three goals and three assists.
• Junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt has made four career starts against WMU, going 3-1-0 with a career 2.94 goals-against average against the team from his home state.
IN TEN FALCON WINS THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU has averaged 4.3 goals a game, while giving up an average of 2.1.
• BGSU out-shot their opponents by a 30.4 to 24.4 average.
• BGSU was a combined 20-for-61 on the power play (32.8%), while they held opponents to just 10-for-59 (16.9%).
• BGSU had an average of 19.3 penalty minutes per game, while their opponent averaged 20.2.
• BGSU out-scored their opponents, 14-4, in the first period and 16-8 in the second.
• BGSU won 56.6% of their faceoffs.
• Derek Whitmore scored 14 points (12-2-14) and had eight power-play goals.
• James Perkin also scored 14 points (6-8-14), while Jacob Cepis also had 14 (7-7-14).
• Jimmy Spratt had a 1.96 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.
• Nick Eno had a 2.16 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.
IN TEN FALCON LOSSES THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU averaged 1.8 goals a game, while giving up an average of 3.6.
• BGSU out-shot their opponents by a 27.2 to 26.8 margin.
• BGSU was a combined 6-for-55 on the power play (10.9%), while their opponents were 8-for-47 (17.0%).
• BGSU averaged 14.1 penalty minutes a game, while their opponent averaged 14.6.
• BGSU won 49.9% of their faceoffs.
• BGSU was out-scored by their opponent, 12-7 in the first period, 11-9 in the second and 13-2 in the third period.
• Derek Whitmore and Kevin Schmidt combined for just 12 points (4-8-12).
• BG surrendered three short-handed goals
• Freshmen Dan Sexton and David Solway both had four goals.
• The Falcon seniors were a combined -16 in the plus/minus category.
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play), Brian Fisher (color commentary)
Game #22
#25 Bowling Green at Western Michigan
Jan.19, 2008 • Lawson Ice Arena, 7:35 p.m.
Television: None
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play), Brian Fisher (color commentary)
Radio Broadcast
Friday and Saturday night's action between the Falcons and Broncos can be heard by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM. Danny Nieves will be providing all the play-by-play of the action. A pregame show will air 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
Friday's action at the BGSU Ice Arena between the Falcons and the Broncos can be seen by tuning into BCSN. Greg Franke will be providing the play-by-play of the action with former Falcon hockey coach Buddy Powers doing the color commentary. The game, which will be tape delayed, will show at 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning and will be shown again at 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday as well.
LIVE STATS
Live stats for Friday and Saturday's games will be available at www.bgsufalcons.com via gametracker, which can be found on the team's schedule page.
THE OPENING FACEOFF (STORYLINES)
Falcons To Be Featured On New CSTV Web Feature
• CSTV.com recently launched on Monday, a new college hockey feature called "BREAKOUT, BREAK IN," which will profile four Division I college hockey teams as they compete for a 2008 NCAA Tournament berth. The Falcons will be among the four teams profiled in the feature, along with Michigan Tech of the WCHA, Northeastern of Hockey East and Rensselaer of the ECAC. The feature, aimed at giving fans an inside look at the four programs, will feature a weekly blog from an assistant coach from each program as BG will be represented by first-year assistant coach Todd Reirden. Reirden's blog will give fans in-depth reports on how the Falcons are progressing as a team as well as look at the challenges that come up along BG's path to trying to earn their first NCAA Tournament bid since the 1989-90 season.
Two Periods That Have Really Told The Tale
• One the biggest reasons why the Falcons have gone 4-6-0 in their last 10 games has been the difference in scoring between themselves and their opposition in the first and third periods. Over the course of the last 10 games, BG has been out-scored, 23-15, in the two periods combined, while they've owned a 15-8 advantage in the second period. The opposition has out-scored the Falcons, 12-10, in the first period as the Falcons have trailed entering the first intermission on six occasions during that span. On the flip side, the Falcons saw two games they were leading in the third period get away from them in losses to Northeastern and at home against Michigan, while in other games they either let the opposition increase their lead in the third period or were unable to pull out a tying goal as they were out-scored, 11-5, in the game's final 20 minutes.
Halfway Home
• This weekend's games with Western Michigan will mark the start of the second time thru the cluster for the Falcons, who've already squared-off with a clustermate on six occasions this season. So far, each of BG's 2007-08 clustermates have played six games in the cluster and thru the first six games, the Falcons currently find themselves in second-place in the standings to Notre Dame, the only clustermate to defeat the Falcons this season. Below is a look at the cluster standings entering the second go-around.
Team Cluster Record:
Notre Dame 5-1
Bowling Green 4-2
Ferris State 3-3
Western Michigan 0-6
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons of sixth-year head coach Scott Paluch currently sit at 10-10-0 overall with a 7-7-0 mark in the CCHA, which currently has them in sixth-place, one point behind Nebraska-Omaha in fifth ... they are 6-5-0 on the road this season, 4-4-0 at home and 0-1-0 in neutral site contests ... BG comes into the weekend 4-6 in their last 10 games, but five of those losses came to teams ranked in the top-13 or higher in the national polls, including three losses to the No.1 and No. 2 teams...overall on the season, seven of the Falcons' 10 losses came to ranked opponents ... the Falcons however, have only lost two games all season decided by three goals or more with both coming the past two weekends ... leading the way for the Falcons in the scoring column is senior forward Derek Whitmore (15-5-20) and freshman forward Jacob Cepis (10-10-20) who both have tallied 20 points ... Whitmore leads the team with 15 goals scored, while Cepis is second on the team with 10 ... on the blue line, the Falcons are led by junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt who has 16 points this season on three goals and 13 assists ... senior defenseman Mike Nesdill has 13, while junior defenseman Tim Maxwell then has 12 ... in net, BG has gotten 11 starts from junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt and nine from freshman Nick Eno as the two have combined for a 2.83 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage ... against non-ranked opponents though, the duo has combined for a 2.31 GAA and a .900 save percentage ... the Falcons came into the season returning 20 letterwinners, including 11 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies ... they also welcomed in seven newcomers, including five forwards, one defenseman and one goalie .. overall BG returned 73% of their goals from last season and 78% of their points.
A LOOK AT THE BRONCOS
The Broncos of ninth-year head coach Jim Culhane currently sit at 6-15-1 overall with a 2-12-0 record in the CCHA, which currently has them one point behind Lake Superior State for 12th-place in the league standings ... they are 5-7-0 at home this season, 1-7-0 on the road and 0-1-1 in neutral site contests ... WMU comes into the weekend having dropped four-straight and six of their last seven overall with a 1-1 tie against Holy Cross at the Catamount Cup over the Holidays keeping them from having dropped seven-straight ... this past weekend the Broncos lost a pair to No. 1 Michigan in a two-game home-and-home series, losing game one in Ann Arbor, 6-1 and losing game two, 5-1, in Kalamazoo ... WMU was held to a combined 1-11 on the power play over the weekend, while the Wolverine power play went 4-10 against the Bronco penalty-kill ... defensemen Nathan Ansell and Steve Silver were the lone goal scorers for WMU in the two games ... leading the Bronco offense is junior forward Patrick Galivan, who has tallied a line of 7-15-22 this season ... on the blue line, WMU is led by sophomore defenseman Tyler Ludwig who has an accumulated line of 3-6-9 ... in net, the Broncos have gotten 17 starts out of sophomore goaltender Riley Gill, who has a a 4-12-0 record with a 3.44 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage ... freshman Jerry Kuhn has also seen plenty of time between the pipes, making five starts in his rookie season with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage .. the two have combined for a 3.23 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage.
THE WESTERN MICHIGAN SERIES
This weekend's games between the Falcons and Broncos will mark the 121st and 122nd times that the two programs have met dating back to their first-ever meeting on Feb. 1, 1974. The Falcons own a 69-47-4 record in the all-time series, a 30-25-4 record in games played at WMU and a 42-19 record against the Broncos at the BGSU Ice Arena ... last season the two squads split a pair of games at the Ice Arena with the Falcons earning a 5-1 win (Jan.5) in the first game, before the Broncos came back and won 5-0 (Jan.6) in game two ... in the Falcons 5-1 win to open the series, BG scored five unanswered goals to capture the victory, as they out-shot WMU 35-19 ... Derek Whitmore, Kevin Schmidt, Brandon Svendsen and Tomas Petruska all picked up goals in the effort, while Kai Kantola set a single-game career high with three assists ... the Broncos and goaltender Riley Gill would get even though the following night, as Gill made 37 stops to record the shutout win ...earlier this season, the Falcons earned a pair of overtime wins over WMU, winning 3-2 the first night in Kalamazoo, before losing a four-goal lead in game two at the BGSU Ice Arean, prior to a goal by Kevin Schmidt in the extra-frame ... for Schmidt, the goal was the first game-winning goal of his collegiate career ... in game one, freshman goaltender Nick Eno picked up his second-consecutive win in goal to start his career as the Falcons came back from a late, 2-1 deficit to capture the win ... Mike Nesdill tied the game with just 2:15 remaining in regulation and then just 1:57 into overtime, freshman David Solway poked in a rebound from a corner shot by James Perkin in front to give the Falcons their first overtime win since last season when they beat UConn in the first game of the year.
Tidbits Related to the Western Michigan Series
• BG has had nine double-digit games against the Broncos, the most versus any opponent (five at home, three in Kalamazoo and one on neutral ice.
• BG has had 31 total penalty shots (for and against) in its 38 seasons of play with four coming against WMU as each squad has scored on one occasion with BG 1-1 on the penalty shots against the Broncos and the Broncos 1-3 against the Falcons.
• Falcon coach Scott Paluch owns or shares seven BG records for a defenseman and three have involved contests with the Broncos. In his senior year in 1988, Paluch had a Feb.19th and 20th series against the Broncos that saw him score eight total points, tying a school-record for a defenseman. That same series saw him become only the third (four now) defenseman in BG history to tally a hat trick in a game and saw him tally four total goals for the series, which also is tied for tops on the school list a defenseman.
• BG has beaten the Broncos just seven times in 120 meetings when scoring less than four goals and has never won a game in the series when scoring less than three, as they are 7-10-2 in games where the winning team scored three goals or fewer, including the overtime, 3-2, win in game one this season.
• Only three meetings in 120 meetings have occurred where each team scored less than three goals and never before has there been two or fewer combined goals scored in a contest between the schools.
• Senior forwards Derek Whitmore and John Mazzei lead all BG scorer's against WMU with six career points.
• Falcon senior defenseman Michael Hodgson has a career +4 rating in eight career games against the Broncos.
• Senior forward John Mazzei has a career +2 rating against WMU in eight career games, as the tri-captain has tallied three goals and three assists.
• Junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt has made four career starts against WMU, going 3-1-0 with a career 2.94 goals-against average against the team from his home state.
IN TEN FALCON WINS THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU has averaged 4.3 goals a game, while giving up an average of 2.1.
• BGSU out-shot their opponents by a 30.4 to 24.4 average.
• BGSU was a combined 20-for-61 on the power play (32.8%), while they held opponents to just 10-for-59 (16.9%).
• BGSU had an average of 19.3 penalty minutes per game, while their opponent averaged 20.2.
• BGSU out-scored their opponents, 14-4, in the first period and 16-8 in the second.
• BGSU won 56.6% of their faceoffs.
• Derek Whitmore scored 14 points (12-2-14) and had eight power-play goals.
• James Perkin also scored 14 points (6-8-14), while Jacob Cepis also had 14 (7-7-14).
• Jimmy Spratt had a 1.96 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.
• Nick Eno had a 2.16 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.
IN TEN FALCON LOSSES THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU averaged 1.8 goals a game, while giving up an average of 3.6.
• BGSU out-shot their opponents by a 27.2 to 26.8 margin.
• BGSU was a combined 6-for-55 on the power play (10.9%), while their opponents were 8-for-47 (17.0%).
• BGSU averaged 14.1 penalty minutes a game, while their opponent averaged 14.6.
• BGSU won 49.9% of their faceoffs.
• BGSU was out-scored by their opponent, 12-7 in the first period, 11-9 in the second and 13-2 in the third period.
• Derek Whitmore and Kevin Schmidt combined for just 12 points (4-8-12).
• BG surrendered three short-handed goals
• Freshmen Dan Sexton and David Solway both had four goals.
• The Falcon seniors were a combined -16 in the plus/minus category.
