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Bowling Green State University Athletics
#24 Hockey Welcomes #1 Miami To Start The New Year
January 02, 2008 | Ice Hockey
Jan. 2, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University hockey team, will kickoff 2008 and the second half of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association season this weekend when it hosts the No. 1 team in country, the Miami University RedHawks. It'll be the second time in as many seasons that the Falcons have gotten the opportunity to square-off with the nation's top team as last season BG took on No. 1 Boston College in their October trip to the east coast, falling 5-1 to the Eagles after beating Providence College, 4-2, the previous night. This time around, the Falcons will be bringing in a much improved team that will be looking for its' first known win over the nation's top-ranked since Nov. 6, 1993 when they beat top-ranked Lake Superior State, 3-2, in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The first puck will drop at 7:05 p.m. Friday from the BGSU Ice Arena with game two scheduled for 7:35 p.m. start on Saturday.
Complete Release in PDF Format (38 Pages)
Games #17-18
#1 Miami at #24 Bowling Green
Jan.4-5 • BGSU Ice Arena, 7:05/7:35 p.m.
Television: BCSN: Greg Franke (Play-by-Play); Buddy Powers(Color Analyst)RECORDS: BGSU 8-8-0, 5-5-0 CCHA // MU 18-2-0, 10-2-0 CCHA
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play)
RADIO BROADCAST
Friday and Saturday night's action at the BGSU Ice Arena can be heard by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM. Danny Nieves will be providing all the play-by-play of the action with Tim Baughman providing the color commentary. 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 and Saturday's action at the BGSU Ice Arena between the #24 Falcons and the #1 RedHawks 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 will be tape-delayed on Friday and shown live at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday.
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 FACE-OFF (STORYLINES)
Ranked Teams Nothing New To Falcons
• It's been four games and 34 days since the Falcons last faced an opponent that was ranked outside of the national top-20. However, for BG, that streak won't be ending till next weekend's trip to Lake Superior State as the Falcons will face their four-straight opponent that has been ranked 13th or better in the national polls. Overall this season, the Falcons have faced six ranked opponents as they own an 0-6 record against ranked opponents, despite being out-scored just, 22-13, in those six contests. Against ranked opponents, BG's third-ranked power play is just 3-for-32 (.094), but they've held their ranked foes to just 3-for-27 (.111) with the man-advantage. One of the Falcons' biggest problems against their ranked opponents though, has been the third period where their opponent owns a, 7-1, advantage.
Those Pesky RedHawks
• There have been a few teams that have given the Falcons headaches over the past few seasons and one of those teams has been the Miami RedHawks who the Falcons are 0-7 against in their last seven meetings going back to the 2004-05 season. MU out-scored the Falcons, 28-14, in those contests and held BG to just a 6-for-47 (.127) with the man-advantage, while they were 11-for-47 (.234) against the BG penalty-kill. The RedHawks' senior preseason All-CCHA selections of forwards Nathan Davis and Ryan Jones along with defenseman Mitch Ganzak put 10-18-28 totals combined over those seven games.
Where's The Help?
• There have been 10 goals scored by the Falcons in the last four games and nine of those have come from their freshmen class. Only Brandon Svendsen's goal against Wisconsin this past Saturday stands between the freshmen having complete control of the scorer's sheet in the last four games. If you look at the previous nine games then going back to Nov. 16th, the freshmen have been responsible for 12 of BG's 26 goals, including four of the 12 on the power play, accounting for 19 of the team's 69 points (27.5%). In that period there were only six goals scored by the senior class, three by the junior class and five by the sophomores.
FALCONS AGAINST No. 1'S
• As mentioned in the lead, the Falcons meeting with the No. 1 RedHawks will be their second meeting with the nation's top-ranked team in past two seasons ... last season the Falcons battled No. 1 Boston College on Oct. 21 in Boston where they fell, 5-1 ... the last known BG win over the nation's top-ranked team came on Nov. 6, 1993 when the Falcons downed top-ranked Lake Superior State, 3-2, in Sault Ste Marie, Mich ... two years prior to that, BG swept top-ranked Michigan, 7-4 and 4-3 in a home-and-home series where Falcon-great Brian Holzinger recorded the game-winner in each contest ... current BG assistant coach Todd Reirden was a member of the Orange and Brown in all three of those victories ... you have to go back to 1984 then to find the Falcons' next known win over the nation's best team ... that season, freshman Scott Paluch and the Falcons went into Michigan State's Munn Ice Arena and came away with a 4-3 victory over the No. 1 Spartans on Nov. 24 ... MSU went on to win 22-straight games following that defeat ... overall there are nine known wins for the Falcon hockey program over the No.1 team
OTHER FALCONS TEAMS AGAINST NO. 1
• Other than hockey there have only been three other Falcon teams that have squared-off with a No. 1 opponent in the last three years ... in men's soccer, the Falcons took on No. 1 Akron in 2005, falling 3-0 ... in softball, BG met No. 1 Arizona and No. 1 Michigan in 2005, dropping a 3-0 decision to the Wildcats and a 6-0 decision to the Wolverines at the BGSU Softball Field ... then in football, BG met the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in school history last season when the Falcons battled the No. 1 Buckeyes to a 35-7 decision in Columbus.
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons of sixth-year head coach Scott Paluch currently sit at 8-8-0 overall with a 5-5-0 mark in the CCHA, which currently has them tied for seventh with Northern Michigan ... BG comes into the new year having dropped four-straight games with all four losses coming to teams ranked in the nation's top-13 ... overall six of the Falcons' eight losses this season have come to nationally-ranked opponents as they are 0-6 against teams ranked in the national polls ... this past weekend the Falcons fell, 4-3, to the 11th-ranked Northeastern Huskies and 5-3, to the 13th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers at the 2007 Badger Hockey Showdown in Madison, Wis. ... in Friday's semifinal loss to the Huskies, the Falcons built an early 3-0 lead in the first period and early part of the second on goals from freshmen David Solway, Dan Sexton and Jacob Cepis ... four unanswered NU goals in the second and third period though would allow the Huskies to come out on top despite a 29-save performance by junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt ... on Saturday, the Falcons battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to tie the Badgers at, 2-2, in the second period ... however, two late second period UW goals would give the Badgers the win in the consolation tilt ... BG has still yet to loss a game decided by more than two goals as a short-handed marker by Sexton in third period kept that alive ... leading the way for the Falcons in the scoring column is senior forward Derek Whitmore who has an accumulated line this season of 13-5-18, while junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt is second on the team with a line of 3-12-15 ... Cepis then leads all Falcon freshmen with 14 points on seven goals and seven assists, which ranks third on the team ... in net, BG has gotten eight starts from Spratt and freshman Nick Eno as the two have combined for a 2.73 goals-against average and save percentage of .893 ... against six ranked opponents they have combined for a 3.67 GAA and .874 SV%, while against 10 non-ranked opponents they've combined for a 2.17 GAA and .907 SV% ... as a team, BG is averaging 3.1 goals a game and have owned an overall 29.4 to 25.6 advantage in shots on goal, out-shooting their opponents in 9-of-16 games ... in CCHA games, the Falcons are averaging 3.0 goals a game and have owned a 28.8 to 25.6 advantage in shots on goal ... they are 5-3-0 on the road this season, 3-3-0 at home and 0-2-0 in neutral site contests ... 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 REDHAWKS
The top-ranked RedHawks of ninth-year head coach Enrico Blasi currently sit at 18-2-0 on the season with a CCHA record of 10-2-0 ... MU enters this weekend's series with the Falcons winners of their last four and winners of 10 of their last 11 contests ... MU has owned a win streak of at least four games on least four occasions with win streaks of eight, six and four-straight games this season ... this past weekend, MU won the Ohio Hockey Classic at Value City Arena in Columbus, winning, 2-1, in overtime over St. Cloud State in the semifinals, before downing Ohio State, 3-2, in the tournament championship game ... MU was led by forward Jarod Palmer who tallied two goals and an assist on the weekend to earn tournament MVP honors, while freshman forward Carter Camper added two helpers ... the RedHawks rank first-nationally in scoring offense with a 4.30 goals a game average, while their scoring defense also ranks tops in the nation, giving up just 1.50 goals a game ... MU is also tops in the nation in average scoring margin at 2.80, out-scoring opponents, 86-30, on the year ... the MU power play ranks 10th-nationally with a 20.1 conversion rate, while its' penalty-kill ranks second-nationally with a succession rate of 92.0 ... senior forward Ryan Jones, a preseason first team All-CCHA selection, leads the RedHawks with 26 points on 17 goals and nine assists ... leading the defensive core is junior Alec Martinez, who has accumulated a line of 6-11-17 ... the RedHawks have out-scored foes, 38-5, in the third period this season and 24-13 in the first and 23-12 in the second ... in net, MU has been led by junior Jeff Zatkoff, who has started 16 games this season and ranks second-nationally and tops in the CCHA with a 1.38 goals-against average and in save percentage with a .941 mark as his .875 winning percentage is second-best in the country.
THE MIAMI SERIES
This weekend's meetings between the Falcons and RedHawks will be the 96th and 97th in the all-time series ... overall, the Falcons own a 57-31-7 advantage, but they are 1-7-2 against the RedHawks in the last 10 meetings, dropping seven-straight in the series ... last season the two teams met early in the season at MU's brand new Steve Cady Arena where the RedHawks earned a pair of wins, winning game one, 4-3, before finishing the sweep with a, 3-0, win in game two ... the two also met last season in the semifinals of the Ohio Hockey Classic at Nationwide Arena in Columbus where the RedHawks earned a, 3-2, win ... in nine games against BG, the RedHawks senior duo of Nathan Davis and Ryan Jones have combined for 27 points (13-14-27) ...BG played MU in the final regular-season game at MU's old Goggin Ice Arena in the 2005-06 season where they fell, 5-4, as the RedHawks finished first in the league ... former Falcon head coach Jerry York, earned his 400th career win against the RedHawks on Feb. 3, 1990 in a, 4-3, BG win ... in the same game, Falcon-great Nelson Emerson became the school's all-time leading scorer, tallying his 271st career point.
IN EIGHT FALCON WINS THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU has averaged 4.4 goals a game, while giving up an average of 2.1.
• BGSU out-shot their opponents by a 31.9 to 23.8 average.
• BGSU was a combined 19-for-51 on the power play (.373), while they held opponents to just 8-for-48 (.167).
• BGSU had an average of 18.5 penalty minutes per game, while their opponent averaged 21.0.
• BGSU out-scored their opponents, 12-2, in the first period, 13-8, in the second and 8-7 in the third.
• BGSU won 56.8% of their faceoffs.
• Derek Whitmore scored 13 points (11-2-13) and had eight power-play goals.
• Jimmy Spratt had a 1.95 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.
• Nick Eno had a 2.19 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.
• James Perkin and Jacob Cepis both had 10 points respectively.
• Tim Maxwell tallied a point, as the Falcons are 8-1-0 when he does.
IN EIGHT FALCON LOSSES THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU averaged 1.9 goals a game, while giving up an average of 3.4.
• BGSU was out-shot by their opponents by a 27.5 to 26.9 margin.
• BGSU was a combined 4-for-43 on the power play (.093), while their opponents were 5-for-36 (.139).
• BGSU averaged 13.9 penalty minutes a game, while their opponent averaged 14.2.
• BGSU won 49.0% of their faceoffs.
• BGSU was out-scored by their opponent, 8-6 in the first period and 10-2 in the third period.
• Derek Whitmore and Kevin Schmidt combined for just 11 points (3-8-11).
• Freshman forward Dan Sexton led the team with six points (4-2-6).
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play)
RADIO BROADCAST
Friday and Saturday night's action at the BGSU Ice Arena can be heard by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM. Danny Nieves will be providing all the play-by-play of the action with Tim Baughman providing the color commentary. 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 and Saturday's action at the BGSU Ice Arena between the #24 Falcons and the #1 RedHawks 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 will be tape-delayed on Friday and shown live at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday.
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 FACE-OFF (STORYLINES)
Ranked Teams Nothing New To Falcons
• It's been four games and 34 days since the Falcons last faced an opponent that was ranked outside of the national top-20. However, for BG, that streak won't be ending till next weekend's trip to Lake Superior State as the Falcons will face their four-straight opponent that has been ranked 13th or better in the national polls. Overall this season, the Falcons have faced six ranked opponents as they own an 0-6 record against ranked opponents, despite being out-scored just, 22-13, in those six contests. Against ranked opponents, BG's third-ranked power play is just 3-for-32 (.094), but they've held their ranked foes to just 3-for-27 (.111) with the man-advantage. One of the Falcons' biggest problems against their ranked opponents though, has been the third period where their opponent owns a, 7-1, advantage.
Those Pesky RedHawks
• There have been a few teams that have given the Falcons headaches over the past few seasons and one of those teams has been the Miami RedHawks who the Falcons are 0-7 against in their last seven meetings going back to the 2004-05 season. MU out-scored the Falcons, 28-14, in those contests and held BG to just a 6-for-47 (.127) with the man-advantage, while they were 11-for-47 (.234) against the BG penalty-kill. The RedHawks' senior preseason All-CCHA selections of forwards Nathan Davis and Ryan Jones along with defenseman Mitch Ganzak put 10-18-28 totals combined over those seven games.
Where's The Help?
• There have been 10 goals scored by the Falcons in the last four games and nine of those have come from their freshmen class. Only Brandon Svendsen's goal against Wisconsin this past Saturday stands between the freshmen having complete control of the scorer's sheet in the last four games. If you look at the previous nine games then going back to Nov. 16th, the freshmen have been responsible for 12 of BG's 26 goals, including four of the 12 on the power play, accounting for 19 of the team's 69 points (27.5%). In that period there were only six goals scored by the senior class, three by the junior class and five by the sophomores.
FALCONS AGAINST No. 1'S
• As mentioned in the lead, the Falcons meeting with the No. 1 RedHawks will be their second meeting with the nation's top-ranked team in past two seasons ... last season the Falcons battled No. 1 Boston College on Oct. 21 in Boston where they fell, 5-1 ... the last known BG win over the nation's top-ranked team came on Nov. 6, 1993 when the Falcons downed top-ranked Lake Superior State, 3-2, in Sault Ste Marie, Mich ... two years prior to that, BG swept top-ranked Michigan, 7-4 and 4-3 in a home-and-home series where Falcon-great Brian Holzinger recorded the game-winner in each contest ... current BG assistant coach Todd Reirden was a member of the Orange and Brown in all three of those victories ... you have to go back to 1984 then to find the Falcons' next known win over the nation's best team ... that season, freshman Scott Paluch and the Falcons went into Michigan State's Munn Ice Arena and came away with a 4-3 victory over the No. 1 Spartans on Nov. 24 ... MSU went on to win 22-straight games following that defeat ... overall there are nine known wins for the Falcon hockey program over the No.1 team
OTHER FALCONS TEAMS AGAINST NO. 1
• Other than hockey there have only been three other Falcon teams that have squared-off with a No. 1 opponent in the last three years ... in men's soccer, the Falcons took on No. 1 Akron in 2005, falling 3-0 ... in softball, BG met No. 1 Arizona and No. 1 Michigan in 2005, dropping a 3-0 decision to the Wildcats and a 6-0 decision to the Wolverines at the BGSU Softball Field ... then in football, BG met the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in school history last season when the Falcons battled the No. 1 Buckeyes to a 35-7 decision in Columbus.
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons of sixth-year head coach Scott Paluch currently sit at 8-8-0 overall with a 5-5-0 mark in the CCHA, which currently has them tied for seventh with Northern Michigan ... BG comes into the new year having dropped four-straight games with all four losses coming to teams ranked in the nation's top-13 ... overall six of the Falcons' eight losses this season have come to nationally-ranked opponents as they are 0-6 against teams ranked in the national polls ... this past weekend the Falcons fell, 4-3, to the 11th-ranked Northeastern Huskies and 5-3, to the 13th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers at the 2007 Badger Hockey Showdown in Madison, Wis. ... in Friday's semifinal loss to the Huskies, the Falcons built an early 3-0 lead in the first period and early part of the second on goals from freshmen David Solway, Dan Sexton and Jacob Cepis ... four unanswered NU goals in the second and third period though would allow the Huskies to come out on top despite a 29-save performance by junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt ... on Saturday, the Falcons battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to tie the Badgers at, 2-2, in the second period ... however, two late second period UW goals would give the Badgers the win in the consolation tilt ... BG has still yet to loss a game decided by more than two goals as a short-handed marker by Sexton in third period kept that alive ... leading the way for the Falcons in the scoring column is senior forward Derek Whitmore who has an accumulated line this season of 13-5-18, while junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt is second on the team with a line of 3-12-15 ... Cepis then leads all Falcon freshmen with 14 points on seven goals and seven assists, which ranks third on the team ... in net, BG has gotten eight starts from Spratt and freshman Nick Eno as the two have combined for a 2.73 goals-against average and save percentage of .893 ... against six ranked opponents they have combined for a 3.67 GAA and .874 SV%, while against 10 non-ranked opponents they've combined for a 2.17 GAA and .907 SV% ... as a team, BG is averaging 3.1 goals a game and have owned an overall 29.4 to 25.6 advantage in shots on goal, out-shooting their opponents in 9-of-16 games ... in CCHA games, the Falcons are averaging 3.0 goals a game and have owned a 28.8 to 25.6 advantage in shots on goal ... they are 5-3-0 on the road this season, 3-3-0 at home and 0-2-0 in neutral site contests ... 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 REDHAWKS
The top-ranked RedHawks of ninth-year head coach Enrico Blasi currently sit at 18-2-0 on the season with a CCHA record of 10-2-0 ... MU enters this weekend's series with the Falcons winners of their last four and winners of 10 of their last 11 contests ... MU has owned a win streak of at least four games on least four occasions with win streaks of eight, six and four-straight games this season ... this past weekend, MU won the Ohio Hockey Classic at Value City Arena in Columbus, winning, 2-1, in overtime over St. Cloud State in the semifinals, before downing Ohio State, 3-2, in the tournament championship game ... MU was led by forward Jarod Palmer who tallied two goals and an assist on the weekend to earn tournament MVP honors, while freshman forward Carter Camper added two helpers ... the RedHawks rank first-nationally in scoring offense with a 4.30 goals a game average, while their scoring defense also ranks tops in the nation, giving up just 1.50 goals a game ... MU is also tops in the nation in average scoring margin at 2.80, out-scoring opponents, 86-30, on the year ... the MU power play ranks 10th-nationally with a 20.1 conversion rate, while its' penalty-kill ranks second-nationally with a succession rate of 92.0 ... senior forward Ryan Jones, a preseason first team All-CCHA selection, leads the RedHawks with 26 points on 17 goals and nine assists ... leading the defensive core is junior Alec Martinez, who has accumulated a line of 6-11-17 ... the RedHawks have out-scored foes, 38-5, in the third period this season and 24-13 in the first and 23-12 in the second ... in net, MU has been led by junior Jeff Zatkoff, who has started 16 games this season and ranks second-nationally and tops in the CCHA with a 1.38 goals-against average and in save percentage with a .941 mark as his .875 winning percentage is second-best in the country.
THE MIAMI SERIES
This weekend's meetings between the Falcons and RedHawks will be the 96th and 97th in the all-time series ... overall, the Falcons own a 57-31-7 advantage, but they are 1-7-2 against the RedHawks in the last 10 meetings, dropping seven-straight in the series ... last season the two teams met early in the season at MU's brand new Steve Cady Arena where the RedHawks earned a pair of wins, winning game one, 4-3, before finishing the sweep with a, 3-0, win in game two ... the two also met last season in the semifinals of the Ohio Hockey Classic at Nationwide Arena in Columbus where the RedHawks earned a, 3-2, win ... in nine games against BG, the RedHawks senior duo of Nathan Davis and Ryan Jones have combined for 27 points (13-14-27) ...BG played MU in the final regular-season game at MU's old Goggin Ice Arena in the 2005-06 season where they fell, 5-4, as the RedHawks finished first in the league ... former Falcon head coach Jerry York, earned his 400th career win against the RedHawks on Feb. 3, 1990 in a, 4-3, BG win ... in the same game, Falcon-great Nelson Emerson became the school's all-time leading scorer, tallying his 271st career point.
IN EIGHT FALCON WINS THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU has averaged 4.4 goals a game, while giving up an average of 2.1.
• BGSU out-shot their opponents by a 31.9 to 23.8 average.
• BGSU was a combined 19-for-51 on the power play (.373), while they held opponents to just 8-for-48 (.167).
• BGSU had an average of 18.5 penalty minutes per game, while their opponent averaged 21.0.
• BGSU out-scored their opponents, 12-2, in the first period, 13-8, in the second and 8-7 in the third.
• BGSU won 56.8% of their faceoffs.
• Derek Whitmore scored 13 points (11-2-13) and had eight power-play goals.
• Jimmy Spratt had a 1.95 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.
• Nick Eno had a 2.19 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.
• James Perkin and Jacob Cepis both had 10 points respectively.
• Tim Maxwell tallied a point, as the Falcons are 8-1-0 when he does.
IN EIGHT FALCON LOSSES THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU averaged 1.9 goals a game, while giving up an average of 3.4.
• BGSU was out-shot by their opponents by a 27.5 to 26.9 margin.
• BGSU was a combined 4-for-43 on the power play (.093), while their opponents were 5-for-36 (.139).
• BGSU averaged 13.9 penalty minutes a game, while their opponent averaged 14.2.
• BGSU won 49.0% of their faceoffs.
• BGSU was out-scored by their opponent, 8-6 in the first period and 10-2 in the third period.
• Derek Whitmore and Kevin Schmidt combined for just 11 points (3-8-11).
• Freshman forward Dan Sexton led the team with six points (4-2-6).
