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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Break For Holidays On Two-Game Win Streak
December 22, 2008 | Ice Hockey
Dec. 22, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO -
News and Notes At The Holiday Break
What's Ahead
The Bowling Green State University hockey team will have the next two weeks off for the holidays before returning Jan. 1 to begin preparations for the second half of the season. The Falcons begin their second-half schedule with a home series against Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival Ohio State on Jan. 9-10. Both games of the series will begin at 7:05 p.m. Both games will also be televised by the Buckeye Cable System Network (BCSN) with the Friday contest shown live and Saturday's game tape delayed.
Last Week
The Falcons earned just what was needed prior to taking off for the break by sweeping Clarkson at home, which ended a six-game winless (0-5-1) streak. In their 4-1 win on Friday night, the Falcons scored the final three goals to earn two points for the first time since Nov. 15. The two teams traded goals, 47 seconds apart, in the first period, before the Falcons scored twice in the second period and added an insurance goal in the final frame. Sophomore Dan Sexton got the game-winner at the 7:43 mark of the middle period and a little more than five minutes later junior Kai Kantola gave the Falcons some breathing room heading to the second intermission. Sexton added his second of the game with 5:04 left in the game and the defense and senior goalie Jimmy Spratt did the rest. BG had a 34-27 edge in shots and converted on two-of-seven power-play opportunities while holding Clarkson scoreless in their five man-advantage situations. Spratt made 26 saves while Clarkson freshman Paul Karpowich made 30 stops. The Saturday game was a lot like the Friday contest, except the Falcons waited until the third period to put this one away and earn the sweep. The two teams traded goals in the first two periods on Saturday - BG opening the scoring on a goal by junior Tommy Dee at 8:43 of the first period and Clarkson getting the equalizer at 3:43 of the second period. On this night, sophomore David Solway would get the game-winner at 2:24 of the third stanza and Sexton would notch his third of the weekend, on the power-play, at 5:56. BG was one-of-10 on the power-play while the Golden Knights came up empty on nine opportunities as each team was whistled for 15 penalties. Spratt was solid in goal again making 22 saves while Clarkson freshman Richie LaVeau was credited with 27 stops. BG got contributions from every player in the sweep and offensively eight different players scored in each game and for the weekend, 13 of the 19 players scored at least one point, including Spratt, who notched the third point of his career assisting on the first goal of the Saturday game.
Three Players Earn CCHA Honors
The Falcons picked up three of the four individual weekly honors from the CCHA. Sophomore forward Dan Sexton was named the Offensive Player of the Week, senior Jimmy Spratt was the Goaltender of the Week and defenseman Nick Bailen was selected as the conference's Rookie Player of the Week. Sexton scored three goals over the weekend as the Falcons swept Clarkson, including the game-winner in the Friday victory. He added a second goal in the Friday game and also scored a third-period tally in the Saturday night victory. Spratt earned both wins in goal for the Falcons yielding just one goal each night while making a total of 48 saves. He had a save percentage of .960 for the weekend while also playing an important role in the Falcons holding the Golden Knights without a power-play goal in 14 opportunities. Bailen, a freshman, had an assist both nights while also helping hold Clarkson to two goals, neither of those on the power play. Bailen assisted on the game-winner Friday night and on the final goal Saturday. Sexton is the only one of the three players who has earned conference Player of the Week honors previously. He was a CCHA Rookie of the Week selection in January of last year.
Balanced Scoring
After spending the first 13 games of the season depending largely on the top line of senior Brandon Svendsen and sophomores David Solway and Dan Sexton to do the scoring, the Falcons have had a good balance of late. Over the last seven games, BG has scored 16 goals with nine different players scoring those goals. And over that same period, 16 different players, including senior goalie Jimmy Spratt, have found the scoresheet at least once. It took the first 10 games of the season for the Falcons to get nine players in the statistics with goals and the same number of games to get 16 players with points.
Sexton Has Three-Goal Weekend
Sophomore forward Dan Sexton came into last weekend having gone six games without a goal, his longest drought of the season. But, the Apple Valley, Minn. native came up big with three goals against Clarkson. including the second two-goal game of his career, both this season, in the Friday victory. His first goal that evening proved to be the game-winner, his third this season, a figure that is tied for third nationally. Sexton leads the team with 21 points and 13 assists while his eight goals is tied for second on the team. His point total for the season is tied for fourth in the CCHA and ranks 46th nationally. He has a point in a team-high 13 games. He has already bettered his goal total from last season (7) while he needs two assists and one more point to establish career bests in those categories.
Offense From The Defense
The BG defensive corp has been contributing at both ends of the ice of late. The Falcon defense has scored 10 points (4-6) in the last seven games, including a season-high three points, all assists, in the win over Clarkson Saturday. Earlier this season (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) the defensemen went through a period of time in which they contributed just one point over a nine-game span.
Back Together Again
The BG top line was back together for the Clarkson series after being split up for the first time this season in the Notre Dame series the previous week. The top line for the Falcons of senior Brandon Svendsen and sophomores David Solway and Dan Sexton responded with a six-point weekend scoring four goals and collecting two assists. When they have been together, they have contributed 22 goals and 28 assists for 50 points in 18 games. They are the top three scorers for the Falcons this season and are three of the four players on the team with double figure points after 20 games. Junior Kai Kantola is the other with 10 points (8-2).
Falcon Power Play Coming Alive
The Falcon power play has struggled most of the season, but the coaching staff hopes the unit is breaking out of its slump with its recent success. The power play is five-for-24 (20.8%) over the last three games while in the previous 13 games it had converted on just five-of-76 (6.6%) opportunities. For the season, BG is 15-of-135 (11.1%) with the man-advantage.
As The Power Play Picks Up, So Does The Offense
It is probably no coincidence that as the power-play has improved recently, so has the offensive output for the Falcons. BG has scored 10 goals in its last three games after having scored just 11 times in the previous seven contests. BG's seven goals in the Clarkson series was its best offensive weekend since opening the season against RIT and Niagara and scoring seven goals against those two teams. In the 13 games before there present mini scoring steak, BG averaged just 1.69 goals per game.
Eno Expected Back For Ohio State Series
The Falcons expect to get sophomore goalie Nick Eno back for the Ohio State series pending approval from the doctor the end of this month. He has missed the entire season with a sprained left ankle. He has practiced the last two weeks and has been able to do a majority of the work with very little pain or soreness. A CCHA All-Rookie selection last season when he was 12-10-0 with a 2.79 goals-against and a .905 save percentage, both the seventh-best single-season marks in school annals, Eno played in 23 games a year ago making 21 starts.
Falcon Ice Chips
The Falcons have played seven games against team ranked in the top 10 this season and have yet to win any of those earning one tie with one one-goal loss and two two-goal losses...but, the Falcons have compiled a 7-4-2 record against the rest of their schedule...the Falcons had one other sweep this season prior to the Clarkson series taking a pair of 2-1 wins from Northern Michigan (Nov. 14-15) at home...with the completion of the Clarkson series, BG is now done with the non-league portion of its schedule this season having compiled a 3-3-2 record...senior goalie Jimmy Spratt moved into the #8 spot on the BG career saves list over the weekend...he now has 2,098 saves needing 66 stops to move ahead of Mike David (1979-83) who is currently in the #7 spot...BG will play 16 consecutive games against CCHA foes in the second half of the season with only two of those games against team that presently comprise the top four in the standings...five of BG's eight games in the month of January are at home...in February, BG plays only three of its eight games at home...junior James Perkin had the most productive game of his season with one goal and one assist in the Friday victory over Clarkson...he has three points in the last three games after going the previous 13 games with only one point...he is fifth on the team with eight points (3-5)...junior Kai Kantola also had one goal and one assist in the Friday victory, and he now has five points (4-1) in the last six games...Kantola is fourth on the team in points (10) and tied for second in goals (8)...he leads the team with four power-play goals...freshman Bryan Potacco had an assist in the Friday victory over Clarkson, his first game action in the last six contests...he has scored two points, both assists, in the nine games he has played this season...sophomore defenseman Andrew Krelove earned his first point of the season with an assist on the game-winner in Saturday's victory over Clarkson...he had three points (1-2) in 26 games a year ago...sophomore David Solway leads the team with nine goals and is third in points with 16...his nine goals is tied for fourth in the CCHA...he has a point in 11 games this season...senior Brandon Svendsen had an assist in both games last weekend and is second on the team with 17 points (6-11)...he leads the team with 13 points (4-9) in league play...BG was 1-6-1 on the road in the first half of the season...junior forward Tommy Dee went the first 17 games of the season without a goal, but has two in the last three games, including one in the Saturday victory over Clarkson...sophomore forward Jacob Cepis left the team for personal reasons prior to the Clarkson series...he earned a spot on the CCHA All-Rookie team last season scoring 31 points (15-16)...he had played in all 18 games this season with one goal and four assists...BG was 10-10 after 20 games last season, compared to 7-10-3 this season...they did not play their 20th game last season until Jan. 12...BG has eight multi-goal periods this season while the opposition has 17...BG has scored in 33 of 60 periods thus far this season, the same number as their opposition.
