Bowling Green State University Athletics
FALCONS CLOSE REGULAR SEASON AGAINST DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPION MICHIGAN STATE
February 26, 2008 | Ice Hockey
Feb. 26, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Only two games remain in the regular-season for the Bowling Green State University hockey team in what has been a year filled with great success. After being picked last in the CCHA in both preseason polls, the Falcons have proven the voters wrong in a big way, winning 16 games and clinching home ice in the first round of the playoffs for the second time in the last four seasons. Along the way, they knocked off the nation's top-ranked team and put up the nation's sixth-best win total for wins away from home. Now, just two games stand between them and the finish line to what has been a regular-season to remember as they will battle the defending NCAA National Champions, Michigan State, in a two-game home-and-home series starting Friday in East Lansing, Mich. at MSU's Munn Ice Arena. The first puck will drop at 7:05 p.m., before the team's come to the BGSU Ice Arena for a 7:35 p.m. faceoff on Saturday. Saturday will be Senior Night at the Ice Arena as the Falcons' five seniors will be honored during pregame. Saturday will also feature a fund raising benefit for Falcon alum Ty Eigner, whose son Peter, suffers for Neuroblastoma. A silent auction and proceipts from the evening's chuck-a-puck will be given to the family, who'll be flown in for the game thanks to many Falcon alumni.
Complete Release in PDF Format (46 Pages)
Game #33
Bowling Green at #6 Michigan State
RECORDS: BGSU 16-16-0, 13-13-0 CCHA // MSU 21-9-5, 17-6-3 CCHA
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play)
Game #34
#6 Michigan State at Bowling Green
SENIOR NIGHT
Mar. 1, 2008 • BGSU Ice Arena, 7:35 p.m.
RECORDS: BGSU 16-16-0, 13-13-0 CCHA // MSU 21-9-5, 17-6-3 CCHA
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play)
RADIO BROADCAST
Friday and Saturday night's action between the Falcons and Spartans 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. If you missed any of the action on Friday and Saturday then, you can tune into Danny Nieves' show "In The Box" on Sunday nights between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on WFAL 1610 AM. Nieves and co-host Bob Mills will recap the weekend in Falcon hockey and will welcome in guests from the team each weekend. Guests in the past two weeks have included Ben Geelan, John Mazzei, Kevin Schmidt and Derek Whitmore. To listen globally you can visit www.wfalradio.com.
TELEVISION BROADCAST
Saturday's action at the BGSU Ice Arena between the Falcons and the Spartans 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 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning and will be shown again at 2:30 a.m. Monday morning.
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)T
Senior Captain Coming To The Front
• In order to have success late in the season, you need veteran players to make veteran plays. That is exactly what the Falcons have gotten the last 10 games from senior tri-captain John Mazzei. Mazzei picked up his first career multiple-goal effort this past weekend, knotting both goals in the Falcons' 2-1 victory on Saturday over visiting Ferris State. For the Kelowna, B.C. native the goals were his sixth and seventh of the season as he has six goals in BG's last 10 contests, including two game-winners. The forward has a plus-5 rating during this stretch as only fellow tri-captain Derek Whitmore has more goals during the past five weeks with seven.
Could This Be The Greatest Season In The Last Decade?
• Just two wins stand between the Falcons being able to make that argument as they are currently just one victory behind the school's best win total in the past 10 seasons. BG, who currently has 16 wins on the year, would equal the win total of both the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 squads with a single victory this weekend and could pass both teams with a weekend sweep or a victory in the first round of the CCHA playoffs. However, success in the playoffs may be needed to solidify that argument as both the 1999-2000 and the 16-win 2000-01 team advanced to the second round of the conference playoffs. The 2000-01 team made it all the way to the CCHA Tournament semifinals at Joe Louis Arena where they ran into Michigan State, who was led by goaltender Ryan Miller and fell in a hard fought 2-1 game.
Two High Scoring Freshmen
• This season has seen two of the Falcons' seven freshmen accomplish something that has only been done twice since 1996 and just five previous times since 1984. With freshman forward Jacob Cepis recording 27 points and freshman forward Dan Sexton tallying 20 points, the two are just the third first-year pair to score 20 or more points in their first seasons since 1996. The last two freshmen to accomplish the feat in the same season were forwards Alex Foster and Jonathan Matsumoto during the 2004-05 season, before them the last pair to do so was freshman forward Adam Edinger and freshman defenseman Peter Ratchuk during the 1996-97 campaign. If freshman forward David Solway were able to pick up just six more points, this season would mark the first since Scott Paluch's rookie season in 1984-85 that BG has had three freshmen with 20-plus points.
A FALCON VICTORY OR LOSS WOULD ...
VICTORY
• Would tie the Falcons with their best win total in the last decade of 17, which they had during both the 1998-99 and 1999-200 seasons.
• Would give head coach Scott Paluch a 7-6 record in his six seasons against the Spartans and against head coach Rick Comley.
• Would give BGSU a 3-2 record in their last five games at Munn Ice Arena.
• Would keep BGSU in the race for fifth and sixth-place as they've already clinched a seventh-place finish or higher as a result of their 13 league wins, compared to Nebraska-Omaha's 11.
• Would give the Falcons a final regular-season total of 10 wins away from home, something BG hasn't done since the 1989-90 season when they 10 road games.
• Would put the Falcons in position for their first two-game sweep of Michigan State since the 1990-91 season.
• Would give BGSU their second winning month this season (the last was November) and just their second since December of 2005. LOSS
• Would be the third-straight loss for the Falcons on a Friday
• Would drop the Falcons one game below .500 for the third-straight weekend.
• Would ruin BG's chance to finish with more wins on their record than losses for the first time since 1996-97.
• Would give the Spartans 13 regular-season home wins.
WHERE WHITMORE GOES ... SO DO THE FALCONS
The 2007-08 campaign has been one to remember for senior forward and tri-captain Derek Whitmore. The Rochester, N.Y. native has tallied a national-leading three hat tricks and has entered or is closing in on some of BG's career scoring lists. With his three goals against Nebraska-Omaha, he entered the top-20 list for career goals in a Falcon uniform and with just one more point, he'll become the 69th player in school history to eclipse the 100-point barrier. Here are some tidbits related to the Hobey Baker and All-American candidate.
• Leads the team with 33 points (26-7-33), a new single-season career best.
• Been named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week twice this season (Nov. 12, Jan. 21).
• His three hat tricks put him just two shy of the single-season school record of five set by Bob Dobek in the 1973-74 season.
• Tied for fifth-nationally with five game-winning goals and tied for first in the CCHA in conference game only with all five coming in CCHA play.
• Second in the nation and CCHA with a 0.84 goals per game average.
• Scored 21 of his 26 goals this season in Falcon wins where he has picked up 24 of his 33 points.
• When he tallies a multiple-point effort in his Falcon career, BG is 16-7-1, while they are 32-28-4 when he tallies a single point.
• Tallied 19 of his 26 goals this season in the first and third periods and has 17 lamp lighters in road contests.
RIDING THE "ROAD" TO SUCCESS
Being able to win on the road is a big key to having success and the road has been a friendly place this season to the BGSU hockey team. The Falcons are 9-8-0 this season away from the BGSU Ice Arena, which currently ranks tied for the fourth-best road win total in the CCHA and is tied for the sixth-best road win total in the nation. Only 20 teams in Division I hockey have a winning or .500 home record and road record and BG is one of those teams as they are also 7-7-0 at home. The nine road wins are the most the Falcons have had in a regular-season under sixth-year head coach Scott Paluch as the 2004-05 squad won eight road tilts. That total is also tied for the most the program has had since the 1995-96 season when they had nine. The team mark of 13 regular-season road wins was set in 1986-87 when Paluch was a junior defenseman.
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS
The Falcons of sixth-year head coach Scott Paluch currently sit at 16-16-0 overall with a 13-13-0 mark in the CCHA, which currently has them in a fifth-place tie with three other teams ... they are 9-8-0 on the road this season, 7-7-0 at home and 0-1-0 in neutral site contests ... BG comes into the weekend 2-3 in their last five and 4-6 in their last 10 ... overall on the season, nine of the Falcons' 16 losses came to ranked opponents as they are 1-9 against ranked opponents and 15-7 against non-ranked foes ... the Falcons have only lost five games all season decided by three goals or more ... leading the way for the Falcons in the scoring column is senior forward Derek Whitmore (26-7-33), while freshman forward Jacob Cepis sits just six points back with a line of 12-15-27 ... Whitmore leads the team with 26 goals scored, while Cepis is second on the team with 12 ... on the blue line, the Falcons are led by junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt who has 21 points this season on four goals and 17 assists ... senior defenseman Mike Nesdill then has 16, while junior Tim Maxwell has 15 points ... in net, BG has gotten 14 starts from junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt and 17 from freshman Nick Eno as the two have combined for a 2.80 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage ... against non-ranked opponents though, the duo has combined for a 2.30 GAA and a .917 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 SPARTANS
The Spartans of six-year head coach Rick Comley come into the weekend's matchup with a 21-9-5 overall record and a 17-6-3 mark in the CCHA ... their 37 league points currently place them in third-place just two points behind second-place Miami and five behind first-place Michigan, while they are five points ahead of fourth-place Notre Dame ... MSU is 12-3-4 at home, 9-3-1 on the road and 0-3-0 in games played at a neutral venue ... this past weekend, the Spartans picked up a weekend split with #1 Michigan, winning 5-2 in game one at Munn Ice Arena, before falling 5-2 on Saturday in a game played at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena ... forwards Justin Abdelkader, Tim Kennedy and Bryan Lerg each tallied three points in the two games ... Leading the way though was freshman defenseman Jeff Petry, who was given CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors as he picked up a goal and two assists in Friday's win and added another assist on Saturday to lead MSU with four points .. in net, junior goaltender Jeff Lerg stopped 70 Wolverine shots on the weekend, including 31-of-33 in the Spartans' game one victory ... MSU was 2-for-7 on the weekend with the man-advantage and were 8-of-10 on the penalty-kill ... leading the way up front for the Spartans has been Kennedy who has a line of 16-19-35 for the year ... he is followed by Bryan Lerg who has 34 points, including a team-high 18 goals ... leading the way on the MSU blue line has been sophomore defenseman Mike Ratchuk, who has totals of 6-16-22 ... between the pipes, the Green and White has gotten 34 games from Jeff Lerg ... Lerg has a 20-9-5 record on the year with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage ... the Spartans are 3-2 in their last five games and 5-4-1 in their last 10.
THE MICHIGAN STATE SERIES
This weekend's games between the Falcons and Spartans will mark the 98th and 99th times that the teams have met ... MSU leads the all-time series, 61-28-8 with a a 32-9-3 mark in games played at Munn Ice Arena and a 22-16-5 record in games played at the BGSU Ice Arena ... the two squads have split the last six series they've played each other dating back to the start of the 2002-03 season as both Scott Paluch and Rick Comley own 6-6-0 records against each other ... last season the road the two teams also squared off in the final regular-season series of the season with each road team spoiling Senior Night for the home team ... MSU won game one 5-3 at the BGSU Ice Arena, while BG earned a split with a 2-1 victory over the Spartans the following night at Munn Ice Arena ... Derek Whitmore scored three goals in the series and added an assist as he is the Falcons' leading scorer against MSU with seven career points (5-2-7) ... junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt has a career 2.69 goals-against average in 179 career minutes in net against the Spartans ... the Falcons haven't won a season series against MSU since the 1995-96 season when they went 2-1-0 in three games played against the Green and White ... BG's last two-game sweep of MSU came during the 1990-91 campaign when current assistant coach Todd Reirden was a freshman and current head coach Scott Paluch was a volunteer assistant coach for Jerry York.
TIDBITS RELATED TO THE MICHIGAN STATE SERIES
• The Falcons and Spartans met in the 1984 NCAA Semifinals in Lake Placid, N.Y., where BG won 2-1 to advance to the title game against Minnesota-Duluth.
• Former BGSU head coach Ron Mason (1973-79) is the current Athletic Director Emertius at Michigan State after coaching the Green and White for 23 seasons (1979-2002) where he became the winningest-coach in NCAA hockey history, collecting 924 career victories.
• Current MSU assistant coach Tom Newton is a BGSU graduate who played four seasons for the Falcon hockey team (1975-80) and recorded 140 career points (58g, 82a). That point total ranks tied for 36th on the Falcons' all-time scoring list.
• BG and MSU have met in the CCHA Tournament Championship game on two occasions with the Spartans winning both contests, 4-3, in overtime.
• The two schools already met this season in football where the Falcons fell 28-17 at Spartan Stadium on Sept. 8th.
• Last year the BGSU women's basketball team advanced to its' first-ever Sweet 16 after winning their first and second round games in East Lansing at the Breslin Center.
LAST TIME OUT ...
For the second-straight weekend the Falcons earned a Saturday win after dropping the series opener on Friday as they fell 2-1 on Friday, before winning 2-1 on Saturday ... freshman goaltender Nick Eno made 61 stops on 64 shots on the weekend, earning the start in net both nights ... The Falcons' lone goal on Friday came from sophomore forward Todd McIlrath, who picked up his first goal of the season and first in 36 games played with a goal at 19:06 of the first period ... Derek Whitmore and Dan Sexton assisted on the goal as Whitmore moved to 99 points for his career ... FSU out-shot the Falcons 41-26 as Eno made 39 saves on the night, one short of his career-high ... On Saturday, John Mazzei tallied both Falcon goals as he led the Falcons back from a 1-0 deficit heading into the final period, scoring the tying goal at the 2:55 mark and the game-winner at the 17:07 mark ... Tommy Dee, playing in his first game back after missing eight games with injury found Mazzei open in the slot from behind the net as he picked up the first of two game-winning assists ... also adding an assist on the play was Tim Maxwell ... Michael Hodgson and Tomas Petruska assisted on Mazzei's game-tying goal earlier in the period ... BGSU finished with a final 34-23 edge in shots on net as Eno made 22 saves on 23 Bulldog shots.
IN SIXTEEN FALCON WINS THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU has averaged 3.9 goals a game, while giving up an average of 1.8.
• BGSU out-shot their opponents by a 32.8 to 27.2 average.
• BGSU was a combined 24-for-95 on the power play (25.3%), while they held opponents to just 11-for-82 (13.4%).
• BGSU had an average of 22.1 penalty minutes per game, while their opponent averaged 24.9.
• BGSU out-scored their opponents, 19-6, in the first period, 23-12 in the second and 18-11 in the third.
• BGSU won 55.2% of their faceoffs.
• Derek Whitmore scored 23 points (21-2-23) and had 10 power-play goals and one short-haned marker.
• Jacob Cepis had 20 points (9-11-20) and two power-play tallies.
• James Perkin scored 16 points (6-10-16) and dished out 10 assists.
• Kevin Schmidt had three goals and 12 assists.
• Jimmy Spratt had a 1.97 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
• Nick Eno had a 1.72 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage.
• The Falcon freshmen were a combined +25.
• BG had 158 recorded blocked shots.
• The Falcon goaltenders allowed just 17 even strength goals of the 29 they allowed in the 16 games.
IN SIXTEEN FALCON LOSSES THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU averaged 1.7 goals a game, while giving up an average of 3.8.
• BGSU was out-shot by their opponents by a 29.1 to 27.4 average.
• BGSU was a combined 8-for-90 on the power play (8.9%), while their opponents were 15-for-75 (20.0%).
• BGSU averaged 17.2 penalty minutes a game, while their opponent also averaged 17.4.
• BGSU won 51.0% of their faceoffs.
• BGSU was out-scored by their opponent, 20-10 in the first period, 20-14 in the second and 21-3 in the third period.
• Derek Whitmore, Jacob Cepis, Kevin Schmidt and James Perkin combined for just 29 points (10-18-29).
• BG surrendered three short-handed goals and tallied two short-handed goals.
• Freshmen Dan Sexton had five goals and David Solway had four.
• Senior Mike Nesdill was the lone Falcon with a plus rating as he had a +2.
For More Information, Player Bios And Statistics Please See The Full Release At The Top Of The Page
