Bowling Green State University Athletics
Hockey Team Begins Second Half Against Ohio State
January 05, 2009 | Ice Hockey
Jan. 5, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO -
BGSU Hockey Notes/Stats (Week 12 vs. Ohio State) 
Game #21 and #22
#15 Ohio State (13-6-1, 6-5-1-1 CCHA) vs. Bowling Green (7-10-3, 4-7-1-0 CCHA)
Jan. 9-10, 2009 • Bowling Green, Ohio (BGSU Ice Arena - 5,000) • 7:05
THIS WEEK
The Bowling Green State University hockey team begins the second half of the 2008-09 season with a home series against Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival Ohio State. The two teams will tangle in Friday and Saturday night games that both begin at 7:05 p.m.
RADIO
All games this season can be heard on WBGU 88.1 FM. Bob Mills will provide the play-by-play with Brian Fisher doing the color commentary. The pregame show will air 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off. The broadcast can be heard globally on both www.bgsufalcons.com and www.bgrso.org.
TELEVISION
The games Friday and Saturday will air locally on the Buckeye Cable System Network (BCSN) with Greg Franke calling the play-by-play and former BGSU hockey coach Buddy Powers providing the color commentary. The Friday contest will air live while the Saturday game is tape delayed with the first airing of the game at 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
LIVE STATS
Live stats for all Falcon games are available on the BGSU athletic web site (www.bgsufalcons.com). Stats can be accessed from the schedule page in the hockey section of the web site by clicking on the "gametracker" icon on the right hand side of the page.
FALCON'S NEST RADIO SHOW
BGSU head coach Scott Paluch will be a guest on BGSU's weekly radio show held at the Frickers's restaurant across from Perry Stadium each Monday. Paluch will be on the show Jan. 12 and 26, and Feb. 9 and 23. The radio show, which begins at 6 p.m., is hosted by Todd Walker and can be heard on WCWA 1230 AM. The radio show can also be accessed by clicking on the "multimedia" link on the BGSU athletic web site (www.bgsufalcons.com) at the top of the home page.
PUTTING IT BACK TOGETHER
The top line of senior Brandon Svendsen and sophomores David Solway and Dan Sexton was back together for the Clarkson series and responded by scoring four goals and adding two assists. They had been separated for the first time this season for the Notre Dame series (Dec. 12-13) the previous weekend, but are likely to be kept together for the remainder of the season. In the 10 CCHA games in which they played together this season, the line accounted for 13 of the 17 BG goals (76%), collected 18 of the 25 assists (72%) and 31 of the 42 points (74%). They were a combined plus-12 while the rest of the team was minus-56. For the 18 games this season they have been together, which includes the 10 CCHA games, the line has accounted for 22 of the 41 goals (54%), 28 of the 63 assists (44%) and 50 of 104 points (48%). They are a combined plus-10 compared to -55 for the rest of the team. During one three-week period (Oct. 31-Nov. 15), they combined for 27 points (11-16). In the 18 games they've played as a line, they accounted for at least one point on 27 of the 41 goals scored, two of the players have been involved in 16 of the 41 goals and they combined as a line to score five times.
MORE BALANCED SCORING
While offense by the Svendsen, Solway and Sexton line will continue to be needed all season, the coaching staff would like to get more balance, the reason the line was split up for the one series. The Falcons have had better balance over the last seven games of the first half and they hope that will continue in the second half. Over the last seven games, BG has scored 16 goals with nine different players scoring those goals. 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 with goals and the same number of games to get 16 players with points.
SVENDSEN IS A TEAM LEADER
Senior Brandon Svendsen is one of the leaders of the team while having the best season of his career. He had an assist in both games of the Clarkson series. One of the alternate captains, Svendsen had a career high of 19 points (10-9) in his freshman season which will certainly be topped this year by the Roseville, Minn. native who has 17 points (6-11) in 20 games this season, which is tied for 15th in the CCHA. He has two short-handed goals this season, the third-best total in the country, and four for his career. He has a point in 11 games this season with five multi-point games. He had a career-best three (1-2) points in the Nov. 8 game at Lake Superior. He is tied for second on the team with 17 points while he leads the team in CCHA play with 13 points (4-9). Svendsen ranks among the CCHA leaders in two categories for all games and four categories for league games only.
THREE EARN CCHA HONORS
BG had three players named Player of the Week by the CCHA for their play in the Clarkson series (Dec. 19-20). Sophomore forward Dan Sexton was the offensive pick of the conference, senior Jimmy Spratt was the Goaltender of the Week, and defenseman Nick Bailen was the Rookie of the Week. Sexton had three goals in the two games, including the game-winner in the Friday night win, his first of two tallies in the game. Spratt earned both wins in the series yielding just one goal in each contest while making 48 saves (.960 save percentage). Bailen had an assist in both games while helping the defense allow only two goals for the weekend. All three players had a role in keeping Clarkson off the board on the power-play in 14 opportunities. Sexton is the only one of the players who has earned conference honors before. He was a Rookie of the Week selection in January of last season.
OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE
The defensive corp has come up big at the offensive end the last few weeks adding to a more balanced attack. Defensemen have scored four goals and added six assists over the last seven games. The backline players had a season-high three assists in the win over Clarkson in their last game. The defense has at least one point in each of the last five games. Their current stretch is the best of the season since they opened the year with five points in the first four games. The Falcon rearguards went through a period of time this season in which they contributed just one point over a nine-game span (Oct. 24-Nov. 21)
WHO'S DOING THE DAMAGE
Among the defensemen contributing at the offensive end is junior captain Kyle Page. Page has a goal in two of the last five games and a point in three of the last five. While that might not turn too many heads, it would if you knew he went the first 87 games of his career before getting his first goal in the Nov. 29 game against Minnesota State. Page has four points this season, almost matching his career total of five coming into the season. Also contributing from the back line is freshman Nick Bailen, who has four points in the last seven games, as well as senior alternate captain Kevin Schmidt. Bailen (1-4) and Schmidt (2-3) are the top scoring defensemen on the team with five points apiece.
SOLWAY LEADS IN GOALS
Sophomore David Solway had a goal in the Saturday win over Clarkson to keep his team lead with nine. He is third on the team with 16 points on the season. He has a point in 11 games this season with four multi-point games, including a career-best three points (1-2) against Nebraska-Omaha (Oct. 31). He had the only two-goal game of his career scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over Northern Michigan (Nov. 14) before assisting on the game-winner the following night to earn CCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career. He has already bettered his 15 points and six assists from his freshman season and has equalled the nine goals he scored last season. The Green Bay, Wis. native has 11 points in
CCHA play, tied for second on the team, while he leads the team with six goals, which is tied for seventh-best in the league. He ranks among the CCHA leaders in three overall and league-only categories. He leads the team with a +4 on-ice rating in league games while he is tied with his linemates for all games at +2.
TOUGH STRETCH
The Falcons got back on the winning side of the ledger with their sweep of Clarkson after going through a tough stretch in which they were 0-5-1 since sweeping Northern Michigan at home Nov. 14-15. But all six of those contests in the winless streak were against teams ranked in the top 10. Four games against CCHA leader and top-ranked Notre Dame were sandwiched around a two-game series with Minnesota State, who was ninth or 10th in the nation, depending on the poll, when they visited.
SEXTON IS THE POINTS LEADER
Sophomore Dan Sexton had the best goal-scoring weekend of his career with three tallies against Clarkson. He had a pair of goals, including the game-winner, in the Friday victory, his second two-goal game of the season. The Apple Valley, Minn. native leads the team with 21 points (8-13) while scoring at least one point in every weekend series except one this season. He has scored a point in a team-best 13 games and has a team-best seven contests with two or more points. He is tied for seventh in the CCHA in points and he is tied for 12th in the assists. He had a career-best three points, all assists, in the season opener against RIT and had his first two-goal game with a pair of tallies against Nebraska-Omaha (Oct. 31). Sexton will also set career-bests this season after scoring seven goals and adding 14 assists in his first season as a Falcon. He is among the league leaders in five overall statistical categories and two CCHA-only categories. His 11 points (4-7) in CCHA play is tied for second on the team. His two game-winning goals, in league games, and three in all games ties him for the top figure in the league in both categories. He is tied for 44th in the nation in points, tied for 56th in assists and tied for third in game-winning goals.
KANTOLA HAS THREE-GOAL WEEKEND
Junior forward Kai Kantola had the best goal-scoring weekend of his career with three red-lighters in the weekend series against Minnesota State (Nov. 28-29). He had his second multi-goal game of the season, and third of his career, with both goals in the Friday night tie and then a tally Saturday night. Kantola's three goals in the Minnesota State series were the most scored by any player in the country that weekend. Kantola, who also had two goals in the season opener against RIT, is fourth on the team in scoring with 10 points (8-2) while his eight goals are tied for second on the squad and tied for 12th in the CCHA. Kantola, who has a point in seven games this season, has only one goal in 10 league games this season. Kantola, who had a goal and an assist in the Friday victory over Clarkson, has scored a goal in three of the last six games and has five points in his last six games.
HOME COOKING
After making two trips in the first three weeks of the season and three in the first five weeks, the Falcons will now look to use the friendly confines of the BGSU Ice Arena to get on a roll. Beginning with the series against Nebraska-Omaha, BGSU will play 12 of its next 16 games at home, and looking even further down the schedule, 15 of 20. After concluding a home series with Lake Superior on Jan. 24, the Falcons will have played 17 of their first 26 games at home. But, of course, then the schedule flip-flops and BG will play seven of their last 10 on the road to conclude the regular season. The Falcons play five of their next six games at home and they will not make another overnight trip this season until the Jan. 30-31 series at Miami. BG is 6-4-2 at home this season, 3-3 in league play. BG has a 431 (35.9 avg.) to 311 (25.9 avg.) edge in shots at home this season, but have been outscored, 35-30.
POWER PLAY HAVING SOME RECENT SUCCESS
The Falcons had five power-play goals in the first four games of the season. But, it took them the next 11 games to get five more man-advantage tallies. But, if their recent success is any indication, the special teams are back for the Falcons. The power-play is five-for-24 (20.8%) over the last three games while it had converted just five-of-76 (6.6%) opportunities over the previous 13 games. BG is six-of-70 (8.6%) in their 12 league games with the man-advantage. BG had two power-play goals in the third period which helped them get back in the Notre Dame game (Dec. 13). It was the first time in 10 games the Falcons had two or more goals with the manpower advantage. BG has four games this season with two power-play goals. On the other side of the ledger, the Falcons have held their opposition scoreless on the power-play in three of the last four games killing off 22-of-24 opportunities.
THE PP GOES, THE O DOES TOO
It is probably no coincidence that as the power-play has improved recently, so has the offensive output by the Falcons. BG has scored 10 goals in the 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 with seven goals against RIT and Niagara. In the 13 games before BG's present mini-scoring streak, the Falcons averaged just 1.69 goals per game.
SPRATT AMONG BGSU LEADERS
Senior goaltender Jimmy Spratt has started all 20 games this season. Spratt recorded his first career shutout in the 1-0 win over Alaska earlier this season (Oct. 24) turning away all 30 shots he faced. The Chesterfield, Mich. native enjoyed two of the best weekends of his career in sweeps of the Northern Michigan (Nov. 14-15) and Clarkson (Dec. 19-20). In the NMU series, he had a 0.99 goals-against and a .961 save percentage (two goals/49 saves) while he had a 1.00 goals-against and a .960 save percentage (two goals/48 saves) in the two games against Clarkson. It was the first time since his freshman season (Nov. 4-5, 2005 vs. Nebraska-Omaha - his second and third career starts) that he won both games of a series. He has allowed three or fewer goals in 12 of the 20 games and has a 2.93 goals-against, a little better than one-half a goal better than his career GAA (3.66) coming into this season. He has just four games of 30 or more saves this season with a season-high 36 saves against Minnesota State (Nov. 29), and has an .888 save percentage. In the 12 league games, Spratt has a 3.08 goals-against and an .884 save percentage. He has now played in 86 career games, with 83 of those starts. Spratt, who is one of only nine goalies in school history to reach the 2,000-save plateau, has 2,098 career saves, eighth on the BGSU list while his 1,520 stops in CCHA play is seventh-best in school history. He needs 66 saves to move into the #7 spot at BG for all games currently occupied by Mike David (1979-83 - 2,163 saves) and 25 saves to pass Mike Savard on the CCHA games only list (1,544 saves - 6th). Spratt has logged 1,207:22 this season, second only to Marc Cheverie from Denver (1,243:39) among all goalies in the nation this season.
ENO CLEARED MEDICALLY; COULD PLAY AGAINST OHIO STATE
The other half of last year's goaltending duo, sophomore Nick Eno, has not played this season because of a left ankle sprain suffered in late September, but he has been cleared medically and head coach Scott Paluch plans to use him in the Ohio State series. How he will be used in the series will depend on his performance in practice leading up to the series with the Buckeyes. Eno, who sported a 12-10-0 record, a 2.79 goals-against average and .905 save percentage last year, became the third Falcon netminder to earn CCHA All-Rookie honors. He joined Bob Petrie (1994) and Aaron Elllis (1993) as the other first-year Falcon goalies to earn those accolades. The Howell, Mich. native's goals-against average last season ranks seventh on the single-season BG list, while his save percentage is tied for seventh-best. In CCHA play last season, Eno was 9-7-0 with a 2.51 goals-against and a .918 save percentage.
LATE HEROICS
The Falcons have scored within the last five minutes of regulation time in eight different games this season. In three of those instances the goal broke a tie to win the game. In one instance it tied the game in a contest that ended deadlocked. And in another instance it tied the game and BG went on to win in overtime. BG has scored a total of eight goals (eight different contests) in the last five minutes of regulation time this season.
A GLANCE AT THE SECOND HALF
The Falcons will finish their 2008-09 regular season with eight-straight weekend series against CCHA opponents. Of their remaining 16 games, only two are against teams that presently comprise the top four teams in the conference. In the month of January, the Falcons play five of their eight games at home while in Feburary only three of their eight games are at home. Six of the eight series will be against teams they have not played this season. Only a home series against Lake Superior (Jan. 23-24) and a road series at Northern Michigan (Feb. 6-7) are against teams they have already met this season. BG was 0-1-1 against Lake Superior in the first series while BG swept Northern Michigan.
FALCON ICE CHIPS
BG has scored in 33 of the 60 periods this season, the same number as their opposition...the difference in the number of goals scored, 62 to 45 in favor of the opposition, comes from the fact BG has six multi-goal periods this season compared to 17 for the opposition...BG was 3-3-2 in games outside of the CCHA this season...the Falcons played 20 games before January this year for the first time since the 2001-02 season...BG is 0-6-1 this season against ranked teams, 7-4-2 against unranked teams...only four of their remaining 16 games are against teams that are currently ranked with both of those series in January...their schedule for the entire month of February is against unranked teams...besides their tie, BG has one one-goal loss and two two-goal losses to ranked teams...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) and second on the squad with three 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...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.
OHIO STATE NOTES
The Buckeyes come into the series with the Falcons having won eight straight, the longest current winning streak in the country...Notre Dame has a 16-game unbeaten streak going, but only a six-game winning streak...five of their wins in the streak were against non-league teams (Robert Morris, Bentley (2), Army, Clarkson)...during the winning streak, OSU has outscored the opposition, 37-13...Ohio State is coming off the championship of the Ohio Hockey Classic last weekend in which they defeated Army (6-1) and Clarkson (2-0) at Valu City Arena...OSU is 11-1 in its last 12 games dating back to Nov. 7 after starting the season 2-5-1...senior forward Corey Elkins leads the team with 21 points (7-14) and has an on-ice rating of +12...sophomore forward John Albert has 19 points (6-13) and a +13 rating, second in the CCHA, while sophomore forward Hunter Bishop has 17 points (9-8) and leads the CCHA with a +15 rating...freshman forward Zac Dalpe leads the Buckeyes with 10 goals (14 points), a figure which is second in the country among first-year players...another freshman, Ian Boots, is fourth on the team with 16 points (6-10), a total that leads the CCHA among first-year players...sophomore goalie Dustin Carlson has played in 17 games, making 14 starts, and has a 2.04 goals-against and a .932 save percentage...he has four shutouts this season to lead the CCHA...junior defenseman Shane Sims is among the leading scorers in the CCHA among rearguards with 11 points (1-10)...Albert (11 pts.) and Bishop (10 pts.) are the only OSU players in double figures for points in league play...sophomore Peter Boyd, who was second on the team last year in scoring, has 15 points (6-9) this season...Albert was third on the team last season in scoring...head coach John Markell, who is in his 14th full season leading the Buckeye program, has a record of 245-240-47...Markell earned four letters as a member of the BGSU hockey program (1976-79) and was a three-time first-team All-CCHA selection...Markell, who is sixth on the BG all-time scoring list (102-133--235), was a 2000 inductee into the BGSU Athletic Hall of Fame.
THE LAST TIME
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. 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 Saturday night.
NEXT WEEK
The Falcons will have a home-and-home series with Michigan. The Falcons will be on the road for the Friday game and the two programs will tangle at the BGSU Ice Arena on Saturday. Both games begin at 7:35 p.m.
