Falcon Hockey Hits the Road for Omaha

Bowling Green State University Falcons
(0-4-0, 0-0-0)
@
Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks
(3-0-1, 0-0-0)

Fri./ Sat. Oct. 30-31, 2009
8:35 p.m. / 9:05 p.m. EST

Game Notes
Press conference audio - Part 1
Press conference audio - Part 2

THIS WEEK
Falcon hockey will be loading the bus to take its show on the road to Omaha, Neb. this week for a two-game series against conference foe Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavericks and the Falcons will meet at the Qwest Center for the first two games of their respective conference schedules. Game times are set for 8:35 and 9:05 p.m. EST.

MEDIA COVERAGE
All games this season can be heard on the radio by tuning into 88.1 WGBU-FM. Everett Fitzhugh will take the trip to Omaha to bring fans the play-by-play action. 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.

Live stats for all BGSU home games are available on the BGSU web site - www.bgsufalcons.com - via Live Scoring. The stats can be accessed from the schedule page in the hockey section of the website by clicking on the “details” icon on the right hand side of the page, then by clicking “live scoring”.

LAST TIME OUT
Bowling Green played its first two regular season home games last weekend (Oct. 23-24), both resulting in losses to Providence College. Despite both games resulting in a loss, the weekend seemed to be a tale of two team. Friday, the team lost to the Friars, 8-2, after surrenduring seven unanswered goals in the last 43:06 of competition after taking a 2-1 lead late in the first period. Senior Tommy Dee scored both Falcon goals on the night while junior Nick Eno and freshman Andrew Hammond split time in net. Saturday (Oct. 24) the Brown and Orange rebounded with a far more impressive showing that sported a 1-1 tie for 31:51 after the tying goal was scored. Senior James Perkin tallied the opening goal in the middle of the first frame, but the lead would last no more than two minutes as the Friars banged one home to tie it up. A combination of physicality and disciplined defense kept the Falcons competive as they killed all three PC power plays on the evening before giving up an even-strength goal in the final five minutes of the contest. After pulling Hammond from between the posts with sixty seconds remaining, the Friars flipped the puck into the Bowling Green end and watched it slide over the red paint for the third Providence goal leading towards a final score of 3-1, favoring Providence.

SCOUTING THE NEBRASKA-OMAHA MAVERICKS
Through four games in 2009-10, the Mavericks hold a 3-0-1 record overall. UNO has not lost in its first four games in back-to-back years after posting a 4-0-0 record to begin the 2008-09 season. Thus far this season, the Mavs have held the competition to one goal twice in four games while scoring four or more three times. Nebraska-Omaha has outshot their opponent in three of four games and twice have done so by ten or more shots. Last season, the Mavs went 10-6-5 at the Qwest Center and have defended their fort flawlessly this year with a 2-0-0 record.

Leading all Maverick goal scorers this season is senior forward Jeric Agosta with three goals and an assist on the season. More impressive is that his three goals come on only five shots taken for a shot-percentage of .600. He is also one of three Mavs to have a team-high plus-five on-ice rating. Nick Fanto (Sr., F) and Rich Purslow (Jr., F) have a team leading five points on the season and both have done so by scoring two goals and adding three assists apiece. Purslow leads the team in shots taken (16) with Pre-season All-CCHA second team selection Eddie DelGrosso nipping at his heals with 15 shots.

Though senior Jeremie Dupont was set to be th e incumbent goaltender in Omaha, after allowing six goals in 53:52 and only 14 saves, reshirt-freshman John Faulkner has taken to the posts and done quite well in four games played. In 191 minutes, he has only allowed three goals and made 68 saves good for a 0.94 GAA and a .958 save-percentage. Two of his three goals allowed were on the power play. In his last two starts, he held Colgate to two goals, one coming in each game to line his team up for two wins.

The Mavericks are led by first year head coach Dean Blais, formerly of the Fargo Force (USHL). As the head coach and general manager of the expansion team, he went 32-23-5 and took his team to the Clark Cup Final before falling to Indiana. He won the USHL Coach of the Year following that season. He also spent ten years as the head coach of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux 262-115-33 (.679) as well as having spent the previous nine years as their assistant coach. He also spent time with the Columbus Blue Jackets (2004-2007) and will coach the 2010 U.S. National Junior Team.

TALK ABOUT REBOUNDS
Freshman goaltender Andrew Hammond (Surrey, B.C.) had one of the biggest turnarounds in Falcon goaltending history in just a matter of 24 hours. After relieving junior Nick Eno against Providence on Oct. 23 and giving up four goals in 33:39 of play, Hammond returned between the posts for game two of the Falcons-Friars series and played a large role in giving the Falcons a chance to win that game. In a 3-1 loss to PC, Hammond made his second collegiate start making 29 of 31 saves and kept the Friars scoreless for 31:51 before allowing the game-winning goal with less than five minutes remaining in the contest.

THEY COME IN PAIRS
In their latest series of action, senior forwards Tommy Dee and James Perkin were the sole sources of offense for the Falcons and sported multiple point weekends. Tommy Dee had a hand in all the weekend action beginning by scoring both Falcon goals in the team's 8-2 loss on Oct. 23. Perkin assisted on Dee's first goal Friday night, but waited until the following day to score a goal of his own against the Friars. Dee returned the favor by assisting on Perkin's goal. Dee finished the weekend with three points (2-1--3) and Perkin with two (1-1--2).

A NOTE THAT WOULDN'T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE
In conference openers, the Falcons are:
1-8 since 2000 (last win, 10/14/08 vs. Alaska, 1-0)
1-9 in their last 10
5-9-1 in their last 15
7-12-1 in their last 20
20-18-2 in history (1-0-1 as part of the MCHA)

ALL EYES ON BG
Though only two games into the season, Bowling Green can be found among the nation's leaders in special teams in Division I college hockey. Bowling Green currently ranks 23rd in the nation in team penalty kill percentage (.833) after killing 20-24 opposing power play chances.

OFF TO THE NHL!
Bowling Green has a rich tradition in preparing its hockey players for rich careers in the National Hockey League. For three Falcons from last year's team that could not be truer.

Kevin Schmidt (2005-'09): Before the ECHL season started, the Pittsburgh Penguins affiliate the Wheeling Nailers signed the former Falcon defenseman. In his Falcon career, Schmidt scored 12 goals, 40 assists and was named assistant captain for the 2008-09 season.

Dan Sexton (2007-'09): After signing a two-year entry-level deal with the Anaheim Ducks, Sexton has spent time with the Ducks and its AHL affiliate, San Antonio, before being reassigned to the Bakersfield Condors (ECHL). Through five games, he has scored three goals and four assists with the Condors. Sexton was named to the All-CCHA honorable mention team after a 2008-09 season where he played in 38 games, scoring 17 goals and 22 assists.

Brandon Svendsen (2005-'09): Svendsen had signed a contract with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL and put together a four goal and 15 assist season after completing his career with the Falcons. Shortly after the conclusion of the Steelheads season, Svendsen signed a tryout contract with the Ottawa Senators in July 2009. He has since been reassigned to the Elmira Jackals (ECHL) where he has scored three goals and an assist in five games. During the 2008-09 season as alternate captain, Svendsen had his best season establishing career highs for points (30), goals (12) and assists (18). Overall, the Minnesota native played 148 career games with 76 points (32g-44a).

DYNAMIC DUO
Junior Nick Eno and freshman Andrew Hammond may be battling each other for playing time but together they make for a great one-two punch at the goaltender position. Each goalie had the chance to start at Minnesota State (Oct 9-10). Despite the two losses, Hammond and Eno combined for 69 saves on 76 shots against and both finished saving more than 90 percent of the shots they faced. Head coach Dennis Williams said of Eno, “Five or six of his saves were highlight reel saves that could of went the other direction and really put us in a hole.” As for Hammond, Williams said, “Andrew Hammond was the best player for us out there tonight [Saturday]. He kept us in the game and we just got to find more ways to provide more offense.”

'JuST' A GREAT START
In his debut as a Falcon, freshman Jordan Samuels-Thomas (nicknamed “JST”) shot out of the gate by scoring a team-leading three points in his first weekend of play. Samuels-Thomas received assists on three goals, two in the first game of his career, against Minnesota State (Oct. 9-10). The last Falcon freshman to score a point in the team's season opener was Kevin Schmidt (2005-2009) when he scored a power-play goal versus Merrimack on Oct. 14, 2005. The last freshman to score multiple points in his debut in brown and orange was Jonathan Matumoto on Oct. 22, 2004 when he scored a goal and two assists at Union College. Samuels-Thomas is only the sixth freshman to score in a BG season opener.

BOWLING GREEN ON NATIONAL TELEVISION THIS SEASON
Bowling Green hockey will be displayed on a national setting twice for the 2009-10 season. The first occurrence will be during the away contest at Michigan on Feb. 9, 2010. That game will be broadcast on Comcast Cable at 7:35 p.m. The second occasion will be at Michigan State on Feb. 26, 2010 when Fox Sports Network-Detroit will air the Falcons and the Spartans dropping the puck at 6:05 p.m. Select BGSU home games will be broadcast locally on BCSN.

KYLE PAGE NAMED CAPTAIN FOR 2009-10; SOLWAY AND DEE AS ASSISTANT CAPTAINS
With a team that is as young as the Falcon squad is (8-SR, 4-JR, 4-SO, 10-FR), it is only fitting that seniors Kyle Page and Tommy Dee along with junior David Solway have been named the captains of the 2009-10 BGSU Falcons. Dee and Solway will dawn their assistant captain “A”s.

Page, who was also named captain last season, returns after posting his best offensive season in 2008-09 (4-10--14). As a sophomore, Page was a defenseive stalwart for the Brown and Orange with his candidacy for CCHA Defenseman of the Year in 2007-08. He is a two-time winner of the Jim Ruehl Award, given to BGSU's top defensive player. Page also was named to the All-CCHA Rookie Team in 2006-07.

Solway will return as the team's leading point-getter from the 2008-09 season (24) at the forward position. He played in all 38 games as a sophomore netting a career-high 12 goals and assisting on 12 others. Dee returns as another reliable scoring threat as a forward. In 2008-09 he scored seven goals and added an assist to finish the year with eight points total.

WELCOME TO FALCON COUNTRY!
With the Williams era underway, many new faces have come to Bowling Green, Ohio. Ten new players and three new coaches have been welcomed into the Falcon Family for the upcoming season.
Included in this class of freshmen is the 2008-09 OJHL scoring champion (Nathan Pageau, F), a seventh-round NHL Draft selection of the Atlanta Thrashers (Jordan Samuels-Thomas, F) and a goaltender who is fresh off a 2008-09 Bank Cup Championship (Andrew Hammond, G). Ryan Peltoma (Fr., D), Jerry Freismuth (Fr., F), Ian Ruel (Fr., D), Matt Rodriguez (Fr., F), Max Grover (Fr., F), Reed Rushing (Fr., D), and Robert Shea (Fr., D) round out the freshman class.

On the bench with head coach Dennis Williams will be three new coaches to assist him. Assistant coach Mike Mankowski, most recently of Canisius College (2005-09), brings a wealth of experience and specializes in recruiting. Scott Stirling was brought in and will begin his first season as a coach. after completing an established post-collegiate career as a goaltender with teams from the ECHL, AHL and the Norwegian Hockey League. Doug Slipacoff comes to BGSU as a recent graduate of Neumann College and will reunite with coach Williams after Williams recruited Slipacoff to play for him as a Golden Knight in 2005. Slipacoff played defense for the Knights and was a part of their 2009 Division-III National Championship season.

FALCONS DRAW TOUGH CLUSTER
Completing the BGSU schedule cluster will be conference foes No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Notre Dame and Michigan State. The Falcons will face each team four times through the course of the season. The Falcons went a combined 2-6 against these teams a season ago and were outscored 30-10 over eight games.

Notre Dame: 0-4-0 vs. ND in 2008-09... outscored by ND 21-6 in four games... scored one goal in three of the four games played... outshot in all four games versus the Irish (118-92)... ND went 10-of-28 (.357) on the power play against BGSU in 2008-09.

Michigan: 1-1 vs. UM in 2008-09... outscored UM 3-1 in two games... posted the only shutout win against UM in BGSU history in a 3-0 win (Jan. 16)... BG held the Wolverines to zero goals on 13 power play opportunities in those games... will open Lucas County Arena (Toledo, Ohio) officially with a CCHA contest on Nov. 21.

Michigan State: 1-1-0 vs. MSU in 2008-09... finished the regular-season with a 4-0 win at home over MSU on Feb. 21... outscored MSU 6-3 in the two-game series... outshot MSU 73-51 in that span... BG faired better on power play by converting two of their 11 chances, as opposed to MSU going 1-11... will be the first time BGSU and MSU have met more than twice in a season since 2000-01 (two regular season games, one post-season - MSU wins series 2-0-1).

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