Bowling Green State University
Lake Superior State
Falcons Return Home; Host Lake Superior State Lakers This Weekend
December 02, 2009 | Ice Hockey
Bowling Green Falcons
(2-10-2, 2-6-2-2)
vs.
Lake Superior Lakers
(6-7-3, 3-1-1-1)
Dec. 4, 2009 - 7:05 p.m. EST
Dec. 5, 2009 -5:05 p.m. EST
BGSU Ice Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio)
LISTEN HERE! (WBGU-FM)
WATCH HERE! (B2 Network)
BGSU game notes
LSSU game notes
CCHA Weekly - 11/30/09
THIS WEEK
After taking the No. 13/14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish into overtime twice and coming away with a more than respectable showing, the Falcons now look to bring their improving play back to their home ice for a weekend series against the Lake Superior State University Lakers. Friday night (Dec. 4), the two teams will drop the puck at 7:05 p.m. EST and for Bowling Green, marks the 1,000th game in program history. Saturday the teams will regroup for a 5:05 p.m. EST start time to cap the weekend set.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Friday night's game will be broadcast on WFAL Falcon Radio, which is accessible through www.bgsufalcons.com. Saturday night the radio broadcast will be provided on WBGU-FM, as usual. Everett Fitzhugh and Brian Fisher will bring you the live action, shot-for-shot. 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”.
BCSN will be broadcasting Saturday's game only and will be available on tape delay following regularly scheduled broadcasting. Greg Franke will provide the play-by-play call and Scott Paluch will bring the analysis of the action.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons traveled to South Bend, Ind. last weekend in an attempt to garner their first win against the Irish since 2005. No game was decided in regulation and Saturday night's affair came down to a shootout to find a winner. Friday night, the Falcons struck early, 16 seconds in the contest to be exact, with a Nathan Pageau goal to lead 1-0. However, the Irish fought back and won the defensive struggle when the two teams went into overtime with a 1-1 tie. With 2.4 seconds left on the clock, the Irish's Ian Cole put a shot on goal that Nick Eno intially saved but the rebound took an awkward hop into the cage to complete the 2-1 Irish win in OT. Saturday night the momentum started with the Irish when they scored two first period power-play goals to take a 2-0 lead. Bowling Green tied it up with two unanswered goals by Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Ian Ruel (his first collegiate goal) before the two teams traded goals to end regulation in a 4-4 tie. In the shootout, Eno stopped all three shots against him and Samuels-Thomas put the game-deciding tally in to win the shootout, 1-0.
ALL EYES ON BG!
As we approach the mid-way point of the 2009-10 season, multiple Falcons can be found near the top of several CCHA and Division I hockey statistical categories.
Jordan Samuels-Thomas - Fr. - Foward - Windsor, Conn.
Tied-ninth in overall point scoring (14)
Third in overall point scoring by a CCHA freshman (14)
Tied-sixth in conference point scoring (11)
Tied-fifth in conference goal scoring (6)
Tied-second in conference point scoring by a freshman (11)
Tied-sixth nationally in freshman points per game (1.00)
Tommy Dee - Sr. - Forward - Maple Grove, Minn.
Tied-fourth in overall power-play goal scoring (3)
Tied-eighth in overall power-play goal scoring (3)
Nick Eno - Jr. - Goaltender - Howell, Mich.
Sixth in overall saves (267)
Fourth in total conference saves (217) and saves per game with more than three games played (27.1)
Tomas Petruska - Sr. - Forward - Petrov, Slovakia
Tied-third in conference assist scoring games (8)
Kyle Page - Sr. - Defenseman - Wixom, Mich.
Tied-tenth in defenseman point scoring (4)
ONE-ON-ONE AND DONE
After the CCHA implemented the shootout rule last season, the Falcons did not have an opportunity to flash their talents between the posts in one-on-one chances with their opponents. In 2009-10, BG has already had two games decided by a shootout and have won both of those by counts of 1-0. Falcon goaltenders Nick Eno and Andrew Hammond have each had the chance to participate in a shootout this season and have remained perfect, both saving all three shots against them. Each shootout was performed on the road (Oct. 30 at UNO and Nov. 28 at Notre Dame) after the Falcons gave up third period goals with a one score lead.
HOME 'D'
When playing at home the Falcons appear to keep their opponents 'in-check' allowing fewer shots per game at home than when they play on the road. The Falcons have allowed 27.6 shots a game in four home contests versus 33.4 shots per game in nine away games. On the penalty kill, Bowling Green has allowed nearly three times as many power-play goals on the road (14) as they have in home games (5). Their lone short-handed goal they have allowed versus Ferris State this year was also away from Bowling Green.
EVEN IS NOT SO EVEN
Despite the fact that the Falcons have been outscored on the whole this season (50-29), it has been well documented that BG plays the competition better when playing five-on-five hockey. Of the 50 goals they have allowed this year, only 23 (46 percent) have been while both teams had five on the ice. Bowling Green has scored 72 percent of their goals (21-of-29) while playing five-on-five. They are shooting over three percent better than their opponent (.100 - .069) when playing five-on-five. Even more impressive, in the four games the Falcons have won or tied this season BG has outscored the opposition 10-3 when both teams are at even-stength.
THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA
Much of this year's scoring has been had in the first or last two minutes of a period this year for BGSU and their opponents. Twenty of the 79 (25.3 percent) of all goals scored in a BGSU hockey game this season have been within the first two or during the last two minutes of a period. Bowling Green has scored eight times, accounting for 27.5 percent of their scoring during that span while their opposition has scored 12 times (24 percent).
SENIOR LEADERSHIP DEFINED
You no doubt have seen the small box clearly showing how the bulk of the scoring has been done by both the senior and freshman classes, but the senior class deserves more in leading the way for the 2009-10 Falcons. Falcons seniors have scored just under half of the 29 total goals this season and have accounted for 27 (55 percent) of the 49 helpers. In the last four games, Bowling Green seniors have account for 40 percent of the goal scoring with four of the ten put in the net. They also accounted for nine assists (50 percent) and 13 points (46.4 percent) in that time.
NOT GREEN ANYMORE, THEY ARE BOWLING GREEN!
Most coaches fret when nine freshman are asked to be major contributors on their team, but not Bowling Green. The 2009-10 freshman class has answered the call this year having scored 11-of-29 (38 percent) Falcon goals and helping on a third of all goals scored this season. In their last four games, the freshmen have scored more goals than any other class on the roster (5) and have contributed six helpers over that span as well. Jordan Samuels-Thomas (Fr., Windsor, Conn.) leads the team and the freshman class with six goals and eight assists on the season. He also leads the class with four points in the last four games, but Marc Rodriguez (Fr., Aurora, Ill.) has the hot hand with two goals in his last four games.
THE COMPETITION THUS FAR
Nobody is making excuses here at Bowling Green for the 2-10-2 overall record, but its has been a tough schedule in the early goings of the season. The Falcons have already played four teams that are or were nationally ranked at the time they played their opponent. Five additional teams on the BG schedule have received votes in the latest USCHO.com poll. As it stands now, they also have four more weekends that they match up with top-20 teams, including the No. 1 Miami Redhawks. Teams on the BG docket this season are a combined 94-77-32 overall. Every team BG has played so far has a .500 or better overall record. Those that have yet to be played on the BG schedule are 49-52-19 this season and only two teams have a winning record.
LUCK WITH THE IRISH
Notre Dame must have a hidden four-leaf clover they carry with the team when they play the Falcons. The No. 13/14 Fighting Irish have been more than successful against the Falcons in the last fifteen years than any other CCHA team. Since winning eight straight against UND from 1994 to February 1996, the Irish have a combined record of 34-8-5 record against BGSU. Notre Dame won the last 13 straight contests before their tie and shootout loss to BG on Nov. 28 and has not lost to BG in regulation or overtime since Jan. 29, 2005, spanning over 16 total games. The Falcon senior class has not beaten the Irish in their careers in twelve chances (0-10-2), but has played in five one-goal games, tied once and won a shootout once in that time.
NOT-SO FREAKY FRIDAY (The 13th)
The Falcons broke an eight-game winless streak on Nov. 13 against No. 9 Alaska with a 3-1 win. The streak tied the 1981-82 BGSU hockey team for the longest winless streak to begin a season. Ironically, both streaks were broken on a 'Friday the 13th' in November. The 1981-82 Falcons started 0-7-1 before defeating Lake Superior (Nov. 13, 1981), 8-2. Bowling Green went on to win the CCHA with a 20-7-1 conference mark that year.
SCOUTING THE LAKE SUPERIOR LAKERS (6-7-3, 3-6-1-0)
Recent action: After splitting series with nationally ranked CCHA opponents (UNO, Nov. 13-14 and UAF, Nov. 20-21), LSSU participated in the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament in Troy, N.Y. for games against Bentley and Union College. Against Bentley, the Lakers recovered from a two-goal first period deficit to the Falcons. Dillin Stonehouse and Chad Nehring lit the lamp within the first 2:30 of the second period. No team would score for the duration of the game as Brian Wilson defended 20-of-22 shots against him, leading to the first of two ties on the weekend. Lake Superior put 51 shots on the Bentley keeper on the night. Mahoney-Wilson finished the weekend with 50 saves after a 30-save performance on Saturday night against Union College en route to a 0-0 tie in the weekend tourament. Each team put 30 shots on goal in the game, but 65:00 could not determine a winner or draw a score leading to a 0-0 finish.
Players to watch: Two Lakers lead the team in points (12) through 16 games this season. Chad Nehring is one such Laker and leads the team in goals (9), six of which have come on the power play and include one game-winning goal. Joining Nehring for the team lead in points is Rick Schofield who is second on the team in goals scored (5) and tied for second in assists (7). Six of his nine total goals have been scored in conference play. Leading the way with helpers is Zac MacVoy with nine on the season. Brian Mahoney-Wilson has had a productive season thusfar keeping his team in games and finds himself at the top of a few CCHA goaltending categories. He is sports a 6-6-3 record in his 16 games played with 15 starts. Mahoney-Wilson is twelvth in GAA (2.53), eighth in save-percentage (.916) and has posted shut outs against Canisius and Union College. He leads the CCHA in total saves (427).
Statistically speaking: Despite their losing record, the Lakers do possess a top-25 defense in the nation by goals per game. LSSU allows 2.75 ggp, which though is a top-25 defense nationally, only ranks ninth in the CCHA. In conference-only competition the Lakers allow 3.20 ggp, ranking them eleventh in the conference behind BGSU. After blasting a season-high 51 shots against Bentley, the Lakers now average 32.4 shots on goal overall, ranking second in the conference. Lake Superior is one of the more disciplined teams in the conference possessing only 9.0 penalty minutes per game and 144 minutes total, both second fewest in the CCHA. LSSU is in a three-way tie with two other conference teams for fewest goals scored in the third period (11) and most goals allowed in the first period in CCHA-only play (12). They also have allowed the most goals in the second period during conference play (13). Their 25 goals allowed in the first two periods in conference games are the most among CCHA teams.
