Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG Closes Regular Season Against Western Michigan
February 23, 2009 | Ice Hockey
Feb. 23, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO -
Week 19 Notes/Stats (vs. Western Michigan) 
Games #35 & #36
Bowling Green (11-20-3, 8-17-1-0 CCHA) at Western Michigan (10-17-7, 7-13-6-2 CCHA)
Feb. 27-28, 2009 • Kalamazoo, Mich. (Lawson Arena - 3,667) • 7:35
THIS WEEK
The Bowling Green State University hockey team will wrap up the 2008-09 regular season with a road series against Western Michigan. Both games of the series, Friday and Saturday nights, will begin at 7:35 p.m. The Falcons took all four games from the Broncos last season, three of those were overtime decisions.
RADIO
All games this season can be heard on WBGU 88.1 FM. Bob Mills will provide the play-by-play. 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 game Saturday is the final of five appearances for the Falcons on the CCHA/Comcast Saturday Game of the Week. The game will air live on the NHL Network in Canada and on Comcast Television. Ben Holden will handle the play-by-play duties while Lyle Phair is the analyst and Art Regner the "sideline" reporter. The game will air on a tape delayed basis Sunday at noon on the NHL Network in the United States.
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 make his last appearance on the show this season on Feb. 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.
TOP LINE CONTINUES TO PUT UP THE NUMBERS
The top line of senior Brandon Svendsen and sophomores David Solway and Dan Sexton had six points, all in one game, in the split with Michigan State last weekend. Sexton had two goals in the Saturday victory over the Spartans, Solway had a goal and two assists and Svendsen had an assist. They have combined to score seven points in three games this season - vs. Nebraska-Omaha (10/31 - 3-4), vs. Ohio State (1/9 - 2-5) and Lake Superior (1/24 - 3-4). In the 24 CCHA games in which they've played together this season, the line has accounted for 28 of the 51 BG goals (55%), collected 37 of the 77 assists (48%) and 65 of the 128 points (51%). For the 32 games this season they have been together, which includes the 24 CCHA games, the line has accounted for 37 of the 75 goals (49%), 47 of the 119 assists (39%) and 84 of 190 points (44%). During one three-week period (Oct. 31-Nov. 15), they combined for 27 points (11-16). In the 32 games they've played as a line, they have accounted for at least one point on 47 of the 75 goals scored, two of the players have been involved in 27 of the 75 goals and they have combined as a line to score seven times. When the top line has scored at least one point in a game, BG has a 10-10-3 record. When they have been held scoreless, the Falcons have a 1-8 record.
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 the Saturday game against Michigan State. He had career-best four-point weekends against Lake Superior (Jan. 23-24, 2-2), Ohio State (Jan. 9-10, 0-4) and Nebraska-Omaha (Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 1-3) this season. He has had a career-high three points in a game against Lake Superior (Nov. 8, 1-2; and Jan. 24, 1-2) and Ohio State (Jan. 9, 0-3). One of the alternate captains, Svendsen has career bests of 29 points, 18 assists and 11 goals this season. The Roseville, Minn. native's point total is tied for 11th in the CCHA and his assist total is tied for 14th in the league. He has three short-handed goals this season, which is first in the CCHA and tied for third nationally. He has five for his career. Svendsen has a point in 18 games this season with eight multi-point efforts. He is second on the team with 29 points for all games and 25 points (9-16) in CCHA play. Svendsen ranks among the CCHA leaders in five categories for all games and league games only. He has at least one point in all but four weekends this season.
OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE
The defensive corp has come up big at the offensive end since mid-November adding to a more balanced attack and an increased scoring output. Defensemen have scored 11 goals and added 22 assists (33 points) over the last 21 games. The backline players had a streak of three-straight games (Dec. 20-Jan. 10) in which they contributed a season-best three points in each contest. They have a total of five games this season in which they have scored three points. The defense has at least one point in 17 of the last 19 games and 18 of the last 21. 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)
PAGE DOING IT BOTH WAYS
Known as a defensive defenseman for most of his career, junior captain Kyle Page has added an offensive side to his game of late. Page led the team with three points, all assists, in the Ferris State series two weeks ago and last weekend he had two points. He had the first two-point game of his career (in 104 career games) on Feb. 14 against Ferris State and he had two points Saturday in the win over Michigan State. Page has a point in 10 of the last 19 games, including six of the last 10. Page did not have a goal in the first 87 games of his career and had a point in only six of his first 87 contests. Page's goal in the Jan. 23 victory over Lake Superior turned out to be the game-winner, the first of his career. Page, a Wixon, Mich. native, is the leader of the defense and also plays on penalty-kill and power play units. Page's 13 points (4-9) this season is a career high and is the top figure among the Falcon defensemen. He had five career points coming into this season. He leads the team with 61 blocked shots. Page has five points (1-4) in the last four games.
SOLWAY BREAKS OUT WITH THREE-POINT GAME
Sophomore David Solway broke out of a mild scoring slump in a big way with three points (1-2) in the win over Michigan State on Saturday. He had gone seven games without a point, and he had just six points in the previous 19 games, before his three-point effort. Solway had scored 14 points in the first 13 contests of the year. He is third on the team with 23 points (12-11). He has a point in 15 games this season with six multi-point games, including a career-best three points (1-2) against Nebraska-Omaha (Oct. 31), in addition to his three-point game last week. He had the only two-goal game of his career, scoring both goals in the 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 set career bests with his 12 goals, 11 assists and 23 points this season. The Green Bay, Wis. native has 18 points (9-9) in
CCHA play, third on the team. His goal totals are tied for 13th in the CCHA for all games and tied for 14th in league play. He has at least one goal in 10 of the 17 weekends of play this season and has at least one point in all but six weekends.
PLAYING THE BEST
The Falcons have played 13 games against ranked opponents this season. Four of the games against ranked opponents came against CCHA leader and former #1 Notre Dame while Minnesota State, Ohio State, Michigan, Miami and Boston College were also ranked. The Falcons are 1-11-1 this season against the ranked teams they've played, 10-9-2 against unranked teams. BG's shutout win over Michigan on Jan. 16 was its only victory against a ranked team this season.
SEXTON FIFTH IN CCHA IN SCORING
Sophomore Dan Sexton has put together the best season of his young career. He has a point in 12 of the last 17 games (20 points (10-10) in those 17 games) and a goal in eight of the last 16 games (10 goals in those 16 games). He had a five-game goal-scoring streak and a six-game point streak, both career bests, end when BG was shutout by Michigan on Jan. 17. He had six goals and 10 points during the streaks. He had the best goal-scoring weekend of his career with three tallies against Clarkson (Dec. 19-20), including one of his three two-goal game of the season (the others against Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 31 and Michigan State on Feb. 21). The Apple Valley, Minn. native leads the team with 36 points (15-21) while scoring at least one point in every weekend series except two this season. He has scored a point in a team-best 22 games and has a team-best 12 contests with two or more points, including two games with three points (Ohio State, Jan. 9, 1-2; RIT, Oct. 10, 0-3). He is fifth in the CCHA in points, tied for third in goals and tied for ninth in assists. Sexton has set career highs in all three categories this season. He is among the league leaders in seven overall and CCHA-only statistical categories. His 26 points (11-15) in CCHA play leads the team and is tied for seventh in the CCHA. His three game-winning goals for the season is tied for 25th nationally and he is 32nd in the nation in points.
KANTOLA IS LIGHTING THE LAMP
Junior forward Kai Kantola is tied for third on the team with 11 goals this season. The Raleigh, N.C. native had his third career two-goal contest against Minnesota State (Nov. 28). He completed that weekend with a third goal on Saturday, making that the best goal-scoring weekend of his career. Following that series, he had single goals in three of the next six games, including one in both games of the Ohio State (Jan. 9-10) series. Kantola, who also had two goals in the season opener against RIT, is fourth on the team in scoring with 15 points (11-4). He is tied for 17th in the CCHA in goals scored. Kantola, who has a point in 12 games this season, has four goals in league play. Kantola has 10 points (7-3) in the last 20 games. His goal total this season matches his career total coming into the season while his 15 points is a career high.
POWER PLAY HAVING SOME RECENT SUCCESS
The Falcons had five power-play goals in the first four games of the season. But, it took the next 11 games to get five more man-advantage tallies. Of late, BG has been much more productive on the power-play and more successful on the penalty kill. The power-play is 17-for-107 (15.9%) over the last 17 games while it had converted just five-of-76 (6.6%) opportunities over the previous 13 games. BG is 18-of-153 (11.8%) in their 26 league games with the man-advantage. BG has at least one power play goal in 13 of their last 17 games. They have six games this season with two power-play goals. BG's three power-play goals against Miami (Jan. 30-31) was its best total this season against a CCHA foe. On the other side of the ledger, the Falcons have held their opposition scoreless on the power-play in 12 of the last 18 games killing off 87-of-98 (88.8%) opportunities over the span. BG has not given up a power-play goal in five of the last six games and had their streak of kills on 20 consecutive opposition power-play opportunities ended last weekend. BG has killed off 30 of the last 31 (96.8%) opposition power play opportunities dating back to the Miami game on Jan. 31, a span of six-plus games.
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 44 goals in the last 17 games after having scored just 11 times in the previous seven contests. BG's eight goals in the Ohio State (Jan. 9-10) and Lake Superior (Jan. 23-24) series, was its best offensive weekends of the season. In the 13 games before BG's present run over the last 17 games, the Falcons averaged just 1.69 goals per game. BG has averaged 2.59 goals over the last 17 games. BG has scored three or more goals in 10 of their last 17 games, after reaching that mark seven times in the first 17 contests of the year.
SPRATT AMONG BGSU LEADERS
Senior goaltender Jimmy Spratt has started all 31 games he's played in this season, and he has played in 31 of the 34 contests BG has played this year. Spratt has tied the BGSU record for shutouts in a season with his third on "senior night" Saturday against Michigan State. His 19 saves allowed him to tie Tyler Masters, who had three shutouts in the 2000-01 season, for the record. 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. He posted his second shutout in the 3-0 win at Michigan (Jan. 16) making 29 stops to record the only BG shutout in the history of the series with the Wolverines. The Chesterfield, Mich. native enjoyed probably the three best weekends of his career this season in sweeps of Northern Michigan (Nov. 14-15) and Clarkson (Dec. 19-20) and the split with Michigan (Jan. 16-17). 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. In the Michigan series, he stopped 67-of-68 shots (.985) with a 0.51 goals-against. The series with NMU and Clarkson were the first since his freshman season (Nov. 4-5, 2005 vs. Nebraska-Omaha - his second and third career starts) in which he won both games of a series. He has allowed three or fewer goals in 21 of the 31 games he's started and he has a 2.85 goals-against, almost one full goal better than his career GAA (3.66) coming into this season. He has seven games of 30 or more saves this season with a season-high 38 saves against Michigan (Jan. 16) and Miami (Jan. 31). He has an .898 save percentage. In 23 league starts, Spratt has a 2.90 goals-against and a .900 save percentage. He has now played in 97 career games, with 94 of those starts. Spratt, who is one of only nine goalies in school history to reach the 2,000-save plateau, has 2,381 career saves, sixth on the BGSU list, while his 1,803 stops in CCHA play is third in school history. Spratt has logged 1,792:05 this season, ninth among all goalies in the nation this season, and second in the CCHA to Notre Dame's Jordan Pearce. Spratt, who is currently playing the best hockey of his career, has given up three or fewer goals in 11 of his last 13 games and he has a 2.38 goals-against and a .922 save percentage over the period. He has a 6-6 record in his last 13 games. He has two of his three shutouts for the season during the streak.
ENO BACK IN ACTION
The other half of last year's goaltending duo, sophomore Nick Eno, saw his first action of the season against Ohio State (Jan. 9) after missing the first half of the year with a left ankle sprain sustained before the season began. Eno played in a relief of starter Jimmy Spratt in that first game back, and made his first start of the season the following night. He has also started games against Miami (Jan. 30) and Northern Michigan (Feb. 7). Eno, who sported a 12-10-0 record, a 2.79 goals-against average and .905 save percentage last year, earned CCHA All-Rookie honors. 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 10 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 two instances it tied the game sending it to overtime - BG winning one in overtime and losing the other in an extra period. BG has scored a total of 10 goals (10 different contests) in the last five minutes of regulation time this season.
BAILEN CONTRIBUTING IN ALL PHASES
Freshman defenseman Nick Bailen has emerged as one of the top first-year players in the CCHA. Bailen has a point in seven of the last 16 games (nine points, 3-6) and nine of the last 21 contests. The Fredonia, N.Y. native is second on the team among defenseman with 12 (4-8) points. He is also an important part of the power-play unit with three man-advantage markers, tied for fourth on the squad. Bailen also plays on the penalty-killing unit. He had a pair of goals in the Ohio State game (Jan. 9) and has three goals in the last 14 games. Bailen has his second two-point game of the season and first two-assist game with two helpers in the Feb. 13 contest against Ferris State. Bailen was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week for Dec. 15-21 and he is tied for 14th in the CCHA in scoring among first-year players. He has at least one point in six of the last eight weekends of play.
FALCON ICE CHIPS
BG has scored in 57 of the 102 periods (regulation time) this season, two less than their opposition...the difference in the number of goals scored, 109 to 79, in favor of the opposition, comes from the fact BG has 15 multi-goal periods this season compared to 32 for the opposition...BG was 3-3-2 in games outside the CCHA this season...the Falcons played 20 games before January this year for the first time since the 2001-02 season...BG has three one-goal losses and two two-goal losses to ranked teams this season...BG is 4-11-2 in Saturday games this season, 7-9-1 in Friday contests...BG has won its last two Saturday contests...the Falcons are 1-1-3 in their five overtime games this season and have had just one shootout this season...BG finished its home schedule 9-9-2 this season, 6-8-0-0 in CCHA play...BG is 2-11-1 on the road this season, 2-8-1 in CCHA play...BG leads the CCHA in power-play opportunities with 218 thus far this season...BG's total is second in the country behind only North Dakota (224)...Denver has had 217 opportunities with the man-advantage...BG is tied for fifth nationally with seven short-handed goals...only Minnesota State (10), Air Force (9), Army (9) and RIT (9) have more than BG...BG has allowed 10 short-handed goals this season...only Nebraska-Omaha (12) has allowed more....junior forward Tomas Petruska scored his first goal of the season n the Friday loss to Michigan State...Petruska had 13 goals in 73 career games coming into the season...on the same scoring play, freshman Cameron Sinclair earned his first career point, an assist, and sophomore Wade Finegan had his fourth point of the season, the other assist...senior Kevin Schmidt won two of the three overtime games against Western Michigan last season...Schmidt scored at 3:45 to win the Nov. 3 game at Bowling Green after WMU scored four times in the third period, the last with 10 seconds left, to force the extra period...Schmidt also had the game-winner at 1:20 of overtime in the Jan. 19 BG win on the road...sophomore David Solway won the other overtime game for the Falcons with a tally at 1:57 of the Nov. 2 contest, at Western Michigan, after BG had tied it with 2:15 left in regulation time...BG has averaged just 1.7 goals per game on the road this season while allowing 3.3 goals...BG has scored six goals in their last five CCHA road contests.
LAST WEEK
BG split with Michigan State last week, each winning on their home ice. The Falcons had a 2-1 lead after two periods of the series opener on Friday before allowing two Spartan goals in a 26 second span of the final stanza to lose a 3-2 decision. Senior Kevin Schmidt had the only first period goal of the game at 13:44. MSU tied it before junior Tomas Petruska knocked home his first of the season at 14:40 of the second period to give the Falcons the lead heading in the third period. But, MSU scored at 6:06 and 6:32 of the final 20 minutes and could not get a third goal by Spartan senior goalie Jeff Lerg to tie the game. Lerg had 35 saves in the game while senior Jimmy Spratt had 29 stops as both teams scored a power play goal, BG had five opportunities and Michigan State six. The Falcons put together one of their most complete efforts of the season for "Senior Night" and skated to a 4-0 shutout victory. BG's top line of senior Brandon Svendsen (0-1) and sophomores David Solway (1-2) and Dan Sexton (2-0) had a six point game and junior defenseman Kyle Page added a goal and an assist as the Falcons had a 36-19 edge in shots and Spratt was perfect for his third shutout of the season to tie the school record. BG was one-of-six on the power play, MSU did not score on their five attempts with the man-advantage. BG scored a single tally in the first period and added three goals in the second period then let the defense and Spratt put the finishing touches on the shutout. Schmidt, Spratt and Svendsen were honored in a pre-game ceremony and then the trio and their teammates made the final home game of the 2008-09 season a memorable one.
WESTERN MICHIGAN NOTES
The Broncos are coming off a split on the road at Lake Superior and have a 7-6-3 record since the holiday break...WMU has been a better team on the road than at home, especially in league play...WMU is 4-9-3 overall at home and 6-7-3 on the road...but, in CCHA play, the Broncos are 1-8-3 at home and 6-5-3 on the road...Western Michigan has been outscored by a 30-12 margin in the first period of CCHA games this season and the opposition has enjoyed a 314-164 edge in shots for the period...senior winger Patrick Galivan leads the team with 38 points (15-23)...he is third in the CCHA in points and 24th in the nation...Galivan has a +7 on-ice rating for the season...sophomore center Max Campbell is second on the squad with 25 points (14-11)...he has 10 power play goals to lead the team and rank third in the conference and tied for fifth nationally...junior defenseman Tyler Ludwig (7-17) and freshman winger Greg Squires (5-17) are the other two players with 20 or more points...junior Riley Gill has seen most of the action this season for WMU between the pipes...he has started 18 CCHA games and 22 for the season...he has a 9-10-3 record with a 2.69 goals-against and a .923 save percentage, which is sixth in the CCHA and 14th nationally...head coach Jim Culhane is in his 10th season and has a record of 146-199-40.
NEXT WEEK
The Falcons will be on the road for their first-round playoff series. The best-of-three series will be played March 6-8. If the playoffs started this weekend, the Falcons would be playing Ohio State, but all teams in the CCHA will be in action this weekend except Alaska, who presently occupies the final position with a first-round bye, fourth place, three points ahead of Ohio State.
