Bowling Green State University Athletics
Hockey Program Loses First Round CCHA Series To Complete Season
March 10, 2009 | Ice Hockey
March 10, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO -
2008-09 End Of Season Release/Final Stats 
BGSU Season Ends With Playoff Loss At Ohio State
The 2008-09 season for the Bowling Green State University hockey team came to an end last weekend with their 7-1 loss to Ohio State in the second game of their first-round Central Collegiate Hockey Association best-of-three series. The Buckeyes had taken a hard-fought 5-4 victory in the series opener. Bowling Green finished the season with an overall record of 11-24-3 while they finished regular season CCHA play with an 8-19-1-0 mark.
Three Seniors Complete Careers
The Falcon program will lose three seniors - one at each of the three positions. Forward Brandon Svendsen, defenseman Kevin Schmidt and goalie Jimmy Spratt combined to play 395 games during their four years. Svendsen enjoyed his finest season this year establishing career highs for points (30, second on the team), goals (12, tied for second on the team) and assists (18, second on the team). He played 148 games in his career and had 76 points (32-44). His five career short-handed goals, three of them coming this season, ranks tied for sixth on the BG list. Schmidt was third on the team among defensemen with 10 points (4-6) this season and in his 147 career contests he had 52 points (12-40). Spratt played the most games and enjoyed his finest season as a senior. He played in and started 34 of BG's 38 games this season posting an 11-19-3 record. He finished the season with a 3.04 goals-against, more than one-half goal per game better than his career average coming into the season, and an .891 save percentage. For his career, Spratt played in 100 games, starting 97, and had a 27-62-5 record with a 3.45 goals-against and an .883 save percentage. For his career, Spratt finished sixth on the BG list for career saves (2,441), third for career CCHA saves (1,821), eighth in career goals-against (3.45), eighth in career save percentage (88.25%), fifth in career CCHA goals-against (3.36), seventh in CCHA career save percentage (88.61%), 10th in single-season minutes (1,951:07, 2008-09), 10th in CCHA single-season goals-against (2.95, 2008-09), 12th in CCHA single-season save percentage (.897, 2008-09), 12th in CCHA single-season minutes (1,364:48), tied for sixth in career shutouts (3), tied for first in shutouts in a season (3, 2008-09), sixth in career minutes (5,657:33) and sixth in games played by a goalie (100).
Returning Nucleus
The returning players for the Falcon program in 2009-10 will bring with them 78.7% of the points (177 of 225) scored this season. The returning players also accounted for 80.9% (72 of 89) of the goals scored and 77.2% of the assists (105 of 136). BG will be returning six of their top seven scorers.
Next Season
Certainly, the offensive nucleus next season will center around junior Kai Kantola and sophomores Dan Sexton and David Solway. Captain Kyle Page returns to anchor the defensive side along with freshman Nick Bailen. Kantola was tied for second on the team with 12 goals and was fourth in points with 18, both career bests. Five of his goals came on the power play and the 10 power-play markers for his career is the top figure among the returning players. Sexton and Solway teamed up with Svendsen for most of the season to give the Falcons one of the top lines in the CCHA. Sexton led the team with 17 goals and 22 assists for 39 points, all career highs. He had five goals on the power play and three game-winners, as did Solway. Solway also finished with career highs in all three offensive categories with 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points. Sexton finished the season with 13 multi-point games and seven multiple assist games. He had at least one point in 24 contests. Solway had six multi-point games and two multiple assist contests while finding the scoresheet in 16 games. Page continued his fine play at the defensive end while adding an offensive side this season. One of the top returning defensemen in the CCHA next season, Page had 13 of his career-high 14 points for the season in the final 23 games of the year. In the last 12 weekends of the season, he had at least one point in nine of those. In the first 87 games of his career, he had six assists. Bailen proved to be one of the top newcomers in the league finishing with 16 points (6-10) while also playing on the special team units. Besides Page and Kantola, next year's senior class will also include defenseman Brian Moore, forwards James Perkin, Tomas Petruska, Todd McIlrath, Josh Boyd and Tommy Dee as well as goalie Phil Greer. Perkin and Dee both finished fifth on the team in goals with seven each, Dee getting two of his, for the first time in his career, in the first game of the playoff series against Ohio State.
