Bowling Green State University Athletics
Hockey Team Opens Second Season At Ohio State Friday
March 02, 2009 | Ice Hockey
March 2, 2009
BOWLINLG GREEN, OHIO -
BGSU Hockey Notes/Stats (vs. Ohio State - First Round CCHA Playoffs) 
CCHA First Round Playoffs
Best-of-Three Series
Bowling Green (11-22-3, 8-19-1-0 CCHA) at #14 Ohio State (20-12-4, 13-11-4-3 CCHA)
March 6-8, 2009 • Columbus, Ohio (OSU Ice Rink - 1,000) • 7:05 (Friday and Saturday); 5:05 (Sunday)
THIS WEEK
The Bowling Green State University hockey team begins the "second season" this weekend with a first-round Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoff series at Ohio State. The best-of-three series will be played Friday through Sunday (Sunday if necessary) at the OSU Ice Rink with the puck dropped at 7:05 the first two nights. If a third game is necessary, the Sunday contest will begin at 5:05 p.m. The series pits the fifth-seeded Buckeyes against the Falcons, who are the 12th seed.
RADIO
All games this season can be heard on WBGU 88.1 FM. Bob Mills will provide the play-by-play and Everett Fitzhugh will provide 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.
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.
TOP LINE CONTINUES TO PUT UP THE NUMBERS
The top line of senior Brandon Svendsen and sophomores David Solway and Dan Sexton had four points, all in one game, against Western Michigan last weekend. Sexton had one goal and one assist in the Saturday loss to the Broncos, Solway had an assist and Svendsen scored a goal. 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 26 CCHA games in which they played together this season, the line has accounted for 30 of the 56 BG goals (54%), collected 39 of the 86 assists (45%) and 69 of the 142 points (49%). For the 34 games this season they have been together, which includes the 26 CCHA games, the line has accounted for 39 of the 80 goals (49%), 49 of the 128 assists (38%) and 88 of 204 points (43%). During one three-week period (Oct. 31-Nov. 15), they combined for 27 points (11-16). In the 34 games they've played as a line, they have accounted for at least one point on 49 of the 80 goals scored, two of the players have been involved in 29 of the 80 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 10-11-3 record. When they have been held scoreless, the Falcons have a 1-9 record.
POSTSEASON NOTES
The Falcons are making their 35th appearance in the CCHA playoffs and have a 54-44-2 record...BG has 73 games of combined postseason experience on its roster heading into the weekend...BG senior defenseman Kevin Schmidt leads the team in postseason scoring with five points (1-4) in nine games...BG's first-round series victory last season at home over Lake Superior in three games broke a streak of six consecutive years in which they had fallen out of the league playoffs in their first series...BG will be looking to put an end to a 12-game road losing streak in the CCHA playoffs this weekend...BG's last win on the road in the league playoffs was a 2-1 victory at Northern Michigan in overtime in a CCHA play-in contest...among the returning players, juniors Tommy Dee (2-1), Todd McIlrath (2-1) and James Perkin (0-3) led the team in postseason scoring last season...BG won both its games in the Lake Superior first-round series last season by one goal...BG won the first game of the series by a 4-3 count and then won the third game of the series by the same score in overtime.
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 a goal in the Saturday game against Western Michigan. 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 30 points, 18 assists and 12 goals this season. The Roseville, Minn. native's point total is tied for 11th in the CCHA. 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 19 games this season with eight multi-point efforts. He is second on the team with 29 points for all games and 26 points (10-16) in CCHA play. Svendsen ranks among the CCHA leaders in four categories for all games and five for 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 26 assists (37 points) over the last 23 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 six games this season in which they have scored three points. The defense has at least one point in 19 of the last 21 games and 20 of the last 23. 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 three weeks ago and he had two points against Michigan State two weeks ago. He had the first two-point game of his career (in 104 career games) on Feb. 14 against Ferris State and he came back a week later and had two points in the win over Michigan State (Feb. 21). Page has a point in 10 of the last 21 games, including six of the last 12. 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 tied for the top figure among the Falcon defensemen. He had five career points coming into this season. He leads the team with 63 blocked shots. Page has five points (1-4) in the last six 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 (Feb. 21). 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. Solway had one assist, that coming in the Saturday game, last weekend. He is third on the team with 24 points (12-12). He has a point in 16 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 against Michigan State. 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, 12 assists and 24 points this season. The Green Bay, Wis. native has 19 points (9-10) in CCHA play, third on the team. He has at least one goal in 10 of the 18 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 champion 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, 10-11-2 against unranked teams. BG's shutout win over Michigan on Jan. 16 was its only victory against a ranked team this season.
SEXTON FOURTH IN CCHA IN SCORING
Sophomore Dan Sexton has put together the best season of his young career. He has a point in 13 of the last 19 games (22 points (11-11) in those 19 games) and a goal in nine of the last 18 games (11 goals in those 18 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 games 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 38 points (16-22) while scoring at least one point in every weekend series except two this season. He has scored a point in a team-best 23 games and has a team-best 13 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 tied for fourth in the CCHA in points and goals, and tied for eighth 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 28 points (12-16) 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 30th nationally and he is also tied for 30th in the nation in points.
KANTOLA IS LIGHTING THE LAMP
Junior forward Kai Kantola is tied for second on the team with 12 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 17 points (12-5). He is tied for 18th in the CCHA in goals scored. Kantola, who has a point in 13 games this season, has five goals in league play. Kantola has 12 points (8-4) in the last 22 games. His goal total this season is one more than 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 19-for-117 (16.2%) over the last 19 games while it had converted just five-of-76 (6.6%) opportunities over the previous 13 games. BG is 20-of-163 (12.3%) in their 28 league games with the man-advantage. BG has at least one power play goal in 14 of their last 19 games. They have seven 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 and they had two other weekends with three man-advantage goals. On the other side of the ledger, the Falcons have held their opposition scoreless on the power-play in 12 of the last 20 games killing off 94-of-107 (87.9%) opportunities over the span. BG has not given up a power-play goal in five of the last eight games. BG has killed off 37 of the last 40 (92.5%) opposition power play opportunities dating back to the Miami game on Jan. 31, a span of eight-plus games.
THE PP GOES, THE O DOES TOO
It is probably no coincidence that as the power-play has improved, so has the offensive output by the Falcons. BG has scored 49 goals in the last 19 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 19 games, the Falcons averaged just 1.69 goals per game. BG has averaged 2.58 goals over the last 19 games. BG has scored three or more goals in 11 of their last 19 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 32 games he's played in this season, and he has played in 32 of the 36 contests BG has played this year. Spratt tied the BGSU record for shutouts in a season with his third of the year on "senior night" against Michigan State (Feb. 21). 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 32 games he's started and he has a 2.88 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 .896 save percentage. In 24 league starts, Spratt has a 2.95 goals-against and an .897 save percentage. He has now played in 98 career games, with 95 of those starts. Spratt, who is one of only nine goalies in school history to reach the 2,000-save plateau, has 2,399 career saves, sixth on the BGSU list, while his 1,821 stops in CCHA play is third in school history. Spratt has logged 1,851:43 this season, 12th among all goalies in the nation this season, and third in the CCHA behind Notre Dame's Jordan Pearce and Ohio State's Dustin Carlson. Spratt, who is currently playing the best hockey of his career, has given up three or fewer goals in 11 of his last 14 games and he has a 2.51 goals-against and a .916 save percentage over the period. He has a 6-7 record in his last 14 games. He has two of his three shutouts for the season during the streak. Spratt is sixth on the BGSU career list for minutes played (5,558:09), he is tied for sixth with three career shutouts and he is sixth in career games played by a goalie (98).
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) and Western Michigan (Feb. 28). 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 eight of the last 18 games (10 points, 3-7) and 10 of the last 23 contests. The Fredonia, N.Y. native is tied for the team lead among defenseman with 13 (4-9) points. He is also an important part of the power-play unit with three man-advantage markers, fifth 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 16 games. Bailen had 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 15th in the CCHA in scoring among first-year players. He has at least one point in seven of the last nine weekends of play.
FALCON ICE CHIPS
BG has scored in 61 of the 108 periods (regulation time) this season, three less than their opposition...the difference in the number of goals scored, 119 to 84, in favor of the opposition, comes from the fact BG has 16 multi-goal periods this season compared to 36 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 4-12-2 in Saturday games this season, 7-10-1 in Friday contests...the Falcons are 1-1-3 in their five overtime games this season and had just one shootout...BG finished its home schedule 9-9-2 this season, 6-8-0-0 in CCHA play...BG is 2-13-1 on the road this season, 2-10-1 in CCHA play...BG will be looking to put an end to a seven-game road losing streak this weekend...BG leads the CCHA in power-play opportunities with 228 thus far this season...BG's total is second in the country behind only North Dakota (236)...Denver has had 226 opportunities with the man-advantage...BG is tied for fifth nationally with eight short-handed goals...only Minnesota State (10), RIT (10), Air Force (9) and Army (9) have more than BG...BG has allowed 11 short-handed goals this season...only Nebraska-Omaha (12) has allowed more....BG has averaged just 1.8 goals per game on the road this season while allowing 3.5 goals...BG has scored 11 goals in their last seven road contests...junior James Perkin had a goal in both games over the weekend against Western Michigan and he has a point in four of the last five games (3-1) and five of the last seven (3-2)...Perkin, who had seven goals and 25 points a year ago, had nine points in the first 29 games of the season...junior Todd McIlrath had an assist in both games over the weekend and he has four assists in the last five games...he had four points (1-3) in the first 24 games he played this season...BG is 4-12 since the holiday break with six of those games decided by one goal (BG is 1-5 in those six one-goal games)...sophomore Dan Sexton (2-2) and senior Brandon Svendsen (0-4) led the Falcons in scoring in the series earlier this season against Ohio State...freshman Nick Bailen and junior Kai Kantola also had two goals in the series.
OHIO STATE NOTES
The Buckeyes, since having their 11-game winning streak snapped on Jan. 17, have compiled a 4-6-3 record and only a 2-4-1 record at home during the same time span...OSU is 11-5-2 at home this season...the Buckeyes have scored 14 goals in their last three games...OSU has not scored a power play goal in its last six games and is just four-for-49 (8.1%) since playing Bowling Green earlier this season (14 games)...over the same 14 games, the opposition is 11-of-59 (18.6%) with the man-advantage...sophomore forward John Albert leads the Buckeyes in scoring with 37 points (11-26), sixth in the CCHA, while senior forward Corey Elkins has 34 points (14-20), eighth in the conference...Elkins is tied for eighth in the CCHA in goals...also in double figures for goals is sophomore forward Peter Boyd (11, 28 points), sophomore forward Hunter Bishop (13, 27 points), freshman forward Zac Dalpe (13, 23 points) and sophomore forward Sergio Somma (10, 22 points)...Somma leads the team with four power-play goals...Bishop leads the CCHA in plus-minus with a +25 rating...Elkins is third in the league at +22...sophomore goalie Dustin Carlson has played in 33 of the 36 OSU games this season and has an 18-9-3 record with four shutouts...he has a 2.42 goals-against, eighth in the CCHA, and a .919 save percentage, sixth in the league...OSU is ninth in the country in scoring (3.44 goals per game)...OSU coach John Markell is in his 15th season and has a 262-246-50 record...Markell is a 1979 graduate of BGSU and is sixth on the Falcons' career scoring list with 235 points (102-133)...16 different OSU players had a point in the first game of the series with Bowling Green earlier this season, an 8-5 Buckeye win...six Buckeye players had a point in both games of the series earlier this year with Boyd (1-3) and Albert (1-3) leading the way with four points apiece...Dalpe and sophomore defenseman Shane Sims led the team with two goals apiece in the series.
LAST WEEK
The Falcons dropped both games of their road series against Western Michigan to end the regular season. BG went into the third period of both games tied. On Friday, the Falcons scored the first two goals of the game before the Broncos scored five unanswered goals to earn a 5-2 victory. The teams were tied 2-2 heading into the final period when WMU scored a goal at 2:08 to take the lead and then scored at 14:50 and 19:30 to put the game away. Junior Kai Kantola had a Falcon goal midway through the first period and junior James Perkin scored the other early in the second stanza. BG had a 42-23 edge in shots and were 0-for-3 on the power play. WMU was 1-of-5 with the man-advantage. Senior Jimmy Spratt had 18 saves while his counterpart, Riley Gill, was credited with 40 stops. In the series finale, both teams had first-period tallies and both teams had a pair of goals in the second period. But, a Western Michigan goal at 4:02 of the third period proved to be the game-winner and the Broncos got some breathing room with a power-play tally four minutes later to make it the final 5-3 score. Perkin had the goal in the opening stanza while sophomore Dan Sexton and senior Brandon Svendsen had red-lighters in the middle period. BG was 2-of-7 on the power play and WMU converted one of their four opportunities. Sophomore Nick Eno had 17 saves for the Falcons while Gill made 31 stops for Western Michigan.
