Western Michigan To Host Bowling Green Hockey This Weekend

	Bowling Green Falcons vs. No. 16/RV Western Michigan Broncos Feb. 4, 2011 - 7:35 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2011 - 7:35 p.m. ET Lawson Ice Arena -- Kalamazoo, Mich.
(8-18-2, 3-15-2-0) 11th, CCHA		(14-6-8, 8-5-7-4) 4th, CCHA
BGSU game notes	Complete coverage at Game Central	WMU game notes

THIS WEEK IN FALCON HOCKEY ... Bowling Green begins a four-game roadtrip and the first two of its six remaining away games left of the 2010-11 docket. This weekend's opponent is Western Michigan University (14-6-8, 8-5-7-4 CCHA) as the Falcons and Broncos embark on a weekend series beginning at 7:35 p.m. both Friday (Feb. 4) and Saturday (Feb. 5) night. The Falcons are looking to build on last Saturday's win at home against Lake Superior while the Broncos seek a stronghold on one of the top three positions in the CCHA standings.

LAST TIME OUT ... the Falcons earned a weekend split with Lake Superior State University last weekend, dropping Friday's matchup, 4-2, and winning Saturday night's game, 2-1. Friday night the Falcons struck first when Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored the first of BGSU's two goals. However, LSSU scored three unanswered goals before the Falcons lit the lamp again. Down two goals, Nathan Pageau scored his first goal of the season to make the game a one-score contest and give the Falcons a chance at a win or tie. After Nick Eno allowed three goals, Andrew Hammond entered in a relief role and gave the Falcons every chance at a comeback, but a late power-play goal in the third period iced the game for Lake Superior. Saturday night the Falcons again scored first, but it paid dividends in the form of a 2-1 win. Ian Ruel and James McIntosh scored the game's first two goals while Andrew Hammond returned to form in a 24-save performance in the victory. The win was the Falcons' third conference win of the season, Hammond's first conference win of his career and broke a five-game losing streak.

NEXT UP ... the No. 10/10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Irish are currently on their bye week after playing in two overtime games leading to a shootout with the Miami RedHawks. The Irish stole the extra point in each game, winning both shootouts and climbing into first place in the CCHA standings.

THE STARTING FIVE - Five Facts On BGSU Hockey
(1) The all-time series between the Falcons and Broncos lies with BGSU, 76-49-5. The Falcons are 31-27-4 when playing WMU on the road, all-time.
(2) Western Michigan is one team that the Falcons have had the most success with in recent years. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, the Falcons are 5-2-1 against WMU. In their last ten meetings, BGSU is 6-3-1 versus WMU.
(3) BGSU's Jan. 29 win over LSSU was its first Saturday conference win since Jan. 23, 2010 when the Falcons beat Western Michigan, 3-2. The Falcons had lost their previous 14 Saturday night games until then.
(4) Ryan Viselli was one of five BGSU players to score multiple points in since games during the month of January. He led all skaters with four points, all by assist. Three of those came last weekend vs. LSSU.
(5) Three BGSU Falcons have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey's most prestigious honor. David Solway, Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Marc Rodriguez are included in a pool of more than 60 hockey players across the nation to be voted on by the fans. Visit hobeybakeraward.com to vote for your favorite Falcon for the Hobey Baker Award.

HAMMOND EARNS FIRST CONFERENCE WIN
Though long overdue, Andrew Hammond (Surrey, British Columbia) and the Falcons got to celebrate the sophomore goaltender's first conference win in 17 tries on Saturday night (Jan. 29) versus Lake Superior. In the 2-1 victory, Hammond made 24-of-25 saves with the only blemish againt him coming on a LSSU power play. Hammond went 0-8-2 with one shootout win in his freshman season last year. In 2010-11, he now has a 1-8-1 mark in CCHA play.

BRING IN THE 'HAMMY'
With Andrew Hammond's recent success, head coach Chris Bergeron has indicated that there is no guarantee that the Falcons will maintain the “two goaltender system” from this point on. The sophomore goaltender proved himself last weekend against Lake Superior (Jan. 28-29) relieving Nick Eno and making 14-of-15 saves from the middle of the second period on in the Falcons' 4-2 loss on Friday night. It was Hammond's second relief appearance of the year, the first coming against Princeton on Dec. 29 when Eno went down with an injury. His most recent relief appearance was the first time Bergeron made a mid-game goalie exchange that did not come as a result of an injury. In his two relief appearances, Hammond has played a combined 38:55 and has allowed three goals on 19 chances.

THREE FALCONS NOMINATED FOR THE HOBEY BAKER AWARD
College hockey's highest post-season honor began its nomination process earlier this month and three Falcons' names were included in the list to begin the first phase of voting. Falcon point leader Jordan Samuels-Thomas, captain David Solway and the pleasant and quiet surprise Marc Rodriguez have all been included in the first wave of fan voting for the Hobey Baker Award. Fans can vote for any or all their favorite Falcons once every 24 hours until the fan voting session closes on March 6. Go to hobeybakeraward.com to vote. Phase two of the voting process will be opened on March 18 and the winner of the Hobey Baker Award will be announced on April 8 during the Frozen Four Championships.

FRESHMEN GETTING SOME CCH-ATTENTION
With a large sum of its players being first-year players, their contributions to the team's success are both crucial and receiving attention around the league. Two Falcon freshmen have found themselves on the top freshmen scorers list in Camden Wojtala (Trenton, Mich.) and Brett Mohler (Yorba Linda, Calif.). By points, both Wojtala and Mohler maintain a hold on ninth in total scoring (12) by a freshman. Wojtala has a 3-9-12 line while Mohler has a line of 6-6-12.

PREVIOUS CAREER-HIGHS BROKEN
Though many of the incoming freshmen are setting career highs as soon as they take the ice, many returning BGSU Falcons are also surpassing previous career marks, as well.

Wade Finegan: old highs (2g, 2a, 4p, 1ppg); new highs (4g, 3a, 7p, 2ppg)
Andrew Krelove: old high (1g); new high (2g)
James McIntosh: old highs (1g, 3a, 4p, 1ppg); new highs (6g, 4a, 9p, 2ppg)
Jerry Freismuth: old high (1a); new high (4a)
Ryan Peltoma: old highs (0g, 1a); new highs (2g, 2a)
Marc Rodriguez: old highs (3g, 2a, 5a, 0ppg); old highs (6g, 9a, 15p, 2ppg)
Bobby Shea: no previous highs; new highs (1g, 2a)

ONE-GOAL GAME TURNAROUND
The Falcons were on the wrong end of the stick in many of their one-goal games last season. In 11 chances, they won only three games decided by one score. This season, BGSU is 5-3-0 in games decided by one goal or less. In three of those wins the Falcons took a two-goal lead into the third period and ended up winning by that single tally.

For complete BGSU game notes, click here.

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