Falcons Set To Host No. 12 Minnesota State In WCHA Showdown

Friday, October 31

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:07 P.M.

Bowling Green State University

Minnesota State

Photo by: Todd Pavlack / BGSUHockey.com

October 29, 2014 | Ice Hockey

The Falcons will take on WCHA foe 12th-ranked MSU this weekend. The two teams battled five times last season, with four of the five games decided by one goal and three going into OT.

By: by Jake Dorow, Athletic Communications

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY FALCONS

Falcon Weekly With Evan Pivnick: Chris Bergeron

Falcon Weekly With Evan Pivnick: Mitch McLain

Weekend Highlights: Week 3 - Clarkson Golden Knights

The Last Time
The Bowling Green State University battled the Minnesota State Mavericks at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 21, 2014 in the 2014 WCHA Final Five. The Mavericks defeated the Falcons in the semifinal matchup by a score of 4-0, advancing the WCHA Championship game where they eventually won the Broadmoor Trophy in the newly-formed WCHA. After a scoreless first period, the Mavericks scored twice in the second and third periods to end Bowling Green's season. Tommy Burke made 32 saves on this night, including 14 in the first period.

About Minnesota State
The Minnesota State Mavericks ice hockey program commenced play as a varsity sport in 1969-70. The Mavericks began competition at the NCAA Division I level in 1996-97, and has been a part of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) since the 1999-00 season. The Mavericks remained in the WCHA after realignment in the college hockey conferences before the 2013-14 season, and won their first WCHA Championship in 2014 in the newly-formed league. MSU also made its second-straight NCAA tournament appearance in 2014 under head coach Mike Hastings. Hastings has compiled an overall record of 50-28-1 over his first two seasons at the helm of the Maverick program.

The Series
Minnesota State holds a 6-2-1 all-time lead in the head-to-head series in nine meetings against each other. The two teams battled on the ice for the first time in programs' history on Nov. 28, 2008, skating to a 2-2 tie. Bowling Green holds a 1-2-1 recorded at the BGSU Ice Arena, and a 1-3-0 overall record at the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, Minnesota. Last season, the Falcons and Mavericks played five games over the course of the 2013-14 season, with four of the five decided by one goal. MSU has outscored the Falcons by a 28-17 margin all-time.

The Last Time Out
The Bowling Green State University ice hockey team defeated Clarkson University on Saturday (Oct. 25) night, scoring four goals in the first period to earn a 5-4 victory over the Golden Knights in the second game of their two-game set. Playing in front of 3,346 at Cheel Arena, five different Falcons tallied goals in the game, while freshman goaltender Chris Nell (2-0-0) turned away 27-of-30 shots on the night. With the win, the Orange and Brown went 1-0-1 over the weekend against non-conference for Clarkson to move to 4-1-1 overall.

Familiar Foe
Last season, under the newly-formed Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) was formed; the Falcons and Mavericks quickly became familiar with each other. The two teams battled a total of five times over the course of the season, with four of the five games decided by one goal. In fact, the two teams played in overtime in three of those games. Both the Falcons and Mavericks finished the regular season head-to-head matchup with an even 10 goals each, and both averaged 2.5 goals-per-game against playing each other.

Remembering The Hat Trick
Mark Cooper, a Toronto Ontario native, had his best game as a Falcon on Nov. 23, 2013 at the BGSU Ice Arena. Cooper tallied a three-goal hat trick –including the overtime game-winning goal at 4:28—to help the Orange and Brown defeat the Minnesota State Mavericks. The hat trick marked his first collegiate career hat trick, and was the first Falcon to record a hat trick since teammate Dan DeSalvo recorded three goals in a 4-3 CCHA playoff overtime victory at Ferris State on March 11, 2012.

Different Year, Familiar Results (Again)
Both Bowling Green and Minnesota State have played a total of six games in the 2014-15 season, and, yet again, the two teams come into a WCHA weekend showdown with familiar statistics. The two teams enter the WCHA battle at the BGSU Ice Arena tied for first in league in scoring, averaging 3.50 goals-per-game. The two teams also enter the weekend averaging over five assists-per-game and over nine points-per-game. The Falcons and Mavericks are also first and second in the league with eight and seven power play goals respectively.

Road Warriors
Bowling Green will return to the BGSU Ice Arena this weekend (Oct. 31-Nov.1) for the first time since October 10. The Falcons will come home with a 3-1-1 record on the road; marking the first time since 2004-05 the Falcons opened its season with only one loss through the first five road games of the season. The Falcons are averaging 3.6 goals-per-game on the road in five games, while holding its opponents to just two goals for a +1.6 margin.

Contributing Early and Often
The Falcons have seen plenty of offense this season, scoring 21 goals (3.50 GPG) in six games. Combined, the freshmen and sophomore class have tallied 18 of Bowling Green's 21 goals for 86 percent. The two classes have also totaled 26 of the Falcons' 35 assists for 74 percent of their totals. In all, the underclassmen have combined to tally 44 points, which is 79 percent of the total scoring this season.

Going For The Kill
The Falcons recorded another successful weekend on the penalty kill, going 5-for-6 (83%) against Clarkson at Cheel Arena. For the season, the Orange and Brown are now 19/21 (90.5%) on the PK, which is ninth in the nation. The PK percentage also ranks fourth in the WCHA, trailing Michigan Tech (95.5%), Northern Michigan (95%) and Ferris State (90.9%).

Unbeaten Streak's Alive
The Bowling Green State University ice hockey team is one of nine teams in the NCAA with an unbeaten streak of at least four games. The Falcons are averaging four goals-per-game and holding its opponents to 1.8 goals. The Orange and Brown have outscored opponents by a 16-7 margin during the stretch. Bowling Green has also outscored its opponents in each period during the stretch, including a dominate 13-5 margin through the first two periods of play.

Going Streak
Sophomore forward Kevin Dufour continued his strong start to the season, scoring one goal in both games against Clarkson over the past weekend. The Quebec City native extended his goal scoring streak to six games, and now has a nation-high eight goals. The left-handed winger is leading the nation with a 1.33 goals-per-game average and is now just one goal shy of his total scored a season ago.

Spezia On The Board
Freshman centerman Tyler Spezia tallied his first collegiate goal of the season Saturday (Oct. 25) night against Clarkson. The Clinton Township, Michigan native took a pass from linemate Mitch McLain into Clarkson's zone and went five-hole to find the back of the twine for his first goal at the 17:46 mark in the first period.

Nelly Back In Action
Rookie netminder Chris Nell made his second start of his collegiate career on Saturday (Oct. 25) night against the Golden Knights. Nell turned away 30-of-34 saves on the night, earning his second win in as many games. In two starts, the Green Bay, Wisconsin native has totaled a 2.00 goals-against-average and a .926 save percentage in 120:00 minutes of action between the pipes.

WCHA.TV
The season, fans of the WCHA can watch more than 180 games of its games live and in high definition thanks to WCHA.tv. Powered by America One Sports and Eversport.tv on WCHA.tv the platform enables fans to watch all 10 conference teams in action throughout the season. Every league game will be streamed live, along with each team's non-conference home contests, the league's postseason and the WCHA Final Five. With WCHA.tv, fans can follow their team wherever they are. Each game will be available on multiple platforms, including traditional web browsers on PCs, tablets and mobile phones using the iOS and Android platforms.

#FalconHockey/Social Media
The Bowling Green Falcons hockey team is on Twitter and Instagram. You can follow along all season long by following the Falcons on Twitter @BGFalconHockey. The Orange and Brown use their official hashtags FalconHockey and WeAreBG throughout the entire season. You can also follow the Falcons' Instagram account, BGFalcons.

Evan Pivnick "The Voice" On The Mic
All games this season can be heard on the radio by tuning into 88.1 WBGU-FM. Evan Pivnick will provide the play-by-play commentary throughout the season. The pregame show will air 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off. The broadcast can be heard globally on www.bgsufalcons.com.

LiveStats
Live stats for all BGSU home games are available on the BGSU website- 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".

Bowling Green WCHA Ranks
Scoring Offense:    3.50 G/GM (T-1st)
Scoring Defense: 2.00 G/GM (T-3rd)
Power Play:     29.6% PP% (2nd)
Penalty Kill:    90.5 PK% (4th)

Bowling Green Leaders
Points: Kevin Dufour (8)
Goals: Kevin Dufour (8)
Assists: Nolan Valleau (6)
Shots: Brandon Hawkins (22)
Penalties: Jakob Reichert (8:00)

Looking at Minnesota State
Head Coach: Mike Hastings (3rd Season)

2012-13 Overall Record: 24-14-3
2013-14 Overall Record: 26-14-1
2014-15 Overall Record: 4-2-0

Minnesota State Last Week:
*Courtesy of MSUMavericks.com

GAME 1: 12^th-rated Minnesota State used a trio of third-period tallies to pull away from Alabama-Huntsville, 3-1, in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action Friday in Mankato. The Mavericks went one-for- four in power play chances on the night, while UAH was zero-of-three with the man advantage. Minnesota State owned a 57-18 advantage in shots on goal and the was played in front of 3,171 fans at Verizon Wireless Center. Now 3-2-0 (1-0-0 WCHA) for the season, the Mavericks and the Chargers (0-5-0, 0-3-0 WCHA) close out the two-game series Saturday night with a 7:07 p.m. face-off scheduled.

GAME 2: 12^th-rated Minnesota State completed a weekend sweep over Alabama-Huntsville by claiming a 4-1 win in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action Saturday in Mankato. The Mavericks went one-for-six in power play chances on the night, while UAH converted was zero-for-one in opportunities with the man advantage. Minnesota State owned a 41-9 advantage in shots on goal in the game as junior net minder Stephon Williams upped his record to 3-0-0 on the season with the win. The game was played in front of 3,086 fans at Verizon Wireless Center. Now 4-2-0 (2-0-0 WCHA) for the season, the Mavericks continue conference action with a road series at Bowling Green next Friday and Saturday.

Key Players
#   Player                        GP    G    A    Pts.
7   Zach Palmquist            6       3    5       8
9   Bryce Gervais               6       4     2       6
18 Matt Leitner               6      0     6       6
12 JP Lafontaine              6       1     3       4
16 Jordan Nelson            6       1     3       4

Key Goalies
#   Player                         GP    W-L-T    GAA    Sv%
35 Stephon Williams      4        4-0-0      1.56     .920
34 Cole Huggins                3       0-2-0      4.70     .762

Minnesota State WCHA Ranks
Scoring Offense:    3.50 G/GM (T-1st)
Scoring Defense: 3.17 G/GM (7th)
Power Play:     20.6% PP% (3rd)
Penalty Kill:    83.9% PK% (6th)