Falcons Set To Battle Nationally-Ranked Miami On Opening Weekend

Falcon Weekly With Evan Pivnick: Coach Bergeron

Falcon Weekly With Evan Pivnick: Brent Tate

Chris Bergeron Falcons' Nest Coaches Show: Part One (Audio)

Chris Bergeron Falcons' Nest Coaches Show: Part Two (Audio)

The Last Game
The Bowling Green State University ice hockey team began the 2014-15 season in exhibition style, defeating Simon Fraser 7-2 on Saturday (Oct. 4) night. The Falcons outshot SFU by a 61-13 margin and used a four-goal third period to pull away from visiting Simon Fraser. All three goaltenders saw action throughout the game, as each got a period between the pipes. Meanwhile, Tyler Spezia led all scoring with one goal and three assists (4 pts), as the rookies combined for four goals and five assists. Over the past two seasons, the Falcons have outscored its exhibition opponents by a 14-3 advantage.

Upcoming Weekend (Miami)
The Falcons and Redhawks will take the ice against each other for the first time since Jan. 1, 2012. The Miami Redhawks have defeated the Falcons in four of the last five meetings. Miami will enter the weekend ranked No.10/11 in the USCHO/USA Hockey Polls to begin the season. The Falcons, however, have faired decently against ranked opponents throughout the past few seasons. The Orange and Brown defeated several ranked teams in 2012-13. In addition, the Falcons went ahead and defeated several ranked opponents in 2013-14. Bowling Green defeated No. 18 Minnesota State on the road, giving the Mavericks their lone home loss on the season.

All-Time Series
Bowling Green holds the all-time advantage over Miami, leading the series 60-44-7. Bowling Green will look to improve on an impressive 36-12-4 all-time mark at the BGSU Ice Arena against the Redhawks on Friday, Oct. 10. The Falcons will then wrap up the home-and-home series on the road, where the Falcons are 24-30-3 all-time against the Redhawks.

Opening Day Facts
In BGSU history, the Falcons are 23-20-2 on opening day. In fact, prior to the past two seasons, the Falcons have never tied an opponent on opening day. Most recently, over the past two years, the Orange and Brown have played into a tie with both Niagara and Union, marking their only two ties in BGSU history.

More Opening Day Facts
Over the past 13 season-opening games, the Falcons have played six games in front of its Falcon faithful and seven on the road. Bowling Green owns a record of 4-2 at the BGSU Ice Arena, while managing a 1-4-2 record on the road. In BGSU history, the Falcons are an impressive 18-7 in home openers, while coming away with a 5-13-2 record away from Bowling Green in 45 games.

A New Captain In Town
Senior forward Dan DeSalvo was announced as team captain last Tuesday (Sept. 30). DeSalvo was one of only five Falcons to play in all 39 games in 2013-14, leading the Orange and Brown in scoring (32 points). The Rolling Meadows, Ill. native tallied a career-high 25 assists, and averaged .82 points-per-game that ranked second on the roster.

More Captain Info
In past seasons, Dan DeSalvo has had no problem leading the way with lending a helping hand. The senior forward was the first Falcon to record at least 25 assists since Jonathan Matsumoto completed the feat. during the 2005-06 season. DeSalvo also broke his previous career-best assist mark of 20 apples set in the 2012-13 season with 25 during last year's campaign. Overall, with the help of back-to-back seasons with 20-plus assists, the captain has totaled 56 assists and currently leads the Falcons with 82 career points.

119 Reasons to Feel Good
The Falcons scored 119 goals last year, the most goals scored in a single season since the 2005-06 season when BGSU totaled 124 goals in 38 games. The Falcons also averaged 3.05 goals-per-game in 2013-14; marking the first time the Orange and Brown averaged over three goals since the 2005-06.

Shorthanded Goals
Senior forward Adam Berkle arguably his best season in 2013-14, accumulating a career-high 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points in 34 games. Out of his 10 goals scored last season, the Collegeville, Pa. native tallied three goals while the Falcons were shorthanded. Prior to his junior season, Berkle never recorded a shorthanded goal, and last season tied for first in the league in that category.

Power Move
Junior Ben Murphy, a Duxbury, Mass. native, lit-the-lamp on 13 different occasions last year for the Orange and Brown. Of his 13 goals last year, Murphy tallied five goals while the Falcons were on the power play, helping the Falcons net a goal on 18 percent of its chances for the season. In fact, Murphy has scored 10 of his 19 goals while the Orange and Brown hold the man advantage on the ice.

Burke Returns
Junior netminder Tommy Burke returns for his third season as a member of the Orange and Brown. Burke is coming off his best season as a Falcon, making 28 appearances (27 starts) in the crease. The netminder accumulated a career-best 14 wins and a .912 save percentage, while posting a career-low 2.43 goals-against-average. In fact, Burke also recorded his first three shutouts of his career throughout the 2013-14 season.

More Netminders
Sophomore Tomas Sholl also returns to the Falcons for his second season. The Hermosa Beach, Cali. native recorded 12 starts for the Orange and Brown in 2013-14. Sholl recorded a 4-8-0 record with a .896 save percentage and a 2.68 goals-against-average. In fact, Sholl was the first rookie goaltender to record two shutouts within his first four starts of his collegiate career since Bob Petrie completed the feat. in 1993-94. In addition to Sholl, the Falcons welcome rookie netminder Chris Nell to the roster. Nell played for the Chicago Steel (USHL) prior to joining the Falcon family.

The Rookies
11 freshmen hit the ice for Bergeron and the Bowling Green this season. Mitch McLain (F), Tyler Spezia (F), Mark Friedman (D), Jakob Reichert (F), Brandon Hawkins (F), Brett D'Andrea (F), Ben Greiner (F), Austin Carroll (D), Nolan Valleau (D) and Braden Pears (D) will join Chris Nell as rookies for the 2014-15 season.

Keep Calm and Bergeron
Now entering his fifth season at the helm of the Orange and Brown, head coach Chris Bergeron has led the Falcons to increased production offensively in each of his first four seasons. The Orange and Brown have increased in goal scoring every season, tallying 74, 85, 100, and 119 goals respectively in each of his first four seasons.

Keep Calm and Bergeron (Cont.)
In addition to seeing the offensive numbers increase each year, Coach Bergeron has also seen his defensive numbers improve as well. In 2013-14, Bergeron saw his team allow 104 total goals in 39 games, the least amount given up in over 10 years. The Falcons allowed 2.67 gpg last year, ranking third in the WCHA.

Steadily Improving
Under Bergeron's leadership, the Falcons have increased their win total in each of its first four seasons. The Falcons have recorded 10, 14,15, and 18 wins respectively under Bergeron. In fact, over the past four seasons, the Falcons have won a total of five playoff series during that span, picking up first round victories in the CCHA Playoffs in each of the first three seasons under Bergeron. BGSU also won a CCHA quarterfinal series in 2011-12 over second-ranked Ferris State and swept Michigan Tech last season in the opening round of the WCHA Playoffs.

Hello WCHA (again)
For the second season, the Falcons will return to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), which features a 10-team league. The Falcons, along with six new teams, joined four others to form a new WCHA in 2013-14. Alabama Huntsville, Alaska Anchorage, Alaska, Bemidji State, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State and Northern Michigan will return to compete for the WCHA Championship and the Broadmoor Trophy.

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".

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Players Mentioned

Adam Berkle

Tommy Burke

Austin Carroll

Brett D'Andrea

Dan DeSalvo

Mark Friedman

Ben Greiner

Brandon Hawkins

Ben Murphy

Chris Nell

Braden Pears

Jakob Reichert

Tomas Sholl

Tyler Spezia

Brent Tate

Nolan Valleau

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