Nationally-Ranked Clash: No. 7 Falcons Take On No.11 Michigan Tech

Friday, January 16

Houghton, Mich.

7:07 P.M.

Bowling Green State University

Michigan Tech

Nationally-Ranked Clash: No. 7 Falcons Take On No.11 Michigan Tech

January 14, 2015 | Ice Hockey

The Falcons will put their nine-game unbeaten steak on the line, entering the weekend ranked 7th in the nation.

By: by Jake Dorow, Athletic Communications

On Tap
Two of arguably the top teams in the WCHA will finally get a chance to play each other in one of the most anticipated matchups this season, as No. 7 Bowling Green will trek to Houghton, Michigan to take on the No. 11 Michigan Tech Huskies. MTU started the year with a 10-0-0 record, earning a No. 1 spot in the USCHO poll, and have gone 5-6-1 since. But the Huskies are still second in the league with 21 points (10-3-1) with two games in-hand to Minnesota State's 27 points (13-2-1). Meanwhile, the Falcons will put their nation's longest unbeaten streak (6-0-3, nine games) on the line, entering the John MacInnes Student Ice Center on Jan. 16-17. Both teams have stayed ranked for over a month now, and in what will be one of the more compelling matchups of the weekend, should have the makings of a great two games in the Upper Peninsula.

The Series
No. 11 Michigan Tech holds a slight 9-7-2 all-time lead in the head-to-head series with Bowling Green in 18 meetings against each other. The two teams battled for the first time on the ice in programs' history on Nov. 24, 1972, with the Huskies taking a convincing 10-2 win over the Falcons. Bowling Green holds a steady 4-4-0 record against MTU at the BGSU Ice Arena, while holding a 2-5-1 record on the road. The Orange and Brown are 2-2-1 over its last five meetings with the Huskies, including a first round WCHA playoff sweep last March to advance to the WCHA Final Five.

The Last Time Out (WCHA First Round Playoffs)
The Bowling Green State University hockey team extended its winning streak to five and the Falcons completed a sweep of Michigan Tech with a 5-2 win over the Huskies at the BGSU Ice Arena in the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Playoffs. Led by a career-high four points (one goal, three assists) from Carpenter and a career-high two goals from Berkle, the Falcons jumped out to a 3-0 lead and then held off a late charge by Michigan Tech. Berkle then sealed the win with his second goal of the night, an empty-netter as he dove to fling the puck towards the unoccupied goal with just 94 seconds remaining to put any remaining doubts away as the Orange and Brown advanced to the 2014 WCHA Final Five.

National Uprising
The Bowling Green State University ice hockey team will enter the week ranked 7th in the USCHO poll, earning a top 10 spot in the rankings for the first time this season. The Falcons earned a No. 19 slot on November 10 and has not dropped since entering the top 20 in what has been their first national uprising since 2007. BGSU is one of three Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHA) teams that earned a spot in the Top 20, as Minnesota State (1) claimed the top spot and Michigan Tech (11) secured spots in the top 11.

USA Today /USA Hockey Magazine
The Falcons, who have gone unbeaten at 6-0-3 over their last nine games, will enter the week ranked 8th in the USA Today/USA Magazine poll, jumping six spots in the poll from a week ago. The Orange and Brown join Minnesota State (1) and Michigan Tech (11) as the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) representatives. Northern Michigan also received votes in the poll.

Highest Ranking EVER
#FalconHockey's 13-3-4 start marks the best start to a season since 1995-96. However, that's not the only historic fact coming away with their tremendous start. Bowling Green jumped to No.7 in the USCHO.com poll this week, marking the highest ranking for the Orange and Brown since the poll began in 1997.It's the seventh time since November 10 the Falcons have jumped at least one spot in the poll, beginning at No. 19 all the way to No. 7 this week.

Falcons Unbeaten
The Falcons' last defeat came at the hands of Ohio State on Nov. 14, 2014 at the BGSU Ice Arena by a score of 3-2. Since then, the Orange and Brown have gone 6-0-3, which is the nation's longest unbeaten streak at nine games. During that time, BGSU has averaged 3.6 goals-per-game and has outscored their opponents by a 32-17 margin. In fact, the last time the Falcons held an unbeaten streak of at least nine games was in the 1986-87 season, where the Falcons won 10 straight games that season.

Sweet 13
After the Falcons took three out of the possible four WCHA weekend points against visiting Alaska, the Orange and Brown improved to 13-3-4 overall on the season. With the successful weekend in the books, the Falcons reached 13 wins in their first 20 games for the season. The last time Bowling Green won 13 of its first 20 wins was back in 1994-95, when the falcons won 14 games over the first 20.

Speaking of Winning
The Falcons, like stated in previous notes above, have been doing a lot of winning lately. That 13-3-4 record proves to be the best start to a season since the 1994-95 season when the Falcons won 14 of its first 20 games. However, the 13-3-4 start this season gives the Orange and Brown a .750 winning percentage, which trails only Harvard and Minnesota State's .786 for best in the nation.

Falcons On The PK
The Falcons continue to play the spoiler role on the power play, killing off 8-for-8 Nanook opportunities over the weekend. The Orange and Brown have went a perfect 22-for-22 on the PK since allowing a power play goal to Northern Michigan on December 5, boosting to the nation's top penalty kill unit at 93.7 percent. Over the Falcons' last 11 games, the PK has gone 43-for-44 for a 97.7 percent rating.

How Special It Is
The Falcons have played well on the penalty kill this season, going 74/79 (93.7%) on the season. However, the Orange and Brown have gone 14-for-83 (17%) on the power play in 20 games this season. Sean Walker's 5-on-3 power play goal marked BGSU's first PPG in four games. In all, BGSU is 88-for-162 (54.3) on special teams, which is 8th in the nation for combined special teams.

Offensive-Minded Falcons
The Falcons enter the week as one of the best offensive teams in the WCHA, scoring 3.30 goals in 20 games—ranking second in the league behind only Minnesota State's 3.86 average. However, the Falcons are also in the top 10 nationally in scoring margin, ranking seventh with a 1.20 scoring margin to its opponents.

Nell's National Spotlight
Chris Nell, who played in his seventh tilt against visiting Alaska last weekend, moved stay unbeaten at 6-0-1 after earning a 3-0 shutout victory over the Nanooks last Friday night. The freshman from Green Bay, Wisconsin tied a school record with three shutouts in a single season, tying Tommy Burke (2013-14), Jimmy Spratt (2008-09) and Tyler Master (2000-01) for most in a single season. In fact, Nell also leads the nation in winning percentage at .929, third-nationally in save percentage (.950) and third-nationally in goals-against-average (1.41).

Career Night For Walker
Sophomore defenseman Sean Walker, who hails from Keswick, Ontario, tallied a career-high two goals in Saturday night's 4-4 draw with the Nanooks. Walker scored a 5-on-3 power play goal and then scores the first of three Falcon goals in the third period to ignite the Orange and Brown to a 4-4 draw. Overall, Walker scored two goals and one assist over the weekend, posting a +3 rating for his best two-game set offensively this year.

Bowling Green WCHA Ranks
Scoring Offense:    3.30 G/GM (2nd)
Scoring Defense: 2.10 G/GM (3rd)
Power Play:  14/83 (16%)
Penalty Kill:  74/79 (93%)

Bowling Green Leaders
Points: Matt Pohlkamp (16)
Goals: Kevin Dufour (10)
Assists: Pierre-Luc Mercier (12)
Shots: Brandon Hawkins (61)
Penalties: Mark Friedman (39:00)

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".