Falcons to Face Former CCHA Rival Miami on the Road

Bowling Green Falcons (0-5-1, 0-2-0 WCHA)
vs.
#RV Miami Redhawks (2-1-2, 0-0-0 NCHC)

GAME INFORMATION	Friday, Oct. 28, 7:35 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 29, 7:05 p.m. ET
LOCATION	Oxford, Ohio (Steve Cady Arena)
RADIO	WBGU 88.1 FM (Evan Pivnick)
LIVE STATS	MiamiRedHawks.com
WATCH ONLINE	NCHC.tv
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	Bowling Green

>>FALCONS ON TAP
Bowling Green will continue non-conference action Friday and Saturday on the road against in-state and former CCHA rival Miami. Friday night's game will start at 7:35 p.m., while Saturday's is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop.

>>ABOUT MIAMI
The Redhawks are coming off a disappointing 15-18-3 season during which they went 9-13-2 in NCHC play and were bounced by Minnesota Duluth in the first round of the NCHC Tournament. Despite the finish, the Redhawks were selected to finish sixth overall in the NCHC preseason polls for the upcoming campaign, and has gotten off to a 2-1-2 start to the season. Providence downed Miami in its regular season opener by a 4-3 mark, but the Redhawks rebounded by beating then-No. 10 Friars 2-1. The Redhawks also skated to a 1-1 tie with Ohio State, prior to tying at 3-3 with Maine. Miami is now coming off of a significant 5-0 victory over the Black Bears heading into the Bowling Green series.

Miami is led by head coach Enrico Blasi, who is beginning his 18th season in Oxford and owns a 366-248-60 all-time record with the Redhawks. On the ice, junior Louie Belpedio and senior Anthony Louis continue to lead Miami with three goals apiece through five games, while sophomore Kiefer Sherwood tops the team with eight points on the season, ranking him 17th in the nation with 1.60 points per game. Tending the net has been freshman Ryan Larkin, who has made a big impact in his 308:24 minutes of play, in which he has tallied nine goals against and a .931 save percentage.

>>IN-STATE RIVALRY
The Falcons hold an all-time advantage over the Redhawks by a 61-47-8 mark, although Miami has clinched the last three games over the Falcons in 4-1, 2-1 and 3-2 finals. The last Bowling Green win over Miami came in the Falcons home opener on Oct. 10, 2014 in a 3-2 victory.

>>FANTASTIC FRESHMEN
Two Falcon freshmen have notched their first career goals this year, including Frederic Letourneau and Alec Rauhauser. Letourneau, who has seen action in five games thus far, marked his first collegiate goal against then-No. 19 Ohio State on Friday night. The Montreal, Quebec native is currently on a two-game point streak, as Letourneau assisted in senior Pierre-Luc Mercier's first goal of the season in the second game of the home-and-home series with Ohio State.

A native of Bismarck, N.D., Rauhauser also has two points on the season and has seen ice time in all six of the Falcons games thus far. The defenseman found the back of the net for his first collegiate goal in the 4-4 tie with Western Michigan at home, and assisted in senior Matt Pohlkamp's power play goal against Ohio State.

>>POINTS BY POHLKAMP
Senior Matt Pohlkamp has had two multi-point games this season, including a pair of assists against Western Michigan, followed by two goals at home against Ohio State. It is the third time in his career that the Baxter, Minn. native has marked a two-goal game, while both came on the power play for the Falcons. With the pair of multi-point performances, Pohlkamp accounts for a 0.67 points per game average.

>>COUNTING CAPTAIN'S POINTS
Bowling Green senior captain Sean Walker had a three-game scoring streak, after finding the back of the net against Western Michigan on back-to-back nights and then again versus No. 19 Ohio State. Walker also scored his first shorthanded goal of his career against the Broncos, and posted two multi-point nights in the three-game span, for a team-leading season total of five points. It is the first time in his career that Walker has scored in three consecutive games. The Keswick, Ont. native is also tied for 28th overall in the NCAA with his 0.83 points per game average.

>>THE FALCON FLYER
Sophomore defenseman Mark Friedman, a third round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, marked a multi-point game on Friday night against Ohio State with a pair of assists, making it his ninth multi-point game of his career. Friedman also notched his first goal of the season at Western Michigan on Oct. 15 to tally 1-2-3 through the first six games of the season.

>>SIGHTS ON SHORTIES
Junior Mitch McLain started out the season by scoring two goals in two games, one being his third career shorthanded goal. The Baxter, Minn. native joins senior Matt Pohlkamp in the search to join the Bowling Green records page in the category, each tallying three shorthanded goals, aiming for a minimum of five to join the standings.

>>IN THE BROTHERHOOD
Head coach Chris Bergeron is familiar with the Miami traditions, as he was both a player and assistant coach for the Redhawks. As an assistant coach, the Redhawks program went 226-139-37 from 2000-10, as well as 161-83-28 in conference play. Through Bergeron's coaching tenure at Miami, the program made six NCAA Tournament appearances and two Frozen Four showings. As a player, Bergeron served as a two-year team captain from 1989-93 and led the program to its first CCHA Championship as a senior.

>>SPECIAL TEAMS GET EXTRA PRACTICE
The Falcons have seen significant special teams play thus far in the season, which has featured two Bowling Green shorthanded goals already in back-to-back games. The Falcons have averaged 16.3 penalty minutes per game, while its opponents are averaging 20.5 penalty minutes per game, resulting in the Bowling Green squad going 5-47 on the power play.

>>CENTURY MEN
Senior Matt Pohlkamp played in his 126th career game Saturday at Ohio State. As the active career leader for the Bowling Green squad, Pohlkamp leads four current Falcons who have 100+ games of collegiate experience, including Sean Walker (125), Pierre-Luc Mercier (123), and Kevin Dufour (119).

>>PRESEASON POLLS PEG BOWLING GREEN
Bowling Green was picked to finish first in the WCHA by both the coaches' and media preseason polls, in addition to being ranked No. 14 in the country by USCHO.com. It is just the second time in school history that Bowling Green has been ranked in the first USCHO.com poll of the year since the poll was initiated for the 1997-98 season, and improved from a No. 16 ranking at the start of the 2015-16 campaign. The Falcons did earn votes (but not enough to be ranked) in the USCHO.com preseason polls in 2014 (11 votes), 2013 (4 votes), 2008 (3 votes), 2005 (1 vote), 2004 (1 vote), 1999 (1 vote) and 1997 (3 votes). Bowling Green is also ranked No. 15 in the first USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll of the season. This is the Falcons first appearance in the poll since receiving a No. 13 ranking on 12/14/15.

>>ALL-CONFERENCE ACTION
Multiple Falcons were named for preseason All-WCHA, including junior Mark Friedman and goaltender Chris Nell. Senior Sean Walker also received votes for the Preseason All-WCHA Team, while Friedman and Nell joined Walker in Bowling Green upperclassmen that received votes for Preseason WCHA Player of the Year. Three Falcon freshmen were recognized for the Preseason WCHA Rookie of the Year award, in defenseman Alec Rauhauser and forwards Frederic Letourneau and Casey Linkenheld. Rauhauser also scored his first collegiate goal against the Broncos on Friday night with a power play shot taken from the point.

>>FALCONS IN THE BIG TIME
In addition to three current NHL draftees on the Falcons roster (Ryan Bednard, Mark Friedman, and Adam Smith), two Falcon alumni have made NHL rosters for the 2016-17 campaign. Goaltender Andrew Hammond has begun his third season with the Ottawa Senators, after recording the most wins to start a career by going 20-1-2 in his first 23 NHL games. The second Falcon alum in the big time is Kevin Bieksa, who is beginning his second season with the Anaheim Ducks after an eight-year stint with the Vancouver Canucks.

>>SEEING 20/20
With a 22-14-6 record over the 2015-16 campaign, the Falcons posted back-to-back 20+ win seasons for the first time in 20 years. With 23 wins during the 2014-15 season, Bowling Green posted the 19th 20-win season in program history, followed by the 20th 20-win season with the 22 victories last year. Historically, Bowling Green has marked five 30-win seasons, although the 2014-15 season was the first time the team won 20 games since the 1995-96 campaign has been on a roll ever since.

>>RETURNING OFFENSE TO THE ICE
Despite losing the leading scorer from last season in Mark Cooper (16 goals), the Falcons return a vast majority of their offensive firepower for this season. Nine of the next top-11 scorers on the Falcons squad return to the ice for the 2016-17 season, including seniors Matt Pohlkamp (25 goals) and Kevin Dufour (36 goals). All told, Bowling Green returns 18 of the 25 players who scored at least one point last season.

>>TAKING OVER TOLEDO
The BGSU hockey team has once again partnered with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye to feature the Falcons at Toledo's Huntington Center. This year, the Falcons will host the RIT on Dec. 30 at 5:07 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the Walleye. BGSU last skated in the Huntington Center on Dec. 30, 2015 against Western Michigan, which resulted in a narrow 1-0 Broncos win. Prior to the event last season, the last time the Falcons played in the Huntington Center was during the 2009-10 season against Michigan. Tickets can be purchased online at BGSUFalcons.com/tickets or through ToledoWalleye.com, by phone at 877-BGSU-TICKET, or in person at the BGSU Ticket Office, located in the Stroh Center.

>>EVAN PIVNICK "THE VOICE" ON THE MIC
All games this season can be heard on the radio by tuning into 88.1 WBGUFM. 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 and WBGUFM.com.

>>LIVE STATS
Live stats for all Bowling Green home games and select road matchups are available on the BGSU website at BGSUFalcons.com. Navigate to the hockey schedule for links to all available ways to follow the action while the Falcons are both at home and on the road.

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Ryan Bednard

Kevin Dufour

Mark Friedman

Frederic Letourneau

Casey Linkenheld

Mitch McLain

Pierre-Luc Mercier

Chris Nell

Matt Pohlkamp

Alec Rauhauser

Adam Smith

Sean Walker

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