Hockey Continues Conference Road Action by Facing Alabama Huntsville

Bowling Green Falcons (4-7-1, 3-3-0 WCHA)
vs.
Alabama Huntsville Chargers (4-8-2, 4-4-2 WCHA)

GAME INFORMATION	Friday, Nov. 18, 7:07 p.m. CT Saturday, Nov. 19, 7:07 p.m. CT
LOCATION	Huntsville, Ala. (Von Braun Center)
RADIO	WBGU 88.1 FM (Evan Pivnick)
LIVE STATS	UAHChargers.com
WATCH ONLINE	WCHA.tv
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	Bowling Green

>>FALCONS ON TAP
Bowling Green will continue with road action this week as they face Alabama Huntsville this Friday and Saturday. Both Western Collegiate Hockey Association games are set for a 7:07 p.m. central time, 8:07 p.m. eastern time, puck drop.

>>SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
The Chargers came out strong in the first series of the season, sweeping then-No. 20 Ferris State 2-1 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday in Big Rapids, Mich. Alabama Huntsville then went on an eight game winless streak, before sweeping Alaska Anchorage on the road by marks of 5-2 and 3-2 on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively. Ultimately, the Chargers have tallied an overall record of 4-8-2, and have gone 4-4-2 in WCHA action. On the season, Alabama Huntsville hold an average of 2.10 goals per game and 24.3 shots per game. In his fourth season at the helm of the Alabama Huntsville program is head coach Mike Corbett. In his time with the Chargers, Coach Corbett brought the team to its first berth to the WCHA playoffs through the 2014-15 campaign, and followed it up with a 2015-16 record of 7-21-6 overall.

Stepping up and leading the Chargers is junior Max McHugh, who has tallied five goals and four assists for nine points through 14 games played. With a team-leading 11 points in 14 games, junior Josh Kestner tops the Chargers with seven assists on the year. In goal, junior Jordan Uhelski has accounted for 506:53 minutes of play with a 3.08 goals against average and .898 save percentage, although senior Carmine Guerriero saw time for 58:51 minutes in one start thus far with 2.04 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. Also seeing time in goal is senior Matt Larose, who tallies 286:41 minutes of play with a save percentage of .860.

>>VERSUS ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE
All-time, Bowling Green holds a 16-4-1 advantage over Alabama Huntsville. Since joining the WCHA, the Falcons have gone 10-2 over the Chargers, while winning nine of the last 10 games in which the conference foes have faced off. Last season, Bowling Green swept Alabama Huntsville in November by a combined score of 7-5, while in March the team's split when the Chargers won on Friday in a 7-5 final. The Falcons rebounded on Saturday to take the game in a 5-0 shutout. In the Saturday night win, three returning Falcons scored, including junior Brett D'Andrea, sophomore John Schilling and sophomore Stephen Baylis. A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Baylis had a career-high four point night with two goals and two assists on the Chargers.

>>ROAD SWEEP REDEMPTION
With the road sweep of Northern Michigan this past weekend, it was the first time since the team was at Bemidji State Dec. 11-12, 2015 that the Falcons have marked two consecutive wins over the home team.

>>PLAYER OF THE WEEK PERFORMANCE
Senior Kevin Dufour was awarded WCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after tallying goals in both games at Northern Michigan this past weekend. Dufour accounted for the game-winning goal in Friday's 5-1 win, as well as Bowling Green's third goal in the 5-3 win on Saturday. Collectively, Dufour marked two goals, five shots on goal, one blocked shot and a +2 rating on the weekend. With his help, the Falcons earned its first sweep of the season, while Dufour was acknowledged with his third Player of the Week award of his career.

>>POINTS BY POHLKAMP
Senior Matt Pohlkamp has had four multi-point games this season, including a pair of assists against Western Michigan, followed by two goals at home against Ohio State, as well as a goal and an assist against Ferris State. Most recently, Pohlkamp scored in back-to-back games at Northern Michigan to help the Falcons to its first sweep of the season by a 10-4 combined score. With the quad of multi-point performances, Pohlkamp is tied for first in the conference with 0.33 power play goals per game, is third in the WCHA with 0.50 goals per game, and is tied for third with his two game-winning goals. Nationally, Pohlkamp is also tied for second in the NCAA with is 0.33 power play goals per game, as well as tied for eighth with the game-winners. Four of the six Pohlkamp goals this season have come on the power play as well.

>>MERCIER JOINS THE 60 POINT CLUB
Senior Pierre-Luc Mercier scored for two times in three games through the Miami series with a power play rebound shot that found the top shelf Saturday night against the RedHawks. Mercier's goal was his 18th of his career, and 60th collegiate point, making him the fourth active Falcon to mark 60 or more career points (M. Pohlkamp, 75; ; Dufour, 64; Walker, 63). Since then, the Montreal, Quebec native had a multipoint night Friday at Northern Michigan, where he tacked on two more assists for a career-total of 62 points.

>>MOOSE MCLAIN
Junior Mitch McLain started out the season by scoring two goals in two games, one being his third career shorthanded goal. Having not slowed down, the Baxter, Minn. native now boasts seven points in the last five games as well, and tops the Falcons with 11 points in his 11 games played this season. McLain also leads the Bowling Green squad with a +5 ranking, and sits tied for fourth overall in the WCHA with 1.00 points per game average. McLain also pops up in the WCHA statistical rankings as he is fifth overall with 0.64 assists per game, and tied for fifth with an 0.09 average in short-handed goals.

>>MULTI-POINT PERFORMANCES
Friday night's 5-1 win over Northern Michigan featured four players who marked multiple points, including Brett D'Andrea, Pierre-Luc Mercier, Stephen Baylis and Matt Pohlkamp. D'Andrea scored for the second time this season to put the Falcons up 4-1 and assisted in Sean Walker's game-opening goal to put the Falcons up 1-0.

Senior Pohlkamp scored his fifth goal of the season before assisting on Mitch McLain's goal to make it a 5-1 final, while both Mercier and Baylis tallied a pair of assists on the night to compose four Falcons who marked multiple points on the night.

>>FRESH YET FIERCE
Three Falcon freshmen have notched their first career goals this year, including Frederic Letourneau, Alec Rauhauser and now Lukas Craggs. Letourneau, who has seen action in 11 games thus far, marked his first collegiate goal against then-No. 19 Ohio State. The Montreal, Quebec native had a two 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 seven points on the season and has seen ice time in 11 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. Rauhauser also had a three-point performance at home against Ferris State with a goal and two assists.

Craggs was the lone goal-scorer for the Falcons on Saturday night in the 3-1 loss against Ferris State. The Elmhurst, Ill. native tied up the game at 1-1 midway through the second period as he was able to tuck in the puck on the rebound.

Transfer Matt Meier scored his first goal as a Falcon on Saturday night at Northern Michigan. The goal came just 2:40 into the game and put Bowling Green up 1-0 to the Wildcats. Fellow rookie Letourneau also assisted on the game-opening goal

>>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 in back-to-back games. The Falcons had averaged 16.3 penalty minutes per game heading into the Miami series, although it significantly dropped to an average of 14.3 minutes after the last two series. A new season-low for the Falcons, Bowling Green only committed three infractions at Northern Michigan on Nov. 12 and successfully killed two of them. Overall, the Falcons have gone 10/79 on the power play, and have killed 55/74 penalties.

>>CENTURY MEN
Senior Matt Pohlkamp played in his 132nd career game Saturday at Northern Michigan. 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 (131), Pierre-Luc Mercier (129), and Kevin Dufour (125).

Nearing the 100 game mark is junior Mark Friedman, who clocks ice time in 92 career games, as well as junior Mitch McLain, who has appeared in 91 career games.

>>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 total of five points. It was the first time in his career that Walker has scored in three consecutive games. Most recently, the Keswick, Ont. native marked his fourth goal of the season in the 5-1 win over Northern Michigan. A non-traditional scorer, Walker now has four goals, three assists and seven points in 12 games played, composed of one short-handed goal and three power play goals.

>>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.

>>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.

>>WCHA.tv
In partnership with industry leader Stretch Internet, WCHA.tv will allow fans to watch all 10 league teams and up to 196 games during the 2015-16 season on just about any device – computer, tablet, phone and many Smart TVs – with a responsive experience customized for that particular medium. High-quality HD streams, when available from the originating arena, will be viewable in multiple screen layout options (including picture-in-picture, multi-view format to watch up to four games simultaneously and full-screen video). For more information, visit WCHA.tv.

>>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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