Falcons Host Bemidji State For WCHA Tournament This Weekend

#RV Bowling Green Falcons (20-12-6)
vs.
Bemidji State Beavers (16-14-6)
WCHA TOURNAMENT GAME ONE

GAME INFORMATION	Friday, March 11 / 7:07 pm ET
LOCATION	Bowling Green, Ohio (BGSU Ice Arena)
TELEVISION	None
RADIO	WBGU 88.1 FM (Evan Pivnick/Adam Ramos)
LIVE STATS	BGSUFalcons.com
WATCH ONLINE	WCHA.tv
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	BGSU \| Bemidji State \| WCHA

#RV Bowling Green Falcons (20-12-6)
vs.
Bemidji State Beavers (16-14-6)
WCHA TOURNAMENT GAME TWO

GAME INFORMATION	Saturday, March 12 / 7:07 pm ET
LOCATION	Bowling Green, Ohio (BGSU Ice Arena)
TELEVISION	BCSN (Greg Franke)
RADIO	WBGU 88.1 FM (Evan Pivnick/Adam Ramos)
LIVE STATS	BGSUFalcons.com
WATCH ONLINE	WCHA.tv
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	BGSU \| Bemidji State \| WCHA

#RV Bowling Green Falcons (20-12-6)
vs.
Bemidji State Beavers (16-14-6)
WCHA TOURNAMENT GAME THREE (IF NECESSARY)

GAME INFORMATION	Sunday, March 13 / 7:07 pm ET
LOCATION	Bowling Green, Ohio (BGSU Ice Arena)
TELEVISION	BCSN (Greg Franke)
RADIO	WBGU 88.1 FM (Evan Pivnick/Adam Ramos)
LIVE STATS	BGSUFalcons.com
WATCH ONLINE	WCHA.tv
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	BGSU \| Bemidji State \| WCHA

>>THE WEEK AHEAD
The Bowling Green Falcons split their final regular season series last weekend at Alabama-Huntsville. The Falcons won 5-0 on Saturday, and both Brandon Hawkins and Stephen Baylis had six points during the series. BGSU has claimed the No. 3 seed in the 2016 WCHA Tournament and will face No. 6 seed Bemidji State in the first round. Games at the BGSU Ice Arena will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if necessary). Game time for each contest will be 7:07 pm.

>>ABOUT BEMIDJI STATE
* 16-14-6 overall, 11-12-5 WCHA
* Posted 11-5-3 record since last series vs BGSU
* 8-4-2 in WCHA road games with 34-27 goal diff.
* Goalie Michael Bitzer is fourth nationally with six shutouts in 23 starts
* Graeme McCormack leads WCHA with 14 power play points; second in defenseman scoring (20 pts)
* Brendan Harms is team leader with 17 assists and 25 points
* Bemidji State is fourth nationally and leads WCHA in penalty kill (123/138, .891)

>>NOTABLE
* BGSU has four or more goals in five consecutive games for the first time in 19 years
* The Falcons have five or more goals in three straight for the first time since the 1999-2000 season
* Chris Nell completed his school-record-tying seventh career shutout on Saturday at UAH
* Stephen Baylis has ten points in his last five games, including a four-point game Saturday
* Brandon Hawkins has eight points in his last three games, the first for any Falcon since January 2014
* Nell saved 42-of-43 shots in BGSU's sweep at Bemidji State in December
* The Falcons had 15 points by 13 different players in their 4-1 and 2-0 wins at Bemidji State

>>WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?
"It's a goal of ours (to play at home in the playoffs), so we achieved a goal. But we've won series on the road, so it doesn't guarantee anything. Bemidji is a very skilled team. Michael Bitzer is the best goalie in this league and their forward group plays the game fast and plays the game north. There's no shortage of challenges from Bemidji." -- BGSU Head Coach Chris Bergeron

>>THE WCHA TOURNAMENT
The Bowling Green Falcons completed the WCHA season with a 16-7-5 record and 37 points, two behind co-champions Michigan Tech and Minnesota State. The Falcons will be the No. 3 seed in the WCHA Tournament and will host No. 6 Bemidji State in a best two-out-of-three series in the opening round. The advancing teams will be re-seeded prior to the WCHA Final Five. Should BGSU advance, they could play any of four teams: Minnesota State, Alaska, Ferris State or Northern Michigan.

>>PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE
As Bowling Green enters the 2016 WCHA Tournament, playoff experience is plentiful on the squad. Fifteen players on the current roster appeared in last year's tournament, while seven have played in each of BGSU's first two WCHA postseason runs. The players who accounted for all nine goals in last year's tournament have returned for this year's journey, including Tyler Spezia and Brandon Hawkins, who scored a pair of goals each in the sweep of Northern Michigan.

>>SENIOR NIGHT
The five members of Bowling Green's senior class will get one final chance to skate at the BGSU Ice Arena this weekend. They will also have the opportunity to lay claim to a playoff series win in each year of their Falcon careers. Mark Cooper, Jose Delgadillo, Ben Murphy, Brent Tate and Tommy Burke have all made important contributions to BGSU this season. Last weekend, they combined for six assists on the Falcons' ten goals at Alabama-Huntsville. Overall, they have contributed 22 goals, 51 points, 46 blocks and a +19 on-ice rating, while Burke is 4-3-0 with a 2.88 goals against average and a .896 save percentage.

>>LUCKY NUMBER 13
Stephen Baylis' first take with the Falcons has become a huge success, particularly as the season has worn on. He scored his first career point on Dec. 4 against Minnesota State and now has 18 in 32 career games. However, he has posted ten of those 18 during his current five-game point streak. Against Alabama-Huntsville last weekend, Baylis had two power play goals and assisted on a third. He earned a goal and an assist on Friday, then doubled each of those totals in a four-point effort during Saturday's 5-0 victory. That was BGSU's second four-point game of the season and only the third career among all active Falcons. He is now fifth on the team with eight goals, and he is tied for third among WCHA rookies with 18 points. He has earned the WCHA's Rookie of the Week honor in each of the past two weeks.

>>ROAD WARRIORS
BGSU went 11-6-4 away from the BGSU Ice Arena in 2014-15. The team had not won more than 11 games away from home since the 1987-88 team posted 16 victories. The Falcons finished 10-8-1 on the road in 2015-16 and earned a double-digit road win total in consecutive years for the first time since the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons.

>>WALK THIS WAY
Junior defenseman Sean Walker has played a key role for Bowling Green in recent weeks. He put together a career-long six-game points streak, which which included a goal and an assist Friday in Huntsville. When that ended on Saturday, he made two blocks in the 5-0 victory. Walker owns three goals and nine assists in his last 12 contests, and the Falcons are now 4-0-0 when he scores a goal. He is also one of the Falcons' leaders with a +11 on-ice rating. Walker leads all WCHA defensemen with 17 assists and 21 points.

>>THE BIG ORANGE (AND BROWN) MACHINE
Bowling Green's offensive machine is performing at a level not seen in many years. The Falcons have scored five or more goals in three consecutive games and four or more in each of the last five. The five-game streak with four or more goals is the most since October 1996, when BGSU blasted Toronto, Ohio State, Boston College and Lake Superior State for 38 goals in a six-game span. The three-game streak of five or more goals is the most since October 1999 against Western Michigan and Alaska.

>>MARKED MAN
Bowling Green senior forward Mark Cooper is finishing his season in style. In his final career regular season series, he had four assists against Alabama-Huntsville. In BGSU's 5-0 win on Saturday, Cooper had his first three-point game of the season and the first three-assist game of his career. The first came on Brett D'Andrea's game-winning power play goal in the first period. He has points in a career-best five straight games and nine of his last 13. Cooper has five goals and ten assists in that time and leads Bowling Green this season with 14 goals and 28 points. Among WCHA players, Cooper's 14 goals are tied for fourth, and his points are tied for sixth.

>>NELL AND VOID
Sophomore goalie Chris Nell has given up just 61 goals in 32 starts (16-9-6) this season. He has allowed two or fewer in 23 of the 32. A WCHA Player of the Year contender, Nell leads the WCHA with a .930 save percentage and is second in goals against average (1.90). He is second in shutouts (four) and is third in winning percentage (.613). Nationally, Nell ranks eighth in goals against average and 13th in save percentage. In just 44 career starts, Nell has earned seven shutouts and is now tied with Tyler Masters (1999-03) and Andrew Hammond (2010-13) for the most career shutouts in program history.

>>D'ANDREA IS D'LIGHTFUL
Sophomore forward Brett D'Andrea has helped BGSU's offense blossom during the last three weeks. He has earned five points in his last five games, nearly doubling his season total. His current three-game point streak is a career-best. D'Andrea helped the Falcons with two assists on Friday, then lit the lamp for his first game-winning goal of the season during Saturday's 5-0 win at Alabama-Huntsville.

>>MAGNIFICENT MITCH MCLAIN
Sophomore forward Mitch McLain was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 29 after providing an offensive spark for Bowling Green in both games of their weekend sweep of Ferris State (Feb. 26-27). McLain earned his first career two goal game, his first career four point weekend and his first multi-point game of the season against the Bulldogs. Last weekend against Alabama-Huntsville, McLain scored the lead assist on BGSU's second goal and blocked two shots during BGSU's 5-0 victory.

>>CENTURY MEN
Bowling Green now has seven players with over 100 career games. The group is led by seniors Mark Cooper (154 games) and Ben Murphy (143), while juniors Matt Pohlkamp (116), Sean Walker (115) and Pierre-Luc Mercier (113) joined the club earlier this season. Senior Brent Tate (113) added his name to the list on Jan. 16 against Miami. Junior Kevin Dufour (109 games) eclipsed the century mark on Friday, Jan. 29 against Michigan Tech. These players have combined for 50 goals and 126 points this season.

>>CENTURY MAN, PART TWO
When Bowling Green defeated Alabama-Huntsville 5-0 on Saturday, head coach Chris Bergeron became the fourth coach in Bowling Green history to reach 100 wins. He joins Jerry York (342 wins), Ron Mason (160) and Buddy Powers (135). Powers was the last to reach the century mark, when his Falcons defeated Ohio State 3-0 on Jan. 14, 2000. Bergeron is 61-38-17 since the start of the 2013-14 season.

>>HAWK=FALCON
Sophomore forward Brandon Hawkins is heating up at just the right time. He torched Alabama-Huntsville for a goal and two assists in each of the Falcons' two games in Alabama last weekend. On Friday, he assisted on a game-tying goal, then scored to give BGSU a 4-3 lead. He followed by scoring or assisting on the Falcons' final three goals on Saturday. He now has three straight multi-point games for the second time this season and has eight points in that span. That is the most in three games by a BGSU player since Dan DeSalvo in January, 2014. Previously, Hawkins lit up Alaska Anchorage for three goals and five points on Jan. 21-22 and earned his first career WCHA Offensive Player of the Week honor. He followed that with another goal and two points on Jan. 29 against Michigan Tech. Hawkins has nine goals and 19 points in his last 18 games. He is third on the team with 12 goals and eighth in the WCHA with 20 points.

>>FANTASTIC FRESHMEN
The Falcons have eight freshmen, and the group has contributed heavily to BGSU's success this season. All of them have multiple points this season, and four are ranked among the top 20 rookie scorers in the WCHA. Stephen Baylis has ten points in his last five games and is now BGSU's leading rookie scorer and third in the WCHA with 18 points. Bowling Green freshmen have poured in 13 goals and 39 points in 18 games since the beginning of January, and they have combined for 18 goals and 62 points overall.

>>DEFENSE, DEFENSE
Bowling Green has a chance to break the program record for fewest goals allowed in a season. The 1975-76 team allowed a program-low 90 goals in 32 games. This year, the Falcons have given up just 83 goals through the first 38 contests. BGSU could play as many as three games this weekend and is on pace to remain under 90 goals allowed through those contests.

>>MORE DEFENSE
This season, BGSU held opponents to three or fewer goals in 21 consecutive games, a streak which ended on Jan. 29 against Michigan Tech. The 21-game streak is a school record, as the Falcons broke the previous mark of 14 in their 6-3 win on Jan. 2 against Clarkson. That 14-game stretch occurred during the 2012-13 season. This string of excellence has helped BGSU achieve a 2.18 goals against average, which would shatter the school record (2.39). In the 41 years of Falcon hockey prior to the arrival of Chris Bergeron, BGSU had six seasons with a 3.00 or better goals against average. Bergeron's teams have already matched that total in his six seasons, and his defenses own four of the top five seasons for goals against average in school history.

>>SWEEPING UP THE COMPETITION
Bowling Green earned its sixth sweep of the 2015-16 season with a pair of victories over Ferris State last weekend. In addition to the Bulldogs, the Falcons have taken the brooms to Ohio State, Alabama-Huntsville, Northern Michigan, Bemidji State and Alaska-Anchorage. These six sweeps are the most in a single season for BGSU in 26 years (1989-90). The last Falcon team to have more was the 1987-88 bunch, who earned eight.

>>THE MADHOUSE ON MERCER
Bowling Green finished the regular season home schedule with a 10-4-5 record overall and 8-1-5 in the WCHA. That is the best record in conference games at the BGSU Ice Arena since the 1994-95 team went 11-1-1 in the CCHA. The Falcons scored 46 goals in those games and averaged 3.29 per contest, while they allowed only 32.

>>FLIGHT ATTENDANCE
More than 3,000 fans have piled into the BGSU Ice Arena in five of the last seven home games, including an amazing 4,613 on Saturday against Ferris State. That raises the average attendance this year to 2,670 fans, the most since the 2004-05 season. Last year, BGSU averaged 2,601 fans. The attendance on Saturday night was a season high, eclipsing the 4,025 fans that watched the Falcons host Miami on Friday, Feb. 12. Overall, Bowling Green has welcomed 50,735 fans in 2015-16, the most in one season since 52,126 in 1998-99.

>>SPEZIA STEPPING UP
Sophomore forward Tyler Spezia has ratcheted up his play as the playoffs approach. Three weeks ago at Alaska, Spezia scored a goal and an assist as the Falcons split the series. He followed with three points against Ferris State. Last weekend at Alabama-Huntsville, Spezia lit the lamp on Friday and assisted on a goal during Saturday's 5-0 win. Spezia's six-game point streak is a career-best, and he is now fourth on the team with ten goals.

>>SEEING 20-20
With a win over Alabama Huntsville Saturday, Bowling Green recorded the 20th 20-win season in program history, a mark that includes five 30-win campaigns. Combined with the team's 23 wins a year ago, it is the first consecutive 20-win seasons since the 1994-95 and 1995-96 years.

>>WCHA SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
On Feb. 18, the WCHA named the recipients of the 2015-16 WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award. Overall, 123 student-athletes were recognized, and that group included three members of the BGSU hockey team. Junior goalie Tomas Scholl received the award for the second time. Junior forward Matt Pohlkamp and sophomore forward Jakob Reichert were first-time honorees. In order to receive the award, student-athletes must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current year and must have a 3.50 GPA (4.0 scale) for the previous two semesters (or three quarters). An athlete may also qualify if his GPA is at least 3.50 for all terms at his or her present institution.

>>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 and WBGUFM.com.

>>WCHA.TV IS LIVE
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 BGSU home games are available on the BGSU website at BGSUFalcons.com. Navigate to the hockey schedule for links to all available ways to follow the action.

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Stephen Baylis

Tommy Burke

Mark Cooper

Brett D'Andrea

Jose Delgadillo

Dan DeSalvo

Kevin Dufour

Brandon Hawkins

Mitch McLain

Pierre-Luc Mercier

Ben Murphy

Chris Nell

Matt Pohlkamp

Jakob Reichert

Tyler Spezia

Brent Tate

Sean Walker

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