Falcons Head North to Face No. 18 Minnesota State in WCHA Action

Bowling Green Falcons (11-12-2, 9-8-1 WCHA)
vs.
No. 18 Minnesota State (13-7-2, 9-5-2 WCHA)

GAME INFORMATION	Friday, Jan. 13, 7:07 p.m. CT Saturday, Jan. 14, 7:07 p.m. CT
LOCATION	Mankato, Minn. (Verizon Wireless Center)
RADIO	Falcon Radio Network (Evan Pivnick)
LIVE STATS	MSUmavericks.com
WATCH ONLINE	WCHA.tv
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	Bowling Green

>>FALCONS ON TAP
Bowling Green will hit the road for one of just two away series of the spring semester as the Falcons take on No. 18 Minnesota State in Mankato, Minn. Puck drops for the pair of WCHA games are set for 7:07 p.m. Central Time, 8:07 p.m. Eastern Time each night.

>>VERSUS MINNESOTA STATE
Since opening competition with Minnesota State on Nov. 28, 2008 with a 2-2 tie, the Falcons have fallen short in the all-time series by a 3-8-3 margin. Most recently, Bowling Green fell to the Mavericks in a 2-1 final on March 18, 2016 in the WCHA Final Five at Van Andel Arena, although the Falcons return the lone goal-scorer in junior Mitch McLain. Senior Matt Pohlkamp assisted on McLain's goal as well and returns to the ice for the Falcons.

Last season overall, Bowling Green and Minnesota State tied 2-2 both games in the BGSU Ice Arena, before splitting the series in Mankato, Minn. The Mavericks took game one in a 5-1 final, before the Falcons rebounded with a 3-1 win on Saturday over the then-No. 18 Mavericks. Both Stephen Baylis and John Schilling return to the lineup for Bowling Green, who each scored against Minnesota State in regular season play last year.

>>UPENDING BEMIDJI STATE
This past weekend as the Falcons hosted Bemidji State, Bowling Green earned its first victory over a ranked team since Feb. 6, 2016 (vs. No. 18 Minnesota State). The Falcons also held the Beavers to just two shots on goal in the third period on Friday evening, making it the fewest number of SOG allowed in a period this season.

>>FRIEDMAN FLYING IN THE LEAGUE
Junior defenseman Mark Friedman currently leads all defensemen in the WCHA with 0.71 points per game, while the 17 points in 24 games ranks him tied for 39th nationally. This past weekend, the Toronto, Ontario native assisted in the lone Falcons goal on Thursday night, prior to marking a team-leading +3 rating on Friday night en route to posting his first game-winning goal of the season. Friedman was on the ice for all four of the Falcons unanswered goals in a 4-2 comeback win over No. 17 Bemidji State.

>>NELL IN NET
In the 3-0 victory against RIT, junior goaltender Chris Nell set a school record with his eighth career shutout.

While between the pipes for Bowling Green, Nell was challenged with 17 shots on goal by the Tigers, and remained steadfast though the 60:00 of action. With his first shutout of the season and eighth in his career, the Green Bay, Wis. native broke a three-way tie for first in the category of total career shutouts. Nell pushed Tyler Masters (1999-03) and current NHL-er Andrew Hammond (2010-13) down to second all-time, who each hold seven career shutouts in their time in the Orange and Brown.

>>DOUBLE POINT D'ANDREA
On Saturday in a 4-2 victory over WCHA leader Bemidji State, junior Brett D'Andrea scored the game-tying goal as the Falcons went on to score four unanswered to win. The Marysville, Mich. native then marked the assist on Mark Friedman's power play goal that gave Bowling Green a 3-2 lead midway through the game. The game marked D'Andrea's fourth multi-point night of the season and fifth in his career.

>>MCLAIN'S SCORING STREAK
After scoring the lone Falcons goal Thursday evening, junior Mitch McLain extended his active scoring streak to three games. The Baxter, Minn. native then extended it further to a four-game goal-scoring streak on Friday evening when he notched the empty-netter late in the third period to put the Falcons up 4-2 over No. 17 Bemidji State. McLain has net a goal in every game since Dec. 17 at Alaska Fairbanks, and the Falcons are now 7-1-1 when the Baxter, Minn. native scores a goal.

McLain also marked his second hat trick in a three week span at Lake Superior State, making him the first WCHA skater with multiple hat tricks in the same season since 2011-12. McLain is also on his way to tying the Bowling Green hockey record for most in a single season. Bob Dobek had five hat tricks in a season in the 1973-74 campaign.

>>RETURNING HOME FOR THE SECOND HALF
Bowling Green had many road series to kick off the season, and didn't have its first full home series until the first weekend of November. In the fall, Bowling Green went 6-6-0 on the road, and 3-4-2 at home although the second half will balance out the home atmosphere for the Falcons.

The second half of the season will present ample home ice advantage for the Falcons, as nine of the remaining 13 regular season matchups will take place at the Slater Family Ice Arena, including all five games of February taking place at home.

>>BEDNARD EARNS FIRST WCHA HONOR
For the first time in his collegiate career, Bowling Green hockey goaltender Ryan Bednard was named WCHA Rookie of the Week. Bednard stopped 17-of-19 shots in the Falcons' 4-2 win over No. 17 Bemidji State Friday evening, including all 12 after the first period as BGSU scored four unanswered for the victory. The Freshman made his sixth appearance in the Bowling Green goal, and is now 4-1 in his last five starts. By making a 17 save performance, Bednard helped lift Bowling Green to its first victory over a ranked team since Feb. 6, 2016 (vs. No. 18 Minnesota State). Bednard now holds a team-leading 2.45 goals against average, as well as a .890 save percentage on the season.

>>CENTURY MEN
Senior Sean Walker played in his 144th career game Friday against BSU. Walker is now the active career leader for the Bowling Green squad, along with fellow Matt Pohlkamp, who has also appeared in 144 games. The pair leads six current Falcons who have 100+ games of collegiate experience, including Pierre-Luc Mercier (142), Kevin Dufour (138) and Mark Friedman (105).

The most recent addition to the century men is junior Mitch McLain, who clocked ice time in his 104th game Friday night. Fellow junior Tyler Spezia tallies 98 career games played, on track to be the next Falcon to hit the century marker.

>>ICE ARENA 50^TH CELEBRATION
The Ice Arena is turning 50 and to honor the historic mark, numerous activities are scheduled and planned for the weekend of Feb. 10-12, 2017. Highlighting the weekend will be the Bowling Green hockey game as they host Mercyhurst in non-conference action on Feb. 11. In addition to current "Voice of the Falcons" Evan Pivnick, legendary NHL broadcaster Mike "Doc" Emrick will join Pivnick on air for the call of the Falcons hockey game.

>>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.

>>EVAN PIVNICK "THE VOICE" ON THE MIC
All games this season can be heard on the radio by tuning into the Falcon Radio Network and can be heard globally on www.bgsufalcons.com and WBGUFM.com. Evan Pivnick recently reached his 100th game mark of calling for the Falcons, and will continue to provide top-notch play-by-play commentary throughout the season. The pregame show will air 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off.

>>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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Stephen Baylis

Ryan Bednard

Brett D'Andrea

Kevin Dufour

Mark Friedman

Mitch McLain

Pierre-Luc Mercier

Matt Pohlkamp

John Schilling

Tyler Spezia

Sean Walker

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