Hockey Opens Conference Competition Against Minnesota State

Bowling Green Falcons (1-2-0, 0-0-0 WCHA)
vs.
Minnesota State Mavericks (2-1-0, 0-0-0 WCHA)

GAME INFORMATION	Friday, Oct. 20, 7:37 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 21, 7:07 p.m. ET
LOCATION	Bowling Green, Ohio (Slater Family Ice Arena)
RADIO	Falcon Radio Network (Ryan Vallon)
LIVE STATS	BGSUFalcons.com
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	Bowling Green
WATCH ONLINE	WCHA.tv

>>FALCONS ON TAP

Bowling Green will open 2017-18 Western Collegiate Hockey Association action by hosting Minnesota State, beginning at 7:37 p.m. at the Slater Family Ice Arena on Friday, Oct. 20.
The Falcons will then host the Mavericks for the series finale on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7:07 p.m.

>>FRIDAY'S PROMOTIONS

Friday's game will be Faculty / Staff Night at the Slater Family Ice Arena, featuring discounted tickets for Bowling Green State University's Faculty and Staff.
Assistant Coach Ty Eigner will be hosting a Chalk Talk for all season ticket holders and Falcon Club members in the Center Ice Lounge of the Slater Family Ice Arena, beginning at 6:50 p.m.

>>SATURDAY'S PROMOTIONS

Saturday will be Pink the Rink night, in which the team will be sporting pink laces, tape and gear. All fans are encouraged to wear pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Saturday's game will also be Parents Night for the Bowling Green hockey program, featuring a recognition at the start of the game for the parents of the Bowling Green hockey team.

>>VERSUS No. 12/14 MINNESOTA STATE

All-time, the Minnesota State holds a 9-4-3 advantage over the Falcons.
Bowling Green most recently faced the Mavericks on Jan. 13-14, 2017 on the road; a series in which the teams split after a 3-2 overtime win by the Falcons on Friday, followed by a 5-3 Minnesota State victory on Saturday.
Very level in recent years, the pair of conference rivals have gone 3-3-2 over the last three seasons.
The Falcons will face off against the Mavericks four times in the next month, as Bowling Green hosts Minnesota State this weekend, before traveling to Mankato, Minn. for a road series on Nov. 17-18.
Minnesota State officially opened its 2017-18 season with the first game of a home-and-home series with St. Cloud State, but was shutout 4-0 when hosting the Huskies. The Mavericks then hit the road to face Boston University and swept the then-No. 2 ranked Terriers by scores of 6-3 and 3-0.

>>START OF SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Four Falcons tallied their first career goals in the first week of the season, including freshmen Cameron Wright, Brandon Kruse, and Connor Ford, in addition to junior Shane Bednard.
Both goaltenders saw time in the net, as sophomore Ryan Bednard took on the pair of road matchups for 119:06, while freshman Eric Dop made his first career start at home.
A native of Lewis Center, Ohio, Dop earned a win in his first career start when he made 27 saves against Big Ten foe Michigan State. The freshman marked just a 1.00 goals against average, in addition to a .964 save percentage to get off to a 1-0-0 record this season.
Three underclassmen led the Falcons offensively in the first week of play, as freshmen Cameron Wright and Max Johnson, as well as sophomore Alec Rauhauser each tally three points through three games played.
Rauhauser and Wright are each on a three-game point streak, while freshman Brandon Kruse is on a two-game point streak heading into the Minnesota State series.
Overall, 13 different Falcons tallied at least one point through the week's three non-conference games, while 10 of the team's 21 points came from rookies on the Bowling Green squad.

>>EYES ON CENTURY MEN

Senior Mitch McLain: 123 games played, 35 goals – 35 assists – 70 points
Senior Tyler Spezia: 117 games played, 24 goals – 32 assists – 56 points
Senior Brett D'Andrea: 93 games played, 14 goals – 21 assists – 35 points
Junior Connor McDonald: 83 games played, 2 goals – 12 assists – 14 points
Junior Chris Pohlkamp: 81 games played, 1 goal – 16 assists – 17 points

>>STARTING OFF ON THE WRIGHT FOOT

After marking his first career goal in his first collegiate game, freshman Cameron Wright was named WCHA Rookie of the week. The Newmarket, Ontario native posted two goals and one assist in the week's three games for 1.00 points per game, in addition to tallying a team-leading nine shots on goal.

>>PRESEASON POLLS PEG BOWLING GREEN

The Bowling Green hockey program was voted to finish fourth overall in both the 2017 Mankato Free Press WCHA Coaches' and the UAHhockey.com WCHA Media preseason polls.
For the upcoming season, the Falcons return nine of 12 forwards who appeared in the WCHA Championship, as well as five of seven defensemen for the 2017-18 campaign, resulting in Bowling Green garnering 90 points in the coaches' preseason poll. The Falcons also had one vote for the top finish on the year in the media preseason poll.
Senior forward Mitch McLain was voted to Preseason All-WCHA First Team honors by both the coaches and media, in addition to receiving votes for Preseason WCHA Player of the Year by the media.
Also receiving votes for Preseason All-WCHA Teams were senior forward Tyler Spezia and sophomore defenseman Alec Rauhauser.

>>2017-18 FALCON HOCKEY OUTLOOK

The Falcons return nine of 12 forwards who appeared in the WCHA Championship, in addition to five of seven defensemen for the 2017-18 campaign. In goal, the Falcons will return Florida Panthers draftee Ryan Bednard, who marked a 2.70 GAA and .882 save percentage.
Bowling Green adds a class of nine freshmen to the 2017-18 squad, including two goaltenders, two defensemen and five forwards.
The Falcons return 2016-17 leading scorer in senior forward Mitch McLain, who tallied 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points and will be leading as the Falcons captain for the 2017-18 campaign. A native of Baxter, Minn., McLain also led the team on the ice with a plus-19 rating.
By registering 30 points last season, the Falcons also return its third highest scorer in senior forward Tyler Spezia, who will serve as the team's assistant captain.
As a unit, the Falcons return four players who tallied 20 or more points last season, and nine players who registered double-digit points.

>>RETURNING FROM A RECORD YEAR

With an overall record of 21-18-2, the Falcons marked its third consecutive 20+ win season and fourth straight winning season. Bowling Green had records of 22-14-6 in the 2015-16 campaign, following a 23-11-5 record in the 2014-15 season. Last year was the 21^st season that the Falcons have tallied a 20-plus win season.
The Falcons went on a seven-game win streak entering the WCHA Championship, the longest of Coach Bergeron's career and longest of the Bowling Green hockey team since the 1987-88 campaign; a year in which the team clinched its last conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
By competing in the WCHA Championship in March, it marked Bowling Green's first conference championship appearance since 1988.
The WCHA saw a total of nine hat tricks on the year, with Bowling Green accounting for four of those. Mitch McLain marked two on the year, posting the two three-goal performances in a three week span.
Leading the Falcons offensively was Mitch McLain. On the season, McLain earned a total of six conference awards (2x POTM, 3x POTW, All-WCHA First Team), in addition to being named a WCHA Scholar-Athlete and to WCHA All-Academic honors.
Bowling Green saw extensive time in the penalty box, and ranked ninth in the nation with a total of 631 minutes for 15.4 minutes per game. The Falcons were one of five WCHA schools in the top ten in the category.
Bowling Green accumulated 10 WCHA Players of the Week, three WCHA Players of the Month, WCHA Championship Third Star of the Game, NCAA Hockey No. 1 Star of the Week, No. 4 spot on SportCenter's Top 10 Plays of the Night over the course of the 2016-17 season.

>>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. Falcon Hockey play-by-play broadcaster Ryan Vallon will begin the pregame show 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off, and can also be heard on WTOD/WQQO-HD2 (Talk Radio 100.7) and WLQR-FM (106.5 The Ticket).

>>WCHA.tv

For as low as 60¢ per game for the 2017-18 season, Bowling Green hockey fans can watch all regular season home games as well as all Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchups live or on-demand with WCHA.tv – the Association's official online streaming platform. WCHA.tv provides fans with high-quality, HD broadcasts (when available from the originating arena) on multiple platforms, including – new for this season – TV-connected devices via custom apps on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.
A WCHA.tv Season Pass would provide Bowling Green hockey fans 32 regular season games, including 14 of the team's 18 road matchups. It would also include all of the Falcons' action in the 2018 WCHA Playoffs. Bowling Green's first official WCHA.tv broadcast will be on Friday, Oct. 13 as the team hosts Michigan State at 7:37 p.m.

>>LIVE STATS

Live stats for all Bowling Green home games and 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.

>>FOLLOW THE FALCONS

Twitter: @BGFalconHockey and @BGathletics
Instagram: @BGFalconHockey and @BGFalcons
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BGSUathletic
Snapchat: bgathletics

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Players Mentioned

Ryan Bednard

Shane Bednard

Brett D'Andrea

Eric Dop

Connor Ford

Max Johnson

Brandon Kruse

Connor McDonald

Mitch McLain

Chris Pohlkamp

Alec Rauhauser

Tyler Spezia

Cameron Wright