Hockey Returns to the Ice Arena by Hosting Lake Superior State

Friday, November 10

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:37PM

Bowling Green State University

Lake Superior State

November 07, 2017 | Ice Hockey

By: Jenna Jorgensen (Assistant Director of Athletic Communications)

Bowling Green Falcons (4-3-2, 3-1-2 WCHA)
vs.
Lake Superior State (2-6-2, 1-2-1 WCHA)

GAME INFORMATION	Friday, Nov. 10, 7:37 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 11, 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

The Bowling Green hockey program will return home for more Western Collegiate Hockey Association action by hosting Lake Superior State this weekend. The Falcons will open the series beginning on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7:37 p.m., followed by Saturday, Nov. 10, at 7:07 p.m.

>>FRIDAY'S PROMOTIONS

Friday's game will serve as Military Appreciation Day, while all current and former service members will receive free admission for both games this weekend.
All season ticket holders and Falcon Club members are invited to a Chalk Talk session hosted by assistant coach Barry Schutte, beginning at 6:50 p.m. in the Center Ice Lounge at the Slater Family Ice Arena.

>>SATURDAY'S PROMOTIONS

Saturday's game will be Future Falcon Kids Club Day, while the ticket promotion for veterans and active service members applies.
The student section theme is USA, in honor of Veteran's Day.

>>VERSUS LAKE SUPERIOR STATE

All-time, Bowling Green holds the advantage over Lake Superior State by a 81-73-12 margin.
A narrow opponent for the Falcons in recent years, the pair of conference rivals have split the regular season series the last three seasons, and have gone 5-5-0 over the last five years.
Most recently, the Falcons earned a 5-2 win over the Lakers on the road on Dec. 3, 2016, a game in which Mitch McLain earned his second career hat trick.
Lake Superior State is off to a 2-6-2 start on the year, including a 1-2-1 mark in WCHA play. The Lakers opened its season with a 5-3 win over Northern Michigan, but then went on a seven game winless streak before earning a 3-2 overtime win against Alaska Anchorage last Friday.

>>ABOUT LAST WEEKEND

On Friday evening, junior John Schilling tallied both of the Falcons goals on the power play, marking his first career multi-goal game, and stood as his third multi-point performance of his career. Schilling's second goal lifted the Falcons to a 2-1 lead, where his game-winning goal was the second of the Oswego, Ill. native's time with the Bowling Green program.
Defensively, junior Adam Smith marked a career-high of five blocked shots, in addition to earning one shot on goal on Friday night against foe Michigan Tech
The 2-1 Bowling Green victory marked the Falcons first win over Michigan Tech since Nov. 14, 2015, a 3-2 road win.
Every official goal for the Falcons this weekend was scored with the man advantage. After going 2-for-4 on the power play Friday, Bowling Green went 2-for-7 on Saturday as they capitalized on power play opportunities.
The pair of conference foes went to a sudden death shootout on Saturday after a 2-2 tie. The teams went through five shooters before Baylis' top shelf goal put the Falcons up against Michigan Tech. Sophomore goaltender Ryan Bednard held off a sixth Husky for the potential tying shootout attempt, to give the Falcons the extra point advantage for WCHA standings.
With the assist on McLain's goal midway through the game, Wright earned his second multi-point game of the season, and now tallies a team-leading nine points by four goals and five assists through nine games played.
For the second weekend in a row, the Falcons went to 3x3 overtime action and a shootout to determine a conference winner. This was Bowling Green's third WCHA tie under the current rules, after the Falcons earned the extra point with a second-overtime victory over Alaska Anchorage last season. After its first ever WCHA shootout against Alaska last Saturday, it marks the second consecutive weekend featuring the sudden death shootout, with the Falcons splitting the results.

>>STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

Five Falcons have now tallied their first career goals thus far in the season, most recently being freshman Max Johnson, who put the Falcons up 4-0 over Minnesota State on the power play. Other Falcons who have tallied their first career goals this season include freshmen Cameron Wright, Brandon Kruse, and Connor Ford, in addition to junior Shane Bednard.
Both goaltenders are having strong performances in the net, as both are ranked in the top-20 in the nation in both goals against average and save percentage. Freshman Eric Dop sits eighth in the country with a 1.75 goals against average, while sophomore Ryan Bednard ranks 19th by averaging 2.14 goals against. Additionally, Dop is also ranked sixth nationally with a save percentage of .936, while Bednard trails with a .924 save percentage to sit 20th in the country.
As he scored an empty net goal against Minnesota State (Oct. 21) to make it a 5-2 victory for the Falcons, senior Brett D'Andrea earned his 15 career goal in the Orange and Brown. The Falcons are undefeated when the Marysville, Mich. native scores, as they hold a 13-0-2 all-time record when he does.
All averaging over 0.56 points per game, Bowling Green features three players who rank in the Top-50 nationally in points per game by freshmen. In addition to freshman Cameron Wright's 1.00 points per game to sit ninth overall, Max Johnson ranks 30th overall with a 0.67 points per game average, while Brandon Kruse's 0.56 puts him in a tie for 43rd overall in Division I hockey.
Defensively, sophomore Alec Rauhauser also averages 0.78 points per game, which ranks him 32nd in the nation for all defensemen, a jump from 45th last week, as well as fourth overall in the WCHA. The Bismarck, N.D. native has seven points through nine games played by one goal and six assists, and is currently on a two-game point streak.
Standing out on the scoresheet was the Falcons underclassmen, who tallied seven of the Falcons nine points on the weekend, while nine different players earned at least one point in the WCHA series against Michigan Tech.

>>EYES ON CENTURY MEN

Senior Mitch McLain: 129 games played, 37 goals – 36 assists – 73 points
Senior Tyler Spezia: 119 games played, 24 goals – 32 assists – 56 points
Senior Brett D'Andrea: 99 games played, 15 goals – 22 assists – 37 points
Junior Connor McDonald: 89 games played, 2 goals – 12 assists – 14 points
Junior Chris Pohlkamp: 83 games played, 1 goal – 16 assists – 17 points
Junior John Schilling: 84 games played, 11 goals – 14 assists – 25 points
Junior Stephen Baylis: 83 games played, 14 goals – 26 assists – 40 points

>>ON OUR RADAR

Freshman goaltender Eric Dop earned his first career win in his first career start between the pipes when he posted 27 saves in the 4-1 victory over Michigan State (Oct. 13).
The Lewis Center, Ohio native currently sits eighth overall in the country with a 1.75 goals against average, in addition to being ranked sixth nationally with a save percentage of .936.
Dop earned the first WCHA weekly award of his career when he was named WCHA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 30 for his efforts against Alaska. Dop posted his second win of the season versus the Nanooks (Oct. 27) when he made 25 saves, including a game-high of 14 in the third period. Dop only allowed one goal against in the 2-1 win and kept the Nanooks scoreless on the power play through three chances with the man advantage that generated four shots on goal.
This past weekend, Dop posted a .955 save percentage in a 2-1 win at Michigan Tech on Friday evening, a game in which he earned 21 saves, including a game-high of nine in the narrow third period to keep the Falcons ahead and earn a 2-1 win in regulation. The effort was worthy of earning his second WCHA Rookie of the Week honors of the season, and marked Dop's third win in four starts with the Falcons.

>>STARTING OFF ON THE WRIGHT FOOT

Freshman Cameron Wright is making an early offensive impact, as he leads the Bowling Green squad with four goals and five assists for nine points, and to average 1.00 points per game, which ranks ninth overall in Division I Men's Hockey for rookie players. His 1.00 points per game average also leads the freshman class in the WCHA.
On his way to earning nine points through nine games played, Wright went on a five-game point streak, from Oct. 10-21.
After marking his first career goal in his first collegiate game, Wright was named WCHA Rookie of the week. The Newmarket, Ontario native posted two goals and one assist in the first week's three games, in addition to tallying a team-leading nine shots on goal.
Wright earned his first career multi-point game when he notched two assists in the Falcons 5-2 victory over then-No. 12 Minnesota State on Saturday night, as he had a hand in fellow freshman Max Johnson's first career goal to put the Falcons up 4-0 over the Mavericks. Wright then earned his second multi-point game in the 2-2 tie at Michigan Tech this past weekend.

>>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