Hockey Jets Off to Alaska for Critical WCHA Matchup

No. 14 Bowling Green Falcons (17-9-6, 14-5-5-2 WCHA)
vs.
Alaska Anchorage (2-24-4, 2-19-3-3 WCHA)

GAME INFORMATION	Thursday, Feb. 15, 11:07 p.m. ET Friday, Feb. 16, 11:07 p.m. ET
LOCATION	Anchorage, Alaska (Sullivan Arena)
RADIO	Falcon Radio Network (Ryan Vallon)
LIVE STATS	CollegeHockeyStats.net
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	Bowling Green
WATCH ONLINE	WCHA.tv

>>FALCONS ON TAP

The Bowling Green hockey program will take to the skies this week as they fly to Anchorage, Alaska for a critical WCHA matchup. The Falcons and Seawolves will face off on Thursday, Feb. 15 and Friday, Feb. 16 in 11:07 p.m. Eastern, 7:07 p.m. local time puck drops.

>>VERSUS ALASKA ANCHORAGE

All-time, the Falcons hold an 11-3-2 advantage over the Seawolves, including a 9-3-2 mark since joining the WCHA.
The Falcons are on a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) against Alaska Anchorage by outscoring the Seawolves in a combined total of 29-11.
Last month when Bowling Green hosted the Seawolves, the Falcons picked up the weekend sweep when a 6-2 win on Friday was followed by a 3-2 victory on Saturday, while over the two games Bowling Green outshot UAA by a 74-43 margin.
On Friday night, the Falcons found the back of the net four times in the opening period of play, while five Falcons recorded a multi-point night. Junior defenseman Adam Smith tallied a career-high three point night by a goal and two assists in his season point debut. For a complete recap of the 6-2 win, click HERE.
To seal the sweep, Bowling Green picked up a 3-2 win on Saturday evening, where junior defenseman Chris Pohlkamp scored his second career goal and first since Oct. 31, 2015. While freshman Brandon Kruse was named to WCHA Rookie of the Week honors after a three-point night, Casey Linkenheld earned his second career point, and second against UAA in the win. For a complete recap of the 3-2 victory, click HERE.
By its overall record of 2-24-4 and WCHA record of 2-19-3-3, Alaska Anchorage sits 10th in the conference. Its pair of wins have come by Saturday night victories against Lake Superior State 4-1 (Nov. 4) and Alabama Huntsville 2-1 (Jan. 13).
Currently on a six-game losing streak, the Seawolves were most recently swept by Lake Superior State at home by narrow scores of 3-2 (OT) and 2-1 this past weekend.

>>NATIONALLY RANKED

2nd: Alec Rauhauser – Defenseman Points per Game (0.97)
T-8th: Stephen Baylis – Shorthanded Goals (2)
T-8th: Mitch McLain – Shorthanded Goals (2)
11th: Brandon Kruse – Freshman Points per Game (0.81)
13th: Ryan Bednard – Winning Percentage (.632)
T-14th: Cameron Wright – Freshman Points per Game (0.79)
15th: Eric Dop – Winning Percentage (.615)
T-18th: Alec Rauhauser – Assists per Game (0.75)
20th: Ryan Bednard – Goals Against Average (2.34)
T-20th: Frederic Letourneau – Game-Winning Goals (3)
21st: Max Johnson – Freshman Points per Game (0.72)
T-23rd: Cameron Wright – Power Play Goals (6)
T-23rd: Max Johnson – Power Play Goals (6)
33rd: Ryan Bednard – Save Percentage (.909)
34th: Eric Dop – Goals Against Average (2.64)
47th: Alec Rauhauser – Points per Game (0.97)

>>LAST TIME OUT

Before having the week off from competition, the Falcons split with Michigan Tech in WCHA play after soaring to a 7-2 victory on Friday, before dropping a 4-0 final on Saturday.
On Friday, 14 different Falcons appeared on the box score, including five freshmen who combined for two goals and six assists, the most of any class.
Max Johnson recorded a career-high multi-point night as he posted a goal and two assists for three points, and has now highlighted the box score in 17 games this season. With the goal, Johnson also earned a career-best five-game scoring streak, which is the longest of a Bowling Green player this season.
Jacob Dalton and Connor Ford both also notched multiple points in the win as they each accounted for a goal and an assist.
Bowling Green went perfect on the penalty kill on Friday evening, burning all 10 on the night, ultimately killing 15 of 16 on the weekend, after allowing just one goal against on a 5:00 major penalty in Saturday night's game.
The Falcons converted on two of five chances with the man advantage on Friday, and went 2-for-13 on the weekend.
Between the pipes, sophomore goaltender Ryan Bednard stopped 27 of 29 shots that came his way on Friday, and finished the weekend with 50 saves and six goals against.

>>STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

Of the Falcons 32 games thus far, a freshman has appeared on the box score with a point in 30 of them. Similarly, sophomore defenseman Alec Rauhauser has recorded a point in 22 of the 32 games on the season.
The Falcons tallied 40 shots on goal against the Seawolves Saturday night, making them now 3-0-0 when notching 40 shots on goal or more against its opponent.
Additionally, the Falcons remain undefeated when scoring four or more goals (10-0-0), as well as when they are leading after two periods (14-0-4).
Last month against Alaska Anchorage, junior Adam Smith looked to tally his first point of the season and left with a career-high three-point performance. He did so with his assist on Johnson's goal before adding a goal and another assist in his season point debut. He also led the team with six shots on goal and a plus-4 rating on the ice in the win.
Getting the Falcons on the board on Saturday night against UAA was junior Chris Pohlkamp as he scored his second career goal and first since Oct. 31, 2015. Pohlkamp is the 18th different player to score a goal for the Falcons during the 2017-18 season, while both of his career goals have come against the Seawolves.
After earning two WCHA Rookie of the Week honors in January, freshman Brandon Kruse was named to his first WCHA monthly award in Rookie of the Month after tallying 11 points in 10 games played. On the season, Kruse now tallies six goals and 20 assists for 26 points on the year – the second most of the Bowling Green squad.
With the opening goal in Friday's 7-2 win over Michigan Tech, senior Mitch McLain completed a career-long 10-game point streak, where he held 13 points (six goals, seven assists). McLain looks to join the 100 point club soon, as he carries 93 points in his 152 career games played.
In Sunday's 3-0 win at Ferris State (Jan. 7), sophomore goaltender Ryan Bednard earned his second career shutout with 27 saves, including a game-high of 12 in the opening period of play. It marked the first shutout for the Falcons since Feb. 25, 2017 (vs. Alabama Huntsville) and first shutout on the road since March 5, 2016 (at Alabama Huntsville).
After scoring his team-leading sixth career shorthanded goal, senior Mitch McLain has officially joined the Bowling Green hockey record book and sits tied for fifth in program history.
With 44 shots on goal at Ferris State (Feb. 6), the Bowling Green hockey program set a new season-high on the year. The mark included a season-best of 21 shots on goal in the third period alone, to shatter its previous season-high of 42 (vs. Alabama Huntsville, Dec. 9).
The Falcons momentum stems from a big tournament appearance, as they earned its first Great Lakes Invitational championship title in program history. In its first year at Little Caesar's Arena, three Falcons were named to the All-Tournament Team in Lukas Craggs, Alec Rauhauser and Eric Dop. Additionally, Craggs became the Falcons first GLI MVP in program history after his five points through two games played.
In the GLI, Bowling Green opened the tournament with a 6-4 win over Michigan, making it the Falcons second win over a Big Ten team this season, after downing Michigan State at home 4-2 (Oct. 13). It was also the first win over Michigan since Jan. 8, 2013, and the Falcons are now on a two-game win streak against the Wolverines. It was also the first win against Michigan at a neutral site in program history (1-6 record).
The Falcons 2-2 tie against the RedHawks earlier this season was highlighted with a penalty shot attempt by freshman Brandon Kruse. A native of Saline, Mich., Kruse scored to put the Falcons up 1-0 with just 00:34 remaining in the first period. Bowling Green is now .500 all-time in penalty shots with 12 goals on 24 attempts, including a 9-for-13 (.692) success rate at the Slater Family Ice Arena. When attempting a penalty shot, the Falcons are 12-9-2 all-time, as well as 7-3-2 when they are successful.
Seven Falcons have now tallied their first career goals thus far in the season, most recently being freshman Justin Wells, who put the Falcons up 2-0 over the Wolverines in the GLI Semifinals in just a 1:09 span. Other Falcons who have tallied their first career goals this season include freshmen Cameron Wright, Brandon Kruse, Connor Ford, Sam Craggs, and Max Johnson, in addition to junior Shane Bednard.

>>SIGHTS ON SHORTIES

After notching his team-leading sixth career shorthanded goal against Ferris State (Jan. 7), senior Mitch McLain has officially joined the Bowling Green hockey record book. The captain is now tied for fifth in program history with six career shorthanded goals, including two in each of the last two seasons.
The Falcons featured two shorthanded goals in a game against the Lakers on Nov. 11, one by each McLain and Baylis. On the Bowling Green squad, McLain (5), John Schilling (1), Lukas Craggs (1) and Baylis (1) have all tallied a shorty in their career.

>>EYES ON CENTURY MEN

Senior Mitch McLain: 152 games played, 49 goals – 44 assists – 93 points
Senior Tyler Spezia: 138 games played, 32 goals – 36 assists – 68 points
Senior Brett D'Andrea: 122 games played, 21 goals – 27 assists – 48 points
Junior Connor McDonald: 111 games played, 6 goals – 18 assists – 24 points
Junior Stephen Baylis: 106 games played, 20 goals – 37 assists – 57 points
Junior John Schilling: 101 games played, 12 goals – 19 assists – 31 points
Junior Chris Pohlkamp: 95 games played, 2 goals – 21 assists – 23 points

>>STANDOUT SOPHOMORE AT THE BLUE LINE

Sophomore defenseman Alec Rauhauser earned his first career WCHA weekly award when he was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts at then-No. 5 Minnesota State. Rauhauser was then named to his first career WCHA Defensive Player of the Month award in November for notching seven points in eight games played, as well as Player of the Week for a three-point performance in the Great Lakes Invitational. Most recently, Rauhauser picked up his second career WCHA Defenseman of the Month accolade after tallying 14 points in January's 10 games played.
A native of Bismarck, N.D., Rauhauser matched his career-high three point night, and marked his first career multi-goal game by a pair of power play goals and an assist against then-No. 5 Minnesota State. On the weekend against the Mavericks, Rauhauser also led the Bowling Green squad with seven shots on goal helping them earn the split against the nationally ranked program.
Rauhauser went on a career-best six-game point streak this season (Dec. 9-Jan. 7), a span in which he has tallied two goals and six assists for eight points. Rauhauser has also only been held off the box score in 10 of the Falcons 32 games this season.
Last month against Alaska Anchorage, Rauhauser matched his career-high three-point night when he earned a trio of assists in the 6-2 victory on Friday night.
On the season, Rauhauser averages 0.97 points per game, which sits third the nation for all defensemen, as well as first overall in the WCHA. The Bismarck, N.D. native has 31 points through 32 games played by seven goals and 24 assists.

>>BROTHERLY LOVE

In Saturday's 3-3 tie against Bemidji State, freshman Sam Craggs tallied his first career goal for the Falcons as he lifted them to a 2-1 lead in the final minutes of the second period. To force an overtime session, older brother Lukas Craggs notched his third of the season with the extra skater and just 00:54 remaining in regulation.
More connections were recently made between the Craggs brothers when elder brother Lukas fed the puck to Sam Craggs to tie the game at 3-3 against Ferris State (Jan. 6). Lukas Craggs also went on to notch a goal of his own in the 6-3 win to seal a four-goal third period for the Falcons.
Not a first for Bowling Green this season, junior Shane Bednard also posted his first career goal with his brother on the ice. The older Bednard brother scored the Falcons second even strength goal at Michigan State (Oct. 14), as his younger brother Ryan Bednard tended the net with 32 saves and three goals against.

>>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
Ticketing Information: https://spark.adobe.com/page/1D4rbBUtBaXtr/

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Players Mentioned

Stephen Baylis

Ryan Bednard

Shane Bednard

Lukas Craggs

Sam Craggs

Brett D'Andrea

Jacob Dalton

Eric Dop

Connor Ford

Max Johnson

Brandon Kruse

Frederic Letourneau

Casey Linkenheld

Connor McDonald

Mitch McLain

Chris Pohlkamp

Alec Rauhauser

John Schilling

Adam Smith

Tyler Spezia

Justin Wells

Cameron Wright

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