Hockey Continues Postseason Play at Northern Michigan

No. 17 Bowling Green Falcons (22-10-6, 17-6-5-2 WCHA)
vs.
No. 19 Northern Michigan Wildcats (23-13-3, 19-7-2-2 WCHA)

GAME INFORMATION	Friday, March 9, 7:07 p.m. ET Saturday, March 10, 7:07 p.m. ET Sunday, March 11, 7:07 p.m. ET (if necessary)
LOCATION	Marquette, Mich. (Berry Events Center)
RADIO	Falcon Radio Network (Ryan Vallon)
LIVE STATS	NMUWildcats.com
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	Bowling Green
WATCH ONLINE	WCHA.tv

>>FALCONS ON TAP

After downing Ferris State in the First Round of the WCHA Playoffs, the Bowling Green hockey program has advanced to the 2018 WCHA Semifinals for the eighth straight year to face Northern Michigan. While ranked No. 17 and No. 19 in the nation, the No. 3 seeded Falcons will travel to Marquette, Mich. to take on the No. 2 seeded Wildcats.
The best-of-three series begins Friday, March 9, followed by Saturday, March 10. If necessary, the teams will face off in the deciding game on Sunday, March 4, while puck drops are set for 7:07 p.m. Eastern Time all weekend.

>>VERSUS NORTHERN MICHIGAN

All-time, the Falcons hold a narrow 48-45-8 advantage over Northern Michigan.
This will be the fourth time in Coach Bergeron's eight seasons the Falcons will take on the Wildcats in a best-of-three playoff series. The Falcons have excelled in the postseason against Northern Michigan, advancing with a 2-1 series win in both the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, while they swept the Wildcats in two straight games at home in the 2014-15 WCHA Playoffs.
Having only faced Northern Michigan in one series in the regular season, the Falcons will look to make amends for falling twice in Marquette Jan. 12-13. The Wildcats first earned a 5-2 win on Friday, before narrowly earning the sweep with a 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday.
Despite a pair of goals by seniors Brett D'Andrea and Mitch McLain in Friday's 5-2 loss, the Wildcats responded with four goals with the man advantage on the night for the home victory. For a complete recap of the game, click HERE.
On Saturday, the Falcons went ahead 1-0 with a goal by McLain, although had to force the overtime session by pulling the goalie. The Falcons tied the game at 2-2 with a tally by freshman Cameron Wright, making it the third time this season the Falcons have forced overtime with the extra skater. Ultimately, Northern Michigan was able to sneak away with the 3-2 victory by scoring with just six seconds remaining. For a complete recap of the game, click HERE.

>>NATIONALLY RANKED

4th: Alec Rauhauser – Defenseman Points per Game (0.97)
7th: Brandon Kruse – Freshman Points per Game (0.87)
T-10th: Ryan Bednard – Winning Percentage (.667)
T-10th: Stephen Baylis – Shorthanded Goals (2)
T-10th: Mitch McLain – Shorthanded Goals (2)
T-11th: Max Johnson – Power Play Goals (8)
15th: Eric Dop – Winning Percentage (.643)
16th: Ryan Bednard – Goals Against Average (2.17)
19th: Max Johnson – Freshman Points per Game (0.74)
20th: Cameron Wright – Freshman Points per Game (0.73)
21st: Alec Rauhauser – Assists per Game (0.74)
21st: Ryan Bednard – Save Percentage (.917)
30th: Eric Dop – Goals Against Average (2.52)
T-33rd: Cameron Wright – Power Play Goals (6)
T-33rd: Mitch McLain – Power Play Goals (6)
T-34th: Four Bowling Green Players – Game-Winning Goals (3)
38th: Brandon Kruse – Assists per Game (0.66)
T-42nd: Mitch McLain – Goals per Game (0.45)
49th: Alec Rauhauser – Points per Game (0.97)

>>ABOUT LAST WEEKEND

Last weekend, the Falcons opened the WCHA Playoffs with a First Round sweep of Ferris State at home, by scores of 2-1 (OT) and 5-2. With the pair of victories, the Falcons are now on a six-game winning streak against Ferris State, and have won 12 of the last 14 games against the Bulldogs.
By outshooting Ferris State 64-35 on Friday evening, the Falcons tallied the most shots on goal since Jan. 18, 1992, when they marked 62 at Ferris State in an 8-3 win. It became a new season-high for total shots on goal (64) as well as most shots in a period on the year with 24 in the second.
By notching both of the Falcons goals, freshman Brandon Kruse earned his first career multi-goal game and third game-winning goal of the season. The native of Saline, Mich. concluded a career-long point streak of five games, and has now notched points in 10 of the last 12 games.
With Kruse's goal, it marks the fourth straight year a freshman has scored a goal for Bowling Green in their first career playoff game (2018-Kruse, 2017-Rauhauser, 2016-Baylis, 2015-McLain).
Between the pipes, sophomore goaltender Ryan Bednard tallied a career-high of 34 saves on 35 shots Friday night to earn his first career playoff win. The Macomb, Mich. native then followed it up by nearly reaching his career marker on Saturday with 33 saves in the 5-2 victory.
Freshman Max Johnson (1G, 2A), junior Stephen Baylis (3A) and sophomore Alec Rauhauser (1G, 1A), all marked multi-point nights in Saturday's 5-2 win. It marked Johnson's seventh multi-point night of the season – the most of any Falcon freshman player, and second-most of the team (Rauhauser, 9). In addition to the multi-point scorers, 10 different Falcons appeared on the box score.
Freshman Sam Craggs broke a scoring drought dating back to Jan. 6 at Ferris State by scoring the opening goal against the Bulldogs Saturday night.
With the final goal of the night, senior captain Mitch McLain tallied his team-leading 17th goal of the season to extend his active point streak to three games. Additionally, McLain marked double-digit shots on goal both nights against the Bulldogs, including a career-high of 11 on Friday night.
By a trio of assists, Baylis earned his second career three assist playoff game, while all four seniors got on the board with points this past weekend. Four of the Falcons six goals were scored by freshmen in the series, while the Falcons are now 18-2-3 when senior Brett D'Andrea scores a goal in his career.

>>STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

With its 22-10-6 overall record, it marks the fourth consecutive season that the Falcons have reached the 20-win milestone, making them one of just three programs in the nation to do so in the last four years (Providence, Minnesota State). The four-year stint is also the third longest in program history, behind a nine season, and six season stretch.
The Falcons are 12-1 in best-of-three series games since joining the WCHA, being winners of all six series they have played in. Additionally, Bowling Green is 20-9 in best-of-three games all-time under Coach Bergeron, winning 10 of the 12 series spanning the last eight seasons.
Of the Falcons 38 games thus far, a freshman has appeared on the box score with a point in 36 of them. Similarly, sophomore defenseman Alec Rauhauser has recorded a point in 26 of the 38 games on the season.
Of his 11 goals this season, freshman Max Johnson has scored a team-leading eight on the man advantage, which ranks 11th in the nation of all Division I players.
The Falcons remain undefeated when scoring four or more goals (12-0-0). Other notable records include a 17-1-5 mark when scoring first, 16-1-4 when leading after two periods, and a 12-1-2 record when holding its opponent scoreless on the power play.
Earlier this season, 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 this weekend, as he carries 99 points in his 158 career games played after the WCHA First Round Playoffs.
Sophomore goaltender Ryan Bednard was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week for the first time in his career with his 67 saves on 70 shots faced this past weekend. The native of Macomb, Mich. tallied a career-high of 34 saves in Friday's 2-1 overtime win, while on the weekend, he earned a .957 save percentage paired with a 1.36 goals against average.
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.
Getting the Falcons on the board against UAA (Jan. 20) 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.
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 this season, most recently being freshman Justin Wells, who put the Falcons up over Michigan in the GLI Semifinals. 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: 158 games played, 52 goals – 47 assists – 99 points
Senior Tyler Spezia: 144 games played, 34 goals – 38 assists – 72 points
Senior Brett D'Andrea: 128 games played, 23 goals – 28 assists – 51 points
Junior Connor McDonald: 117 games played, 6 goals – 18 assists – 24 points
Junior Stephen Baylis: 112 games played, 21 goals – 43 assists – 64 points
Junior John Schilling: 107 games played, 12 goals – 19 assists – 31 points
Junior Chris Pohlkamp: 101 games played, 2 goals – 23 assists – 25 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 12 of the Falcons 38 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 fourth the nation for all defensemen, as well as first overall in the WCHA. The Bismarck, N.D. native has 37 points through 36 games played by nine goals and 28 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.
The Craggs duo has also racked up the penalty minutes, accounting for a combined 141 on the year, 105 by Lukas and 36 by Sam.
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/
Support the Slater Family Ice Arena for 2018 Hockeyville USA at: KraftHockeyville.com

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Stephen Baylis

Ryan Bednard

Shane Bednard

Lukas Craggs

Sam Craggs

Brett D'Andrea

Eric Dop

Connor Ford

Max Johnson

Brandon Kruse

Connor McDonald

Mitch McLain

Chris Pohlkamp

Alec Rauhauser

John Schilling

Tyler Spezia

Justin Wells

Cameron Wright

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