Falcons Prepare For Snowy Showdown With No. 1 Mavericks

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green Falcons hockey team (13-10-3, 10-7-1-2) will open February with a showdown against the No. 1 Minnesota State Mavericks (25-5-0, 17-3-0-1). The series begins on Friday, Feb. 4, then continues on Saturday, Feb. 5. Both games begin at 7:07 p.m. ET in the Slater Family Ice Arena.

How to Follow
Both games will be streamed live on FloHockey, broadcast HERE. The games will also be broadcast by BGRSO on 88.1 FM, found online HERE. Live stats for both games are available HERE.

The games will also have live updates on Bowling Green Hockey's official Twitter page, @BGFalconHockey.

Tickets, Promotional, and Attendance Information
Tickets for Friday's game are available HERE. Tickets for Saturday's game are available HERE. Saturday is Mark Wells and Ken Morrow Bobblehead Night, as well as Olympic Night. Fans can pick up a Wells & Morrow bobblehead at the marketing table, located on the south end of the rink. Please see the map below for the location of pickup. Bobbleheads are limited to one per person. A full PDF map of the bobblehead giveaway map can be found HERE. HKY_Bobblehead

Regardless of vaccination status, all guests, staff, and vendors will be required to wear a face covering while in the Slater Family Ice Arena. Fans are not required to show proof of vaccination to enter the Slater Family Ice Arena, but face coverings – covering the nose and mouth – are required for all fans as they watch the game from their assigned seat and enter, exit, and move around. Children 2 and younger will not be required to wear a face covering. If spectators are unable to wear face coverings, they are encouraged not to attend games in-person for the sake of their health and the health of others.

Falcon Facts

Bowling Green has a .238 conversion rate on the power play, ranking eighth in the NCAA. Taylor Schneider and Nathan Burke have scored five power play goals each, tied for 14^th in the country. The Falcon power play has been especially efficient at home, with the Orange and Brown scoring 11 goals on 37 chances.
Sam Craggs enters the weekend with 170 career games played, tied for fifth in program history. The senior has seven goals this season, including three on the power play and one shorthanded goal. In his career, the forward has 28 goals.
In BGSU's win over Ferris State on Jan. 28, freshmen forwards Ryan O'Hara and Spencer Schneider each notched the first multi-point performance of their careers. O'Hara scored the game's first goal, with Schneider earning the lone assist. The duo then logged the assists on a second period goal by junior linemate Adam Pitters.

Series Info
The Mavericks hold a 19-9-3 lead in the all-time series, including an 8-2-0 record in the last ten meetings. Minnesota State swept the first series of the season, defeating the Falcons in Mankato. The teams have split the last four games in Bowling Green, with the Falcons earning a sweep in 2018 and Mavericks earning the sweep in 2020.

Opponent Outlook
Minnesota State is 25-5-0 this season and currently sits atop the CCHA standings. Ryan Sandelin leads MSU with 17 goals on the season, with Nathan Smith notching a team-high in assists (26) and points (41). The Mavericks will be without Smith and head coach Mike Hastings this weekend, as they are with the United States Olympic Hockey Team. In their first series, MSU swept BGSU in Mankato, with Cade Borchardt tallying a hat trick. Mavericks' goaltender Dryden McKay, who recently collected his 100th career win, is the NCAA Men's Hockey all-time leader in career shutouts. McKay has a 1.33 GAA and .927 save percentage this season. MSU has a +2.80 scoring margin, the widest in the country.

Chalk Talk
On Friday, Feb. 4, Falcon Club members and Season Ticket holders are invited to a Chalk Talk with Falcon Hockey Assistant Coach Curtis Carr. The talk will begin at 6:15 p.m. in the Slater Family Ice Arena Center Ice Lounge.

Ty's Take
"We've got a tall task with a really good Minnesota State team coming into Slater Family Ice Arena. We want to do the best job we can on Friday and then worry about Saturday on Saturday.

You have to be ready for anything because they can beat teams in a lot of ways. They can score if it ends up being a high-scoring game, they can score if it ends up being a low-scoring game, they don't give up a lot of goals, and they're good on special teams."

Up Next
Bowling Green will hit the road for a conference series with No. 15 Michigan Tech. It will be the first series of the season between the Falcons and Huskies. The series begins on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:07 p.m. ET, then concludes at 5:07 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12. Both games will be played at the Macinnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton, Michigan.

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons hockey team on social media
Twitter - @BGAthletics and @BGFalconHockey
Instagram - 'bgfalcons' and 'bgfalconhockey'
Facebook - 'BGSU Athletics'
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'

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Nathan Burke

Sam Craggs

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