Falcon Hockey Set To Open Season With Home-And-Home Against No. 2 Michigan

Friday, October 2

Ann Arbor, Mich

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

No. 2 Michigan

Photo by: Hailey Pettit-Mastroianni, BGSU Athletics

Falcon Hockey Set To Open Season With Home-And-Home Against No. 2 Michigan

September 29, 2026 | Ice Hockey

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Bowling Green To Host Michigan Saturday For Sold Out Home Opener

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University hockey team will begin their 2026-27 campaign this weekend with a home-and-home against the Michigan Wolverines. The Falcons and Wolverines will begin the series, and season, in Ann Arbor on Friday (Oct. 2) before transitioning to Bowling Green on Saturday (Oct. 3). The game in Ann Arbor is set for a 7 p.m. puck drop while the one in Bowling Green will begin at 6:07 p.m.

BGSU vs. Michigan Schedule
Friday, Oct. 2 | Ann Arbor, Mich. | 7 p.m. | B1G+
Saturday, Oct. 3 | Bowling Green, Ohio | 6:07 p.m. | Midco Sports

Saturday Fan Fest
Before Saturday's game, Bowling Green will be hosting a Hockey Fan Fest to kickoff the season. Beginning at 2 p.m. and lasting until 6 p.m. next to Slater Family Ice Arena, the Fan Fest will feature a live band and multiple game activities for fans to enjoy before the game. Additional details were announced on Sept. 22 with more to come leading up to the game.

Clear Bag Mandate Expanding To Doyt
Falcon fans should be familiar with the clear bag mandate that began on Jan. 1, 2026 at all BGSU Athletics venues. The same policy will be instituted this upcoming season. The full mandate can be found on the BGSUFalcons.com website.

Puck Drop

Bowling Green and Michigan will be meeting for the 123rd and 124th times in program history with the all-time series favoring Michigan, 82-27-3.
The two games will mark just the third and fourth times in program history that BGSU and Michigan will face as non-conference foes. The previous two meetings include Jan. 1, 2018 at the GLI and the first meeting ever between the two, playing on Dec. 29, 1971 in Flint, Mich.
Despite the all-time record, the Falcons have won the last two meetings, beating the Wolverines on neutral ice in 2018 and in Ann Arbor in 2013.
The last meeting between Bowling Green and Michigan came on Jan. 1, 2018 with the Falcons claiming a 6-4 victory as part of the GLI title.
The last trip to Ann Arbor for the Falcons came during the 2012-13 season, playing on Jan. 8, 2013 with a 5-1 victory.
BGSU enters the third season under head coach Dennis Williams. Through his first two seasons back in Bowling Green, Williams has led the Falcons to a pair of 18-win seasons.
Part of Bowling Green's returners this season will include defenseman Breck McKinley. Last year, McKinley tallied 24 assists, second in nation among defensemen, to go along with 26 points, eighth in the nation among defensemen.
In the preseason polls, McKinley was named to the All-CCHA teams in both the media and coaches polls. Ben Doran joined him on the coaches poll.
Bowling Green will be competing in their 58th hockey season in program history with the program beginning in 1969-70.
Of the program's 58 seasons, this marks the 48th season in the CCHA. The Falcons joined the original conference in 1971-72 before joining the WCHA in 2013-14. Bowling Green was part of the revival of the CCHA in 2021-22 and have been a member since.

Scouting The Wolverines
Michigan is coming off a successful 2025-26 season, going 31-8-1 on the year. The Wolverines ran through the Big Ten Tournament, claiming a 7-3 win over Ohio State in the championship to capture the Big Ten crown. The Wolverines followed with wins over Bentley and Minnesota Duluth to advance to the Frozen Four. The season for Michigan came to a close in Las Vegas at the Frozen Four, falling to Denver in double overtime with a 4-3 final score. From that squad, Michigan returns key playmakers, including leading goal scorer Will Horcoff and the team-leader in assists Michael Hage.

BGSU vs. Michigan, All-Time
Former conference foes, Bowling Green and Michigan have been frequent opponents, facing 122 times previously in program history with the series favoring the Wolverines all-time. Despite the frequence of games, the last was on Jan. 1, 2018 with the Falcons claiming a 6-4 victory over the Wolverines as part of Bowling Green's GLI title. As for trips to Ann Arbor, this will be Bowling Green's first appearance in Yost since Jan. 8, 2013, a game BGSU won 5-1.

McKinley Making Noise
Breck McKinley earned a Second-Team All-CCHA nod following the 2025-26 season and the expectations are only continuing for the senior defenseman for the Falcons. McKinley was the lone Falcon to be named to both the Coaches Poll and Media Poll Preseason All-CCHA Team. Last season, McKinley finished the year with 26 points, including 24 assists, and finished the regular season No. 2 in the nation among defensemen with 24 assists and No. 8 among defensemen with 26 points.

Waters On The Power Play
Brody Waters enters the 2026-27 campaign with 15 career power play goals with the Falcons, including 10 during the 2024-25 campaign. The 2024-25 season for Waters marked the first time a Falcon had double-digit power play goals since both Conner Ford and Max Johnson in 2018-19. For his career, Waters has 29 goals for the Orange and Brown, resulting in just over half of his career goals coming on the power play.

Doran Doran
Ben Doran is coming off a strong season for the Falcons in multiple facets. He tallied a team-leading 24 assists, the most by a Falcon since 2022-23. Doran was also a key piece in the Falcons' faceoffs with 636, the most since Taylor Schneider had 723 in 2021. Doran's impact last season has earned him preseason honors this year, being named to the Preseason All-CCHA Team in the Coaches Poll.

Steinman Setting The Tone
Appearing in 15 games for the Falcons last season, Jacob Steinman totaled 843 minutes while accumulating 352 saves and giving up just 30 goals. The marks resulted in Steinman posting a .921 save percentage, a strong start to Steinman's collegiate career with promising comparisons. While he hasn't reached the minutes requirement yet, his save percentage would come in second in program history for career save percentage behind only Chris Nell. Nell posted a .922 save percentage across 84 games from 2014-17. Similarly, Steinman's 2.14 goals against average would currently rank third in program history behind Ryan Bednard's mark of 2.06 from 2016-19 and Nell's 2.07 average.

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