Hockey Continues Conference Action by Hosting Bemidji State

Bowling Green Falcons (6-5-4, 5-2-3-2 WCHA)
vs.
Bemidji State Beavers (5-5-2, 2-3-1 WCHA)

GAME INFORMATION	Friday, Dec. 1, 7:37 p.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 2, 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 continues a seven-game home stint as they host Bemidji State this weekend at the Slater Family Ice Arena. The Falcons and the Beavers will compete in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:37 p.m., followed by Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7:07 p.m.
It will be the lone meeting between Bowling Green and Bemidji State in the 2017-18 regular season.

>>FRIDAY'S PROMOTIONS

The first 150 fans will receive a BGSU water bottle.
For students, Friday's game will be a Ziggy Point event and Fraternity and Sorority Life Challenge event, while for student-athletes, it is a Meserve Cup event.
All season ticket holders and Falcon Club members are invited to join Bowling Green hockey head coach Chris Bergeron in a Chalk Talk session at 6:50 p.m. in the Center Ice Lounge at the Slater Family Ice Arena.

>>VERSUS BEMIDJI STATE

All-time, Bowling Green holds the 11-7-1 advantage over Bemidji State.
Bowling Green most recently faced the Beavers March 10-11, 2017 on the road in the Semifinals of the WCHA Playoffs. By sweeping top-seeded Bemidji State by scores of 4-3 (OT) and 2-1, the Falcons were able to advance to its first Conference Championship appearance since 1988.
Of six meetings last season, the pair of conference foes went 3-3 on the year, where the Falcons were able to earn 13 goals and the Beavers tallied 14. Currently, the Falcons are on a three-game win streak against Bemidji State.
With an overall record of 5-5-2, including a 2-3-1 mark in WCHA action, Bemidji State is coming off of a road split at Princeton in which they earned a 5-3 win on Wednesday, although the Tigers were able to rebound for the 4-1 victory after Thanksgiving.

>>ABOUT LAST WEEKEND

The Falcons featured three players who posted earned points both nights against former CCHA-rival Miami, including sophomore Alec Rauhauser, senior Brett D'Andrea and freshman Brandon Kruse.
In Friday's 6-3 loss to Miami, senior Brett D'Andrea scored his 16th goal of his career. It was the first time the Falcons have lost a game with a D'Andrea goal, while Bowling Green is now 13-1-2 in those contests. Also standing out on the box score on Friday night, D'Andrea earned a near-perfect faceoff percentage as he was successful on 12 of 13 attempts on the evening.
In his first game back from injury, senior Tyler Spezia scored to tie the game at 3-3 on Friday night against Miami. The forward's goal was his first of the season and the 25th of his career, while he ranks second among active Falcons in career goals and points.
Like Spezia, junior Connor McDonald scored his first goal of the season on Friday night to go with his three assists on the season. It was the third goal and 18th point of his career.
Saturday's 2-2 tie against the RedHawks 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. The last attempted penalty shot for the Falcons was on March 6, 2015, when freshman Brandon Hawkins scored against Alabama Huntsville.
Kruse's goal was his third of the season; he is one of six Falcons with at least three goals in 2017-18.
With just 00:38 remaining in regulation, Rauhauser was able to convert with the extra skater for the Falcons, scoring to force overtime. Although it officially goes down in a 2-2 tie, Spezia was also able to make a final-minute play to earn the Falcons unofficial 3-2 win with just 00:21 remaining in the second overtime. On the night, all three Falcons goals came in the final minute of play.
On the weekend, Bowling Green went 0-for-7 on the power play and 5-for-8 on the penalty kill.

>>NATIONALLY RANKED

T-3rd: Cameron Wright – Freshman Points per Game (1.00)
9th: Ryan Bednard – Save Percentage (.929)
10th: Ryan Bednard – Goals Against Average (1.92)
T-14th: Alec Rauhauser – Game-Winning Goals (2)
T-20th: Max Johnson – Freshman Points per Game (0.73)
T-22nd: Alec Rauhauser – Defenseman Points per Game (0.80)
T-26th: Stephen Baylis – Power Play Goals (3)
T-31st: Ryan Bednard – Winning Percentage (.562)
T-38th: Eric Dop – Winning Percentage (.500)
T-51st: Cameron Wright – Points per Game (1.00)
T-52nd: Cameron Wright – Assists per Game (0.67)

>>STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

Standing out between the pipes is sophomore goaltender Ryan Bednard, as his sits in the top-10 nationally in both goals against average and save percentage. A native of Macomb, Mich., Bednard sits ninth nationally with a save percentage of .929, in addition to being ranked 10th in the country with a 1.92 goals against average.
Bednard is also top of all WCHA goaltenders in both goals against average and save percentage, with the next closest being Minnesota State's Connor LaCouvee (2.26 GAA), and Northern Michigan's Atte Tolvanen (.916 Save %).
All averaging over 0.60 points per game, Bowling Green features three players who rank in the Top-45 nationally in points per game by freshmen, including two in the top-20. In addition to freshman Cameron Wright's 1.00 points per game to sit third overall, Max Johnson ranks 20th overall in Division I hockey with a 0.73 points per game average, while Brandon Kruse averages 0.60 to sit 45th.
Defensively, sophomore Alec Rauhauser also averages 0.80 points per game, which ranks him 22nd nationally for all defensemen, as well as first overall in the WCHA. The Bismarck, N.D. native has 12 points through 15 games played by four goals and eight assists, and is currently on a season-best three-game point streak.
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.
With an assist on the even strength game-tying goal at Minnesota State, sophomore Niko Coffman earned his first career point with the Falcons.
Standing out on the scoresheet was the Falcons underclassmen, who tallied six of the Falcons 11 points on the weekend, while eight different players earned at least one point in the WCHA series against Miami.

>>EYES ON CENTURY MEN

Senior Mitch McLain: 135 games played, 40 goals – 36 assists – 76 points
Senior Tyler Spezia: 121 games played, 25 goals – 32 assists – 57 points
Senior Brett D'Andrea: 105 games played, 16 goals – 24 assists – 40 points
Junior Connor McDonald: 95 games played, 3 goals – 15 assists – 18 points
Junior John Schilling: 88 games played, 11 goals – 14 assists – 25 points
Junior Stephen Baylis: 89 games played, 17 goals – 31 assists – 48 points
Junior Chris Pohlkamp: 83 games played, 1 goal – 16 assists – 17 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.
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. 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.
On the season, Rauhauser averages 0.80 points per game, which ranks him 22nd nationally for all defensemen, as well as first overall in the WCHA. The Bismarck, N.D. native has 12 points through 15 games played by four goals and eight assists.

>>MAXING OUT THE BOX SCORE

Freshman Max Johnson earned his first WCHA Award in his career as he was named Rookie of the Week on Nov. 13 after a three-point weekend against Lake Superior State.
A native of Lakeville, Minn., Johnson marked his second career multi-point night against Lake Superior State as he opened the scoring just 2:56 into the game and lifted the Falcons to an early 1-0 lead. Later in the evening, Johnson posted the lone assist on Brandon Kruse's goal that put Bowling Green up 2-1.
With his performance against the Mavericks, Johnson earned a career-best four-game point streak.

>>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 53rd overall in the country with a 2.96 goals against average, in addition to being ranked 66th nationally with a save percentage of .886.
After double-overtime resulting in a 2-2 tie, Dop faced his first career shootout action in his career against Lake Superior State. Dop shut down all three of the Lakers shootout attempts, helping the Falcons win the extra point in the third round of the shootout.
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.
Dop posted a .955 save percentage in a 2-1 win at Michigan Tech on Friday, 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 five goals and 10 assists for 15 points, and to average 1.00 points per game, which ranks third 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 15 points through 15 games played, Wright went on a career-best five-game point streak, from Oct. 10-21. Wright has only been held off the box score in four of the Falcons 15 games this season.
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. Continuing the streak, Wright posts a team-leading four multi-point games of the season thus far.

>>SIGHTS ON SHORTIES

After notching his team-leading fourth career shorthanded goal against Lake Superior State last month, senior Mitch McLain is looking to join the Bowling Green records page in the category, aiming for a minimum of five to join the standings.
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 (4), John Schilling (1), Lukas Craggs (1) and Baylis (1) have all tallied a shorty in their career.

>>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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Stephen Baylis

Ryan Bednard

Shane Bednard

Niko Coffman

Lukas Craggs

Brett D'Andrea

Eric Dop

Connor Ford

Max Johnson

Brandon Kruse

Connor McDonald

Mitch McLain

Chris Pohlkamp

Alec Rauhauser

John Schilling

Tyler Spezia

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