Hockey's Holiday Season to be Highlighted with Broncos and GLI

Bowling Green Falcons (8-5-6, 7-2-5-2 WCHA)
vs.
Western Michigan Broncos (10-8-1, 6-4-0 NCHC)

GAME INFORMATION	Thursday, Dec. 28, 7:37 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

Bowling Green Falcons (8-5-6, 7-2-5-2 WCHA)
vs.
Michigan (7-7-2, 3-5-2 Big Ten)

Great Lakes Invitational Semifinal

GAME INFORMATION	Monday, Jan. 1, 6 p.m. ET
LOCATION	Detroit, Mich. (Little Caesars Arena)
RADIO	Falcon Radio Network (Ryan Vallon)
LIVE STATS	BGSUFalcons.com
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	Bowling Green
TICKET INFOMATION	GLI Tickets

>>FALCONS ON TAP

The Bowling Green hockey program returns to action as it hosts Western Michigan for a single game on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 7:37 p.m.
The Falcons will then have a quick turnaround, as it will then compete in the Great Lakes Invitational at the new home of the Detroit Red Wings in Little Caesars Arena. Bowling Green will first face off against Big Ten rival Michigan on Monday, Jan. 1 at 6 p.m., before competing against Michigan Tech or Michigan State on Tuesday, Jan. 2 in the third place or championship game.

>>THURSDAY'S PROMOTIONS

All youth may bring their report cards, and will receive free youth admission with an A grade.

>>VERSUS WESTERN MICHIGAN

All-time, the Falcons hold a 71-59-8 advantage over Western Michigan.
The Falcons most recent win over Western Michigan came on Jan. 18, 2013 in a 3-2 conference victory in the final season of the CCHA.
The Dec. 28 matchup is the second of a home-and-home series between Bowling Green and Western Michigan, as the Falcons traveled to Kalamazoo to open the 2017-18 season against the Broncos on Oct. 10.
When the teams met earlier this year, freshman Cameron Wright highlighted the season opener when he scored the lone goal for the Falcons in his first collegiate game, although the Broncos claimed a 3-1 win. The Falcons were able to kill all seven of its penalties on the night, in addition to holding an edge in shots on goal over the former CCHA-rival by a 34-23 mark. For a complete recap of the matchup, click HERE.

>>VERSUS MICHIGAN

All-time, Michigan holds the advantage over the Falcons by an 81-38-3 margin.
Most recently, the Falcons claimed a 5-1 win over Michigan on the road on Jan. 8, 2013. In the 2012-13 campaign, the then-CCHA rivals split after Michigan earned the win 3-1 on Nov. 21, 2012.
Under Coach Bergeron, the Falcons have a 2-7 record against Michigan, all in CCHA action.

>>VERSUS MICHIGAN TECH

All-time, Michigan Tech holds the advantage over Bowling Green by a 16-10-4 margin. A tough opponent in recent years, the Falcons have gone 6-9-3 against the Huskies since joining the WCHA.
Earlier this season when the team traveled to Houghton, Mich., the Falcons were able to claim five of six possible conference points at Michigan Tech, after they downed the Huskies 2-1 on Friday, and a 2-2 tie led to a shootout win by Bowling Green in the sixth round.
The Nov. 3 win over Michigan Tech marked the first win over the Huskies since Nov. 14, 2015.
After the Huskies scored first on Friday, Nov. 3, junior John Schilling tallied two power play goals for his first career multi-goal game and third multi-point performance of his career. With his game-winner, the Falcons were able to claim a 2-1 win on the road. For the complete recap of the victory, click HERE.
By power play goals from Cameron Wright and Mitch McLain in the 2-2 tie on Saturday, Nov. 4, all of the goals for the Falcons at Michigan Tech were scored with the man advantage. Stephen Baylis was able to then pick up the extra point for the Falcons in the sixth round of the shootout. For a complete recap of how the Falcons claimed five of six points against the Huskies, click HERE.

>>VERSUS MICHIGAN STATE

All-time, Bowling Green holds a 31-77-9 record against Michigan State across 117 meetings.
Earlier this season, the Falcons faced the Spartans in a home-and-home series Oct. 13-14 where the teams split the series after a 4-1 Bowling Green victory at home was follow by a 3-2 Michigan State win on the road.
Prior to this season, the last time Bowling Green faced the Spartans was in another home-and-home series Feb. 1-2, 2013. The teams split the series, after a 2-1 Bowling Green victory at home was followed by a 3-1 Michigan State win on the road.
In the home game at the Slater Ice Arena, Connor Ford notched his first career goal, while goaltender Eric Dop earned his first career win in his first start in net with 27 saves. Overall, 10 different Falcons appeared on the box score and Bowling Green went 2-7 on the power play for the 4-1 win at home. Additionally, the teams were even with 28 shots a piece. For a complete recap of the Falcons victory click HERE.
On Saturday night in Lansing, Mich., the Falcons fell by a score of 3-2 after the Spartans were able to notch the game-winner with just 00:40 remaining in regulation. Two Falcons scored their first career goals, in freshman Brandon Kruse on the power play, as well as junior Shane Bednard early in the second period to lift the Falcons to a 2-1 lead. For a complete recap of the game, click HERE.

>>NATIONALLY RANKED

T-2nd: Stephen Baylis – Shorthanded Goals (2)
9th: Ryan Bednard – Goals Against Average (1.92)
9th: Ryan Bednard – Save Percentage (.926)
T-11th: Cameron Wright – Freshman Points per Game (0.83)
T-12th: Mitch McLain – Shorthanded Goals (1)
T-13th: Alec Rauhauser – Defenseman Points per Game (0.84)
20th: Ryan Bednard – Winning Percentage (.600)
T-22nd: Stephen Baylis – Power Play Goals (4)
T-25th: Alec Rauhauser – Game-Winning Goals (2)
T-25th: Frederic Letourneau – Game-Winning Goals (2)
28th: Eric Dop – Winning Percentage (.556)
35th: Brandon Kruse – Freshman Points per Game (0.63)
40th: Eric Dop – Goals Against Average (2.71)
44th: Max Johnson – Freshman Points per Game (0.58)

>>STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

In 2017-18, the team is undefeated when McLain scores a goal (4-0-2). Also record-wise, the Falcons are 5-0-5 when scoring first, as well as 7-0-4 when they are leading after two periods.
In his career, the Falcons are 6-0-2 when freshman Alec Rauhauser scores a goal. After earning his fifth goal of the season in the 3-1 win against Huntsville Saturday night, Rauhauser matches the five goals he notched in his freshman year.
With a pair of goals against Alabama Huntsville, Connor McDonald is on a two-game scoring streak, as well as a three-game point streak (2-1-3). With an assist each night, freshmen Justin Wells and Brandon Kruse are also on two-game point streaks.
On Saturday, the Falcons outshot Alabama Huntsville 42-12. The 42 shots on goal are the most for the team on the season, and most since taking 42 against UAH on Feb. 26, 2017. The 12 shots on goal allowed by the Falcons is the fewest by an opponent since Nov. 26, 2016, when Alaska Anchorage only took 11. Similarly, UAH's three shots on goal in the second period are the fewest allowed in a period since the first period against Western Michigan (Oct. 10).
The last time Bowling Green took 30 or more shots on goal than the opponent was Oct. 19, 2013 against Colgate as the Falcons attempted 50 shots and allowed only 20 in a 7-0 victory.
Last month, the Falcons 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.
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 1.92 goals against average, in addition to being ranked ninth in the country with a save percentage of .926.
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 (2.02 GAA), and Ferris State's Justin Kapelmaster (.918 Save %).
Bowling Green garnered a pair of WCHA Player of the Month accolades in November as sophomore Alec Rauhauser was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Month with seven points through eight games played, as well as sophomore goaltender Ryan Bednard, who earned WCHA Goaltender of the Month with a 2-0-2 record in November's eight games.
Seven Falcons have now tallied their first career goals thus far in the season, most recently being freshman Sam Craggs, who put the Falcons up 2-1 over Bemidji State (Dec. 2) with an unassisted wraparound goal. Other Falcons who have tallied their first career goals this season include freshmen Cameron Wright, Brandon Kruse, Connor Ford, and Max Johnson, in addition to sophomore Niko Coffman and junior Shane Bednard.
In back-to-back weekends, sophomore Niko Coffman earned his first career point, first career goal, and first career game-winner. A native of Chelsea, Mich., Coffman first earned an assist on the game-tying goal at Minnesota State for his first career point with the Falcons. At the start of the month, Coffman notched another game-winner in a 3-1 win over Bemidji State (Dec. 1) at even strength.
Standing out on the scoresheet was the Falcons underclassmen, who tallied seven of the Falcons 15 points on the weekend, while nine different players earned at least one point in the WCHA series against Alabama Huntsville.

>>LAST TIME OUT

In the Falcons 3-3 tie against Alabama Huntsville Friday night, senior Mitch McLain notched his seventh goal of the season, while junior Stephen Baylis earned his second shorthanded goal of the year to tie the game at 2-2. Junior Connor McDonald scored from the point through traffic to force overtime.
Ultimately, although freshman Max Johnson scored in the first round of the shootout, the Chargers were able to pick up the extra point.
After the initial shot from freshman Justin Wells went wide left, fellow freshman Sam Craggs fed the puck to senior Mitch McLain who buried it deep into a wide-open net just 1:16 into the game to get the Falcons on the board early.
As sophomore Lukas Craggs waited in the box for slashing, junior Stephen Baylis picked up a puck in the neutral zone and broke free of two Charger defenders. After his first shot bounced off the pads of UAH's goaltender Jordan Uhelski then onto the stick of senior Brett D'Andrea, it was passed back to Baylis who shot the puck into the top shelf to tie the game at two with his second shorthanded goal of the season.
With 10:10 remaining in regulation, junior Connor McDonald found the back of the net after a quick pass sequence from freshman Brandon Kruse and D'Andrea wound its way back to him. The goal, his second of the season, tied the game at three apiece.
The Falcons successfully killed all seven penalties on the night, plus one in 3-on-3 play, allowing just six shots on goal during the kills and recording one shorthanded goal. On the other side, they went 0-3 with the man advantage, managing just three shots on goal during their chances.
Dop recorded 21 saves and improved his record in net to 4-3-2.
Overall, the Falcons outshot Alabama Huntsville 27-24 through the regulatory 65:00 of action, including a high of 10 in the second period. While McDonald led the squad with four shots on goal, the Falcons were well-rounded by four other players earning three shots a piece.
On Saturday, the Falcons downed the Chargers 3-1, extending their unbeaten streak to five games, as well as eight straight on Saturday nights by a 4-0-4 record.
Baylis relived the Falcons five-game drought by scoring a power play goal, his second goal of the weekend, as well as team-leading seventh of the season.
Sophomore defenseman Alec Rauhauser posted his third multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist. He leads the Falcons with 11 assists and is tied with Baylis at 16 points.
Junior defenseman Connor McDonald joined Baylis with a two-goal weekend when he notched Saturday's game-winner. He has three goals and four assists this season and is currently on a three-game point streak, as well as at least one point in seven of his last ten games played.
Freshmen Justin Wells and Brandon Kruse each tallied assists and finished the weekend with assists in each game. Wells posted a point in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, while Kruse now has points in six of his last seven games.
In goal, sophomore Ryan Bednard saved 11 of 12 shots and now has a 1.92 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. He entered the weekend ranked ninth nationally in both categories.
Bowling Green was 1-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill, while the Falcons also blocked 15 shots and were led by Jacob Dalton, who blocked three.

>>EYES ON CENTURY MEN

Senior Mitch McLain: 139 games played, 42 goals – 37 assists – 79 points
Senior Tyler Spezia: 125 games played, 25 goals – 34 assists – 59 points
Senior Brett D'Andrea: 109 games played, 17 goals – 26 assists – 43 points
Junior Connor McDonald: 99 games played, 5 goals – 16 assists – 21 points
Junior John Schilling: 88 games played, 11 goals – 14 assists – 25 points
Junior Stephen Baylis: 93 games played, 19 goals – 33 assists – 52 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. 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.
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.
More recently, Rauhauser notched his third multi-point night of the season in a 3-1 win over Alabama Huntsville, where he earned one goal and one assist, in addition to a team-leading nine shots on goal. With the goal, Rauhauser has matched his number of goals from his freshman season.
On the season, Rauhauser averages 0.84 points per game, which ranks him 13th nationally for all defensemen, as well as first overall in the WCHA. The Bismarck, N.D. native has 16 points through 19 games played by five goals and 11 assists, while the Falcons are undefeated when he scores in his career (7-0-2).

>>BROTHERLY LOVE

In a 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.
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.

>>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.
Johnson currently sits 44th in the nation of all freshmen players with 0.58 points per game as well as seventh in the WCHA. Johnson totals three goals and eight assists for 11 points through 19 games played.

>>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 40th overall in the country with a 2.71 goals against average, in addition to being ranked 63rd nationally with a save percentage of .894.
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. Since then, Dop has added two additional WCHA Rookie of the Week honors for his performances against Michigan Tech and Bemidji State, for a team-leading three awards on the year; one each in October, November and December.

>>STARTING OFF ON THE WRIGHT FOOT

Freshman Cameron Wright is making an early offensive impact, as he sits second on the Bowling Green squad with five goals and 10 assists for 15 points, and to average 0.83 points per game, which ranks 11th overall in Division I Men's Hockey for rookie players. His 0.83 points per game average also sits second of the freshman class in the WCHA.
On his way to earning 15 points through 17 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 eight of the Falcons 19 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. A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Baylis notched is his second shorthanded goal of the season and career in a 3-3 tie against Alabama Huntsville (Dec. 8), to tie the game at 2-2.
On the Bowling Green squad, McLain (4), Baylis (2), John Schilling (1), and Lukas Craggs (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

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Brett D'Andrea

Eric Dop

Connor Ford

Max Johnson

Brandon Kruse

Frederic Letourneau

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Tyler Spezia

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