vs./@ WMU (10/18-10/19)

[mbenecke]

We've reached our first home hockey of the season, as our Falcons will host the WMU Broncos (1-0-1) on Friday night before traveling to Kalamazoo on Saturday. Each game will be played at 7:07pm, with Friday's game being available to stream on FloHockey. You can also listen to Ryan Vallon on the radio call, or follow @ BGFalconHockey on Twitter for updates throughout the game.

This is a team we're very familiar with, as we just played them on Saturday - a tough, frustrating 5-2 loss. There isn't much more to say about it other than we have some things to clean up this week in preparation. I'm really hoping for a good crowd and a great atmosphere on Friday night for the home opener.

Projected Goaltender Stats:

BGSU
Jr. Eric Dop... GAA - 2.25, SV% - .911, 14–9-3

WMU
Fr. Brandon Bussi... GAA - 1.92, SV% - .935, 1-0-1


Time to bounce back. Go Falcons.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Any news on Gould?

[mbenecke]

I've heard nothing, and that leads me to continue to believe he won't be available this year.

[TommyG]

It’ll be interesting to see what type of response you get this weekend. Schedule is actually fairly legit in the first half. Upcoming is home and home with WMU, 2 at home with MTU, @Mankato for 2, @Anchorage for 2, home vs LSSU for 2, home and home with ND. Arguably the toughest stretch for the team since they were in the CCHA. Don’t want to play poorly again this weekend and get into a funk with a tough stretch coming up.

[TommyG]

24hrs til home opener. Wouldn’t say must win, but it is a big one.

[mbenecke]

24hrs til home opener. Wouldn’t say must win, but it is a big one.

I agree with this assessment. I can't call anything in October a must-win, because there are still 30+ games left after this weekend. But it sure is a big one.

[pdt1081]

24hrs til home opener. Wouldn’t say must win, but it is a big one.

I agree with this assessment. I can't call anything in October a must-win, because there are still 30+ games left after this weekend. But it sure is a big one.

A loss this weekend will pretty much kiss an at-large goodbye. What chance will be left will mean zero room for error the rest of the season.

[mbenecke]

Should be 2-0, but awful officiating has wiped 2 of our goals off the board.

First one was a delayed penalty, where we scored but they (wrongly) said WMU touched and possessed the puck before it went in the net so they waved it off.

Second one clearly got past the goalie but the ref blew his whistle early because he “lost sight” of the puck even though it was already in the back of the net.

So yeah. That’s where we’re at. It’s tied at nothing after the first period, but we should absolutely be up 2-0. It irritates me that we can’t buy a call at home. Not even once.

[mbenecke]

Letourneau gets one with 47 seconds left in the period!

End of 2: BG 1, WMU 0

[mbenecke]

Gave up a goal with about 6 minutes left, then got one back about a minute and a half later and held on for the W.

Falcons win! 2-1, final.

Let’s get the sweep tomorrow night.

[mbenecke]

Some thoughts from the game:

-We outshot them 38-22, and it felt like we did a good job of possessing the puck throughout the game
-It felt like they were faster than us
-The physicality was basically even, and we looked to be playing a style closer to last year than we had in the first 3 games this year
-Still need to cut down on silly penalties
-Happy we got the win

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

That was a strong effort for 55 minutes. We were on them from the opening faceoff and they never could get going...this game reminded me of how we played them last year at home. They seemed to struggle with our forecheck even when we were shorthanded.

We still seem to have that brain cramp where we leave guys uncovered in front. The first time Dop made two highlight saves in the second and the second time they scored. Each game this has happened.

I may be off on this, but in the three games I've seen live Brandon Kruse looks like he's struggling. Trying to skate through the opposition, passes are off, waving his stick in the corners instead of getting in close. I like how TJ Lloyd has stepped up. Frustrating news on Gould but I guess no one is surprised.

[TommyG]

That was a really big win. Big response after a bad weekend. Interesting to see how they follow it up tonight.

[vwfalcon]

For those of you interested in watching, we will be showing the game tonight at Downtown. Seating will be limited, but we will have it on the 3 screens on the South side of the main bar. We intend on showing every away game that has a stream of some kind. Feel free to join us.

[pdt1081]

Frustrating news on Gould but I guess no one is surprised.

No one is surprised at all. I'm not even surprised that the kid that transferred from Minnesota to Penn State is eligible immediately, either.