vs. LSSU (2/12-13)

[mbenecke]

Our 12th-ranked Falcons (16-6-0, 5-3-0 WCHA) return home this weekend to take on the Lake Superior State Lakers (7-4-3, 1-3-0 WCHA). Both games will begin at 7:07pm, and will be broadcast on https://www.flohockey.tv/.

LSSU is a team that is receiving votes in the national poll, so they have the respect of the nation, in some regard. It's important that we bounce back after our struggles in Minnesota last weekend. So, we're going to have to have success against a solid team this weekend. It's a great opportunity for us to get back on track and tack some quality wins onto our resume in the process.

We'll be without Will Cullen all weekend, and Sam Craggs won't be in the lineup on Friday night, both due to suspensions.

WCHA Standings (games played):

1. Minnesota State - 24 (8)
2. Bowling Green - 16 (8)
3. Michigan Tech - 9 (5)
4. NMU - 9 (6)
5. Bemidji State - 6 (4)
6. UAH - 5 (4)
7. LSSU - 3 (4)
8. Ferris - 3 (11)

It seems pretty clear that it would take a minor miracle for us to catch Mankato at the top before the end of the regular season, but we're absolutely in a position to finish 2nd in the WCHA with a strong finish, which would be our best regular season conference finish since the 1994-1995 season in the CCHA.

Goaltender Stats:

BGSU
Sr. Eric Dop... GAA - 2.26, SV% - .926, 9–4-0
So. Zack Rose... GAA - 1.86, SV% - .914, 7-2-0

LSSU
Sr. Mareks Mitens… GAA - 1.92, SV% - .932, 4-3-3
Fr. Ethan Langenegger… GAA - 3.20, SV% - .887, 1-1-0
So. Seth Eisele… GAA - 2.86, SV% - .902, 2-0-0

Go Falcons - Beat LSSU!

[mbenecke]

GAME 1 LINEUP:

Kruse-Johnson-Wright
Gould-Ford-Dougherty
Collin-Schneider-Barber
Conquest-Pitters-Fyten

Musser-Lloyd
Theocharidis-Coyle
Wells-Daly
Malmstrom

Dop-Rose-Rich

Feels a little thin on the blue line, with Cullen out. We should seemingly be fine at forward without Craggs tonight, but we’ll need some younger guys to step up and we’ll need to remember to be physical.

[mbenecke]

Both games this weekend are also available to watch locally on WBGU!

[mbenecke]

GOAL! Cameron Wright gets one past Mitens and the Falcons lead 1-0 with 7:47 to play in the first period.

Fantastic effort by Kruse to skate the length of the ice to get the loose puck and find the open man. Love seeing that.

[mbenecke]

END OF ONE: BG leads, 1-0.

Lakers will be on the PP for about 35 more seconds to start the 2nd period.

Shots were 13-6 in favor of BGSU.

[mbenecke]

LSSU tied it at 1 on the PP (where they had only converted 8% of the time coming in) with 13 minutes to play in the middle frame, and we're now tied.

Our PK has struggled this year, even against poor PP units. That's something that NEEDS to improve as we head down the stretch this season.

[mbenecke]

Gould gets crunched into the boards, is slow to get up, then heads straight to the locker room with a trainer with about 10 to play in the 2nd period. Not good.

[mbenecke]

END OF TWO: We're tied at 1.

Gotta win the 3rd period to win the game in regulation. It's that simple.

Shots so far are 23-20 in favor of BGSU.

[mbenecke]

12 minutes to play, we're still knotted at 1.

Really would like to see a little more push on the offensive end. We've not had a lot of success there in almost 2 weeks now. Feels like we're due - now let's earn it.

[mbenecke]

A scoreless third period sends us to OT, tied at 1.

[mbenecke]

Wow. Embarrassing. TJ Lloyd slips, and a 2-on-0 for LSSU leads to a goal 17 seconds into OT. This BG team has now lost 3 straight.

Good that we got a league point, but that's a brutal loss.

[jpfalcon09]

Falcons playing their way out of the national tournament.

Gotta love it.

[mbenecke]

Falcons playing their way out of the national tournament.

Gotta love it.

Yeah, we’re definitely not a lock anymore. 3-game losing streaks will do that to you.

We have to respond tomorrow night. Absolutely have to.

[unfalconbelievable]

Same story different year, play good or great at times right up until January 1. Get into the national conversation then we welcome mediocrity into the program and try to hang on for dear life in the pairwise usually.

Pathetic, that many seniors and this happens after getting swept. Lacking leadership and urgency. No scoring and B rated goal tending. Pathetic pathetic pathetic.

[TommyG]

I’ve tried not to say too much this year, but it was laughable that this team was ranked in the top 10 at any point. Anyone who really evaluated the schedule could see that we played a bunch of below avg teams. I still think we get in but tomorrow is really important to get a win. Should be able to finish strong the last couple weekends against bad hockey teams.