Bowling Green Falcons v. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

(This will be a shortened series preview. Work, once again, interferes with my hobby writing. My apologies.)

Friday, 2/19/2010 @ 7:05PM
Saturday, 2/20/2010 @ 5:05PM

Background:

BGSU:
-Record: 4-22-4 (3-17-4-3)
-Last game: v. Miami L 2-10

Notre Dame:
-Record: 12-13-7 (8-10-6-2)
-Last game: v. Western Michigan L 1-4

Last time out...

Black Eyes for Both Teams

I'm going to keep this fairly simple, because I've covered the previous series in depth in the last three posts.

Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:

Friday night was a hard fought game which ended in a 3-2 loss for the Falcons after the Redhawks took a late lead on a goal that found its way into the net after it deflected off of Andrew Hammond's shoulder and the Falcons failed to convert on a quality scoring chance in the closing moments of the game. There were moments of tension and some chippy play that would foreshadow the mess that would be the second game of the series.

Saturday's game was an absolute shelling, with the Redhawks winning 10-2 and over 150 penalty minutes. Dirty play by both teams, fights, and arguments led to player ejections and the ejection of Miami coach Enrico Blasi. An altogether disappointing display for any hockey fan.

Irish Looking For Their Pot of Gold, Falcons Hopeful

Let's get right to the point here - Who on the Irish team has a funny name. I know that's why you're still reading, and I aim to please.

First off, a reminder to "Always Practice Safe Checks - Use A Condon" (Nick, #14).
Next, Ryan "Shake Your Groove" Thang (#9). And, finally, the Falcons will hope the Irish are saying (Billy) Maday (#17) by the end of the series.

What to watch for: Notre Dame

Notre Dame suffered an unexpected sweep at the hands of the Western Michigan Broncos last weekend and currently stand in 10th place in the CCHA. This season has been a mixed bag for the Irish, who have gone 2-1-1 against Michigan State (T-2nd CCHA) and split with Miami (OH) (1st CCHA), outscoring them 4-1 over two games. Despite their relative success against some of the CCHA's best, they have also gone 4-3-3 against the bottom half of the league.

In terms of scoring, the Irish are led by Calle Ridderwall (17-7-24), Kyle Lawson (4-18-22), and Billy Maday (7-12-19). Three goaltenders have seen starting time, with Mike Johnson (9-9-4 record, 2.36 GAA, 92% SV) shouldering the majority of the load, Brad Phillips (2-3-3 record, 2.47 GAA, 91% SV) starting eight games, and Tom O'Brien (1-1-0 record, 2.12 GAA, 90% SV) starting two.

What to watch for: Bowling Green

Bowling Green is coming to the end of a disappointing regular season. With only four wins this season, results are certainly below expectations. A number of reasons and explanations could be given for the lack of success so far, but the team's focus needs to be on finishing the season in strong form.

If the Falcons play this series the way they played the first of the two games against Miami, we could very well see the first Falcon win over Notre Dame in regulation in the last 18 meetings.

Freshman phenom Jordan Samuels-Thomas, AKA "The Hyphen," (10-12-22) currently leads the team in scoring. Thomas Petruska (8-13-21) trails him slightly, and captain Kyle Page (3-14-17) is third.

Nick Eno (4-10-3 record, 3.25 GAA, 89% SV) has been the goaltender of choice for most of the season, starting 17 games. Andrew Hammond (0-11-1 record, 4.37 GAA, 87% SV) has been solid at times, but has yet to record his first collegiate regulation win. He was, however, very impressive in the 3-2 loss to Miami last week. Phil Greer saw his first action of the season during last Saturday's blowout loss to Miami, much to the delight of fans who have appreciated his commitment to the team the last 4 years.

Due to game disqualification penalties assessed during the Miami melee, James Perkin and Max Grover will be unavailable for Friday's game against the Irish.