Bowling Green Falcons v. Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks

Friday, 3/5/2010 @ 8:35PM - Qwest Center Omaha - Omaha, Nebraska
Saturday, 3/6/2010 @ 8:05PM - Qwest Center Omaha - Omaha, Nebraska
Sunday, 3/7/2010 @ 8:05PM (If necessary) - Qwest Center Omaha - Omaha, Nebraska

Background:

BGSU:
-Record: 5-23-6 (4-18-6-5)
-Last game: v. Michigan State T 2-2 (SOW)

Nebraska-Omaha:
-Record: 18-14-6 (13-12-3-2)
-Last game: v. Bemidji State W 3-2

Last time out...

Does MSU know everyone dies at the end of 300?

Last week the Falcons faced off against the Spartans of Michigan State University in the customary end of the season home-and-home series. Friday night's game at Munn was MSU's senior night, and Saturday's game in the BG Ice Arena was senior night for the Falcons. The home fans went home happy both nights.

The Spartans won the first matchup 5-2, dominating play throughout the game. Josh Boyd and Marc Rodriguez scored for the Falcons, but it wasn't enough. The Spartans cruised to an easy victory, allowing senior netminder Bobby Jarosz to take the ice for the final 9:00 of the game (and his college hockey career).

Saturday night was a much closer contest. MSU's Andrew Rowe opened the scoring just over 8:00 into the first period, assisted by Nick Sucharski and Dustin Gazley. David Solway answered early in the second to tie the game, setup by last week's hero Tomas Petruska and freshman phenom Jordan Samuels-Thomas. Samuels-Thomas went on to score a goal of his own, with Solway returning the assist favor, and help from Tommy Dee. With just 5:00 remaining in the game, Trevor Nill and Torey Krug set up MSU's Chris Forfar for the game-tying goal. The extra period was scoreless, resulting in a shootout.

The only successful conversion of the shootout was tallied by senior Tomas Petruska, giving the Falcons a Saturday shootout win for the second week in a row.

Falcons Look to Give "Duh Mavs" Unhappy Exit

Tonight BGSU takes the show on the road to Omaha, Nebraska for the first round of the CCHA Playoffs. The Falcons are hoping to see the Mavs out of the conference with a playoff defeat as they run along to the WCHA.

The teams have a rocky history, with UN-O fans insisting the teams are rivals, and BGSU fans not really caring one way or the other.

This year the matchup has a bit more drama, as the first meeting ended in disappointment and controversy for Nebraska. For those unfamiliar with the situation, freshman Jordan Samuels-Thomas (AKA "The Hyphen") scored the shootout winning goal, despite being technically ineligible due to being in the penalty box at the end of OT. Despite a late protest by Nebraska, the goal stood, and the Falcons picked up the extra point. Much bitterness ensued.

Duh Mavs' fans also like to point out a particular dark moment in the history of BGSU hockey (which I won't detail here), accusing the Falcons of all sorts of sexual deviancy. But, I guess, if anyone knows anything about sexual deviancy, it would probably be people from Nebraska.

In the "funny names" department, Nebraska is surprisingly deficient, with only forward Nick "Dontcha Wanna" Fanto standing head and shoulders above the rest. I think that's good enough.

What to watch for: Nebraska-Omaha

In terms of scoring, the Mavericks are led by junior Rich Purslow (14-13-27) and senior Eddie DelGrosso (6-21-27). Seven more Mavs have more than 20 points for the season, and a total of five UN-O players have more than 10 goals.

Redshirt freshman John Faulkner (13-10-4, 2.69 GAA, 90.5%) has taken care of the majority of the goaltending duties this season, backed up by senior Jeremie Dupont (5-4-2, 2.97 GAA, 88.6%).

After starting the new year 1-4-1, the Mavericks have turned things around, going 8-3-1-1 leading up to the playoffs. That run has included sweeps of Northern Michigan and the University of Michigan, as well as splits with #1 Miami and nationally ranked Bemidji State.

What to watch for: Bowling Green

The Falcons head into the playoffs on the upswing, after a regulation win and a shootout win against Notre Dame and an exciting shootout victory over Michigan State. Production has picked up from young and old Falcons, including a great showing by the underclassmen in the Notre Dame series and the breakout clutch play of senior Tomas Petruska.

Jordan Samuels-Thomas (11-13-24) and Tomas Petruska (9-14-23) lead the Falcons in scoring for the season.

The Falcons have allowed an average of 3.7 goals/game this season, which means the defense will have to step up to keep the Mavericks' strong scorers at bay. Fortunately, the play of the Falcon goaltenders has been impressive at the end of the season, so hopefully that bodes well for BGSU. Nick Eno, in his the Notre Dame series, had a save percentage of 93.7. Andrew Hammond, in the shootout win against MSU had a save percentage of 94.1.

The last time the two teams met, Eno stopped 40 of 43 (93.5%) shot attempts in regulation and overtime as the Falcons took a shootout win. The next night, Hammond fought off 30 of 33 shots (90.9%) in a 3-1 loss.

Here's to a great series and an appearance in the second round of the playoffs.