Bowling Green Falcons v. Ohio State Buckeyes

Friday, 1/8/2010 @ 7:05PM
Saturday, 1/9/2010 @ 7:05PM

Background:

BGSU:
-Record: 3-15-2 (2-10-2)
-Last game: v. Clarkson W 4-3

OSU:
-Record: 7-12-1 (5-8-1)
-Last game: v. Miami (OH) L 4-2

Last time out...

Mixed Results in the Land of the Lakes

The Falcons started off the new year with a couple of games in the Dodge Holiday Classic in Minnesota. The tournament featured some familiar teams (like conference foes Northern Michigan) and some less common opponents (such as the hosting Minnesota Golden Gophers).

One of the bigger stories leading into the weekend was the return of former Falcon Jacob Cepis to the ice. After sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules, Cepis was able to get back on the ice for the first time against his former team. Statistically, he was essentially a non-factor in the game, totaling only six shots and an interference penalty. He was, however, selected as the third star of the game. Having only viewed the box score, this seems odd, but I recognize there is a lot that goes on in a hockey game that doesn't appear in the statistics.

The game with the Gophers started off encouragingly. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead early in the second period on a goal by Jordan Samuels-Thomas. They held the lead for a full period until Minnesota scored the equalizing goal on a powerplay just three minutes into the third. They went on to add an even-strength goal and an empty net score to put the game away.

Despite the difficult loss to the Gophers, the Falcon icers rallied back to beat the Clarkson Golden Knights by a final score of 4-3. The win was achieved thanks to goals from Kai Kantola, Kyle Page, Brennan Vargas (his first career goal), and Josh Boyd, who scored an empty net goal with just under two minutes left which would turn out to be the game winner.

Following the tournament, the Falcons' record is 3-15-2 (2-10-2).

"South 'til you smell it, east 'til you step in it."

This week the Falcons of THE Bowling Green State University head southeast for the winter to take on the Buckeyes of Ohio A&M (or Ohio State, as they are occasionally called) and Head Coach John Markell's hair.

This series will be the first action for the Buckeyes in the new year. They ended 2009 on a three-game skid, losing the back end of a home series with Michigan and dropping two games to Miami.

OSU's has been a less-than-pleasing season, beginning with an overtime exhibition game loss to Western Ontario in early October. They've been on the wrong side of a number of lopsided losses, including an 8-1 loss to Ferris St., a 4-1 loss to North Dakota, and a 6-0 laugher to Miami.

Speaking of laughers, let's take the traditional look at the names of the OSU players and coaching staff:

OSU has their share of names ripe for Berman-izing. For example, sophomore forward #18 Taylor "gone Stefishen" and sophomore forward #16 Ian "Boots with the fur."

Also amusing enough to warrant a mention is junior defenseman #4 Corey Toy.

Two final names that must be mentioned are junior forward #15 John Albert and freshman goalie #30 Jeff Michael. Keep your eyes on these Buckeyes. Everyone knows a guy with two first names can't be trusted.

What to watch for: Ohio State

The good:

The Buckeyes have played seven games against teams ranked in the top ten in the nation, picking up a couple of high-profile wins (and, as will be covered in a moment, a couple of ugly losses). On October 16th they shut out #3 Denver, returning the favor from the Pioneers' 2-0 shutout of the Bucks the night before. On November 28th, OSU beat #6 Bemidji State 2-1.

The bad:

OSU and BGSU have a similar problem when it comes to closing out games. Ohio State has lost four games this season when leading at the end of two periods. They lost their season opener against Quinnipiac 4-2 after leading 2-1 heading into the third. Later in the season, after taking a 5-2 lead early in the final period, the Buckeyes gave up four unanswered goals, including the OT winner, to lose 6-5 to Lake Superior. And in their most recent game, OSU lost 4-2 to Miami after leading 2-0 after two periods. It will be interesting to see which team can finish with more energy in these two games.

The ugly:

As was mentioned earlier, OSU has had some ugly losses this season. I don't mean slightly unfortunate, I mean full-on, fell out of the ugly tree, hit every branch on the way down, and had the tree fall on them ugly.

First, there was the 8-1 loss to Ferris State. The Buckeyes gave up a hat trick to Blair Riley and were slapped with 43 minutes of penalties, including two major misconduct penalties.

Then, just a week later, a 4-1 loss to North Dakota.

Two weeks after that came a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of the Miami Redhawks in which Miami's Tommy Wingels recorded a hat trick, scoring 4 goals and picking up an assist for good measure.

What to watch for: Bowling Green

The good:

Freshman goalie Andrew Hammond had a very strong showing in the game against Minnesota. Through the first two periods, Hammond stopped 30 shots and shut down two Gopher powerplays to maintain the Falcons' 1-0 lead heading into the third. Despite the eventual loss, Hammond managed to stop 38 shots in the game, for a .900 save percentage.

The bad:

The Falcons have been outscored by a margin of 70-40, including 22-16 in the third period. Surprisingly, but not satisfyingly, the Falcons third period scoring margin is no worse than the rest of the game. In the first period, opposing teams have scored 22 goals to the Falcons' 12. The second period appears to be the worst in terms of this statistic, with BG scoring only 12 goals to their opponents' 24.

The ugly:

Like the Buckeyes, the Falcons have had a lot of trouble holding on to leads late in their games this season. Most recently, the 3-1 loss to Minnesota, in which the Falcons gave up three goals in the third period. Prior to that was the heartbreaker against Sparty, where the Falcons lost a two goal lead in the third and ended up losing just 35 seconds into overtime.

A loss is one thing, but to drop a two or three goal lead and lose is demoralizing, and we'll have to hope the Falcons get this under control. I have faith in the will of the players and coaching staff, but too many losses like this can really have an effect on the team.

Pick me a winner:

Fantasy scoring picks:

Inspired by a BGSU Fantasy Hockey game from the spectacular Falcon fan-site Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba, I will be making fantasy scoring picks for each series. I will make five picks each game, consisting of three forwards and two defensemen each night. Players cannot be used twice in the same series. These picks will be a combination of players from either team, and I will be restricted to not picking any of the top three scorers from either team. (Thanks, Freddie!)

For this series, the top three scorers from Bowling Green are Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Tomas Petruska, and Tommy Dee. Kyle Page and David Solway are both tied with Dee in terms of total points, but Dee gets the edge because of a higher goal total.

The top three scorers from Ohio State are Zac Dalpe, Peter Boyd, and Sergio Somma. John Albert is tied with Soma in terms of points, but Somma has six goals to Albert's 4.

Friday:

Forwards: Josh Boyd (BG), Mathieu Picard (OSU), Nathan Pageau (BG)
Defensemen: Kyle Page (BG), Shane Sims (OSU)

Saturday:

Forwards: James Perkin (BG), David Solway (BG), John Albert (OSU)
Defensemen: Ian Ruel (BG), Matt Bartkowski (OSU)

Game score picks:

Friday: 5-2 BG

Saturday: 4-3 BG