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

Bowling Green Falcons v. Michigan State Spartans

Friday, 12/11/2009 @ 7:05PM - Bowling Green, OH
Saturday, 12/12/2009 @ 7:05PM - East Lansing, MI

Background:

BGSU:
-Record: 2-12-2 (2-8-2)
-Last game: v. Lake Superior L 5-2

MSU:
-Record: 10-6-2 (7-3-2)
-Last game: v. Western Michigan L 3-2 (OT)

Looking back...

Falcons Falter, Spartans Hit the Skids:

Both teams are in the midst of serious slumps, and are looking to shake the rust off with a solid performance.

The Falcons come into this series winless in regulation since their November 20th contest against the Michigan Wolverines.

Last weekends series with Lake Superior was ugly on the scoreboard and on the ice. The Lakers took the tightly contested first game by a margin of 2-1. The second game was decidedly more lopsided, with the Lakers coming out on top 5-2. Unfortunately, things took a rough turn on the ice as well, as freshman defenseman Robert Shea ran over LSSU goalie Pat Inglis in the final moments of the second game, leading to a number of scuffles and 11 penalties for a total of 30 minutes. Because of his part in the incident, Shea received a game DQ and will be unavailable for Friday's game against MSU.

The Spartans are slumping as well, with losses in the last few weeks to Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Western Michigan. Despite their less than stellar performance, they remain ranked in the USCHO (14) and INCH (12) polls.

In their previous series, the Spartans split with the Northern Michigan Wildcats in Marquette, MI. MSU won a close game, 1-0 on Friday night, but couldn't repeat their success on Saturday, losing 3-2 in overtime.

Spartans still daydreaming about being Leonidas

This week the Falcons play a split series with the Michigan State Egg Suckers -err... Spartans. Friday night's contest will be held in the BGSU Ice Arena, and then State will "Go Green, Go White, Go Home" to the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing for the second half of the weekend tilt.

While MSU's record is intimidating, things are not as they seem. Since winning 10 of their first 13 games, the Spartans have gone 1-4-1 in their last six contests, with the tie game ending in a shootout loss.

In the interest of humor, let's take a look at MSU's roster.

Sophomore defenseman Tim Buttery may pose a problem for the Falcons this weekend, due to his slippery style of play.

Junior forward Andrew "Rowe, Rowe, Rowe Your Boat" looks to continue merrily down his scoring stream, as he currently ranks fourth on the team in total points scored (7-3-10).

And, finally, according to Assistant Coach Tim Newton's first and second laws of motion, the Spartans will continue to slide in the standings at a consistent pace unless accelerated by the outside force of a Falcon sweep.

What to watch for: Michigan State

The good:

The Spartans' roster features six NHL draft picks: Daultan Leveille (1st round, Atlanta), Jeff Petry (2nd round, Edmonton), Corey Tropp (3rd round, Buffalo), Derek Grant (4th round, Ottawa), Nick Sucharski (5th round, Columbus), and Trevor Nill (7th round, St. Louis). Tropp, Grant, and Petry lead the team in scoring with 21, 17, and 13 points, respectively. Leveille and Sucharski are both in the top ten as well.

Also worth noting is freshman forward #40 Dean Chelios, the oldest son of NHL legend Chris Chelios.

The bad:

As was previously mentioned, the Spartans have fallen on tough times lately, winning only one of their last six games. I am a bit hesitant to mention this fact in this part of the preview after the results of a similar tactic last weekend, but I'll say it anyway. Hopefully the Falcons can snap their winless streak and drop the Spartans even further in the standings.

The ugly:

The Spartan defense has given up three or more goals in eight of their 18 games this season, with their worst effort being a 7-3 home loss to Wisconsin.

What to watch for: Bowling Green

The good:

Freshman sensation Jordan Samuels-Thomas continues to impress, as he is currently tied for second in the CCHA in freshman scoring (6-6-12) through twelve conference games. His 12 points in 12 games are also good enough for a sixth-place tie in overall scoring in the conference.

Samuels-Thomas was notably absent from the scoring sheet last week, tallying only one assist over the weekend series against Lake Superior. JST will have to step it up this weekend if the Falcons hope to have some success against the Spartans.

The bad:

The Falcon powerplay unit was a measly 1-8 against the Lakers last weekend. Saturday's effort was markedly better, with the BG icers managing 13 shots in four PP opportunities, as opposed to five shots in the same number of man-advantage situations on Friday.

The ugly:

The end of Saturday's game is all I can think to put here. As a result of the chaos that ended the series with Lake State, the Falcons will be without Robert Shea for the first of the two games this weekend. For a short time, it looked as if the toll from the mess would be even higher, as LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis stayed down on the ice for an extended period of time following the collision. It was good to see him get to his feet and finish the game, and hopefully no serious injuries were sustained by anyone in the chaos.

Also deserving of a mention here is LSSU co-captain Zac MacVoy's exit from the ice on Saturday. After being pulled out of the scrum, MacVoy was being escorted off of the ice, but instead demanded to go to the penalty box, where he proceeded to start a shouting match with the BGSU players seated on their side of the box. This led to a shouting down from one of the scorers and MacVoy's eventual removal from the ice, with various motions and gestures to the student section on his way past.

Emotions run high in hockey, that much is understood, but I would expect a senior captain to have a little more restraint.

Pick me a winner:

Fantasy scoring picks:

The rules for this fantasy game can be found in the Bowling Green v. Lake Superior preview post. One rule I forgot to post previously is that shootout goals do not count toward player points or total goals predictions.

For this series, the top three scorers from Bowling Green are Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Tomas Petruska, and David Solway. The top three scorers from Michigan State are Corey Tropp, Derek Grant, and Jeff Petry. These players are considered ineligible for this fantasy contest.

Friday:

Forwards: Nick Sucharski (MSU), Tommy Dee (BGSU), James Perkin (BGSU)
Defensemen: Ian Ruel (BGSU), Kyle Page (BGSU)

Saturday:

Forwards: Daultan Leveille (MSU), Marc Rodriguez (BGSU), Josh Boyd (BGSU)
Defensemen: Zach Josepher (MSU), Matt Crandell (MSU)

Game score picks:

Friday: BGSU 3 - MSU 1
Saturday: BGSU 2 - MSU 2

Total Goals: 8