The Bowling Green Falcons hockey team (13-10-3, 10-7-1-2) will open February with a showdown against the No. 1 Minnesota State Mavericks (25-5-0, 17-3-0-1). The series begins on Friday, Feb. 4, then continues on Saturday, Feb. 5. Both games begin at 7:07 p.m. ET in the Slater Family Ice Arena.
Falcon Facts
- Bowling Green has a .238 conversion rate on the power play, ranking eighth in the NCAA. Taylor Schneider and Nathan Burke have scored five power play goals each, tied for 14th in the country. The Falcon power play has been especially efficient at home, with the Orange and Brown scoring 11 goals on 37 chances.
- Sam Craggs enters the weekend with 170 career games played, tied for fifth in program history. The senior has seven goals this season, including three on the power play and one shorthanded goal. In his career, the forward has 28 goals.
- In BGSU's win over Ferris State on Jan. 28, freshmen forwards Ryan O'Hara and Spencer Schneider each notched the first multi-point performance of their careers. O'Hara scored the game's first goal, with Schneider earning the lone assist. The duo then logged the assists on a second period goal by junior linemate Adam Pitters.
Series Info
The Mavericks hold a 19-9-3 lead in the all-time series, including an 8-2-0 record in the last ten meetings. Minnesota State swept the first series of the season, defeating the Falcons in Mankato. The teams have split the last four games in Bowling Green, with the Falcons earning a sweep in 2018 and Mavericks earning the sweep in 2020.
Opponent Outlook
Minnesota State is 25-5-0 this season and currently sits atop the CCHA standings. Ryan Sandelin leads MSU with 17 goals on the season, with Nathan Smith notching a team-high in assists (26) and points (41). The Mavericks will be without Smith and head coach Mike Hastings this weekend, as they are with the United States Olympic Hockey Team. In their first series, MSU swept BGSU in Mankato, with Cade Borchardt tallying a hat trick. Mavericks' goaltender Dryden McKay, who recently collected his 100th career win, is the NCAA Men's Hockey all-time leader in career shutouts. McKay has a 1.33 GAA and .927 save percentage this season. MSU has a +2.80 scoring margin, the widest in the country.
Ty's Take
"We've got a tall task with a really good Minnesota State team coming into Slater Family Ice Arena. We want to do the best job we can on Friday and then worry about Saturday on Saturday.
You have to be ready for anything because they can beat teams in a lot of ways. They can score if it ends up being a high-scoring game, they can score if it ends up being a low-scoring game, they don't give up a lot of goals, and they're good on special teams."
Up Next
Bowling Green will hit the road for a conference series with No. 15 Michigan Tech. It will be the first series of the season between the Falcons and Huskies. The series begins on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:07 p.m. ET, then concludes at 5:07 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12. Both games will be played at the Macinnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton, Michigan.
