BG hockey coach Dennis Williams has said all season that the goal every weekend is to get six points.
After taking a step back in the conference standings a week ago, BG will look to fulfill their goal this weekend, as they take to the ice against No. 13 Michigan State in a two-game, home-and-home series.
Today, the Falcons (2-12-2, 2-8-2-2 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) will host the Spartans (10-6-2, 7-3-2 CCHA) beginning at 7:05 p.m. at the BGSU Ice Arena. The two will be back in action tomorrow night at 7:05, when the series shifts to Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.
The home-and-home series was split last season, with BG notching a 4-0 shutout at home.
For the Falcons to get the sweep this time around, and future games for that matter, they will have to play an entire 60 minutes.
‘We can’t let things get too high or too low throughout it all,’ Williams said. ‘We have to go in there with the mindset of playing for 60 minutes. I told our guys, ‘Let’s focus on winning the first period, and after we win that first period then we focus on the second period, let’s not get too far in front of ourselves.”
Playing an entire 60 minutes has been an ongoing problem for BG this season, as their tendency in allowing early leads coupled with scoring goals has ultimately cost the team down the stretch.
The Falcons are 1-8-2 when the opposition scores first, and with the Spartans boasting an 8-1-1 record when scoring first, BG can’t afford to play from behind
‘[The Spartans] are playing good hockey,’ Williams said. ‘They’re definitely a team that you have to be on all cylinders with. We have to make sure we’re all set to go, we can’t afford to have a lapse.’
As BG has seen in their wins against ranked conference opponents Alaska and Michigan, as well as a shootout win against Notre Dame, they’re as good as anyone when they play a complete game.
‘As I told them, you have to see yourself doing it, you have to believe yourself doing it and you have to want it,’ Williams said. ‘When we do play a full 60, we’re a great hockey team.’
