The Scott Paluch era officially began Saturday night with the annual Brown and Orange intrasquad game. The Brown team squeaked by with a 5-3 win. However, it will take both Brown and Orange to erase the bad taste of last yearís 9-25-6 record.

This yearís BGSU hockey team is definitely a new team. Not only do they have a new coach, but they also had seven seniors on the team last year, which created some spaces that needed to be filled. One of the things lost was size.

ìWeíre a smaller team this year. We have a lot more speed. There is a lot of young energy and enthusiasm out there,î said junior defenseman Kevin Bieksa. ìI donít really know what to expect.î

Junior forward Darcy McíConvey, who scored the final goal of Saturdayís game, also believes in a fresh start.

ìHopefully weíll have a great year. This will be a great start for us. We want to start over with a clean slate.î

The teamís final tune-up is against the University of Windsor tonight at the BG Ice Arena, before opening up the regular season at the Lefty McFadden Invitational in Dayton this weekend (vs. Niagara on Friday). Windsor is a team that the Falcons did not face last season.

ìWeíre not very familiar with the University of Windsor,î said head coach Scott Paluch. ìWeíre looking forward to putting together a strong effort.î

Paluch, however, did realize the advantage of playing a team youíre not familiar with.

ìWeíre playing an opponent that is obviously as unfamiliar with us as we are with them.î

The game begins tonight at 7:05 at the BG Ice Arena. After Windsor and this weekendís opener in Dayton, the Falcons will play back-to-back games against Western Michigan, the first being at home a week from Friday.