The Bowling Green hockey team returns home tonight to face off against the University of Findlay at 7:05 at the BGSU Ice Arena.
The Falcons have been working hard in practice all week to eliminate breakdowns in their play. Last weekend, a few breakdowns cost the team goals and changed the whole momentum of the game.
“Our motto, and what we are all about, is we are going to work hard regardless of our winning situation or losing situation,” said Coach Scott Paluch. “If we were 5-1 in our last six or, as we are, 1-5, we are going to work equally as hard. We’re going to approach every opponent with the same vigor regardless of if we are coming off a very successful weekend or a weekend that we certainly weren’t as successful as we would like to be.”
This past weekend was one of those unsuccessful weekends. The Falcons (1-5-0) endured two tough losses to Ferris State (10-1, 5-1) and are hoping to rebound tonight.
“We’re taking out of last weekend the things that were exposed and that we need to work on, primarily our defensive work through the neutral zone,” Paluch said. “We need to do a better job of slowing the opposition down in transition. Ferris was able to get way too many chances in the transition off our turnovers.”
Ferris State was able to come up with 43 shots on goal Friday and 53 shots Saturday.
BG, however, is looking to eliminate the number of chances Findlay has on goal tonight. The Falcons have been working on creating fewer turnovers and winning more face-offs.
“We’re trying to perfect our face-offs and face-off plays in our defensive of zone because a couple of goals we let in this past weekend were off of face-offs, so we’re refining that,” said junior defenseman Kevin Bieksa.
The Falcons have been working hard all week trying to correct their mistakes from last weekend and play a perfect again against Findlay.
“As a team we have to keep our work ethic going through the weekend,” Bieksa said. “We have to keep going through the entire game – the whole 60 minutes. I don’t think we’ve put it together one complete game yet.”
The Oilers (2-0-0) are hoping to keep their winning streak alive after defeating Canisius (3-1, 8-1) last weekend. Findlay started the season off with a 5-0 shutout over Wilfrid Laurier.
“They are coming off two impressive wins against Canisius,” Paluch said. “They were impressive in their exhibition game over Wilfrid Laurier. They are ready to make a real mark in their conference,” Paluch said. “The CCHA is a very credible conference and I think Findlay is going to be a player for that championship and the automatic bid that goes with it to the national tournament.”
The players agree that Findlay will be a challenge, but they are up for it.
“Findlay has a lot better team than they have had in the past,” Bieksa said. “They’re not usually a strong team, but this year they’ve turned it around. They have a good squad, so we’re going to take them like any other CCHA opponent.”
