The Falcon icers, with a record of 6-3-1, are off to a promising start this season. And, while I can’t say how long its been since a start this good, it’s the best one they’ve had since I’ve been here (2002).
Despite losing some fine talent to graduation (Bieksa, McConvey, etc…), they did bring back some important starters from last year’s squad including
Jordan Sigalet, James Unger, Rich Meloche, Alex Rogosheske, and Ryan Minnabarriet to name a few. However, as far as the statistics go, it has been one true freshman that has helped turn things around so far.
Jonathan Matsumoto came to us from Orleans, Ontario. He played his hockey last season with the Cumberland Grads of the Central Junior A Hockey League, a league based out of Ontario. In one season with the team, he scored 31 goals and notched 32 assists for a total of 63 points en route to the 2004 CJHL Rookie of the Year award. Before that, he was actually invited to try out for the 2002 Team Ontario Under-17 training camp.
After the 2003-04 season, Matsumoto was convinced to go to college. He began his career at Bowling Green in an exhibition game against Windsor. He didn’t do a lot to impact that game (which didn’t count anyway). Instead, he saved his best for the regular season.
His first real game was against Union College, New York. Matsumoto made a decent impression on his teammates, coaches, and the fans of Falcon Hockey (none of which even know where Schenectady is). He scored a goal in the 3rd period, and assisted on two others back in the 1st.
The great performances continued throughout the next night’s game against Union, the next week at home vs. Lake Superior State, followed by two against Notre Dame, two against Nebraska-Omaha, and this weekend’s games against Wayne State. I can’t guarantee he had a good night in every single one of these contests, but the fact that he has scored seven goals (leads team), assisted four of them, and amassed a total of eleven points (leads team), he couldn’t have had that many off-nights.
The Falcons are off to their best start in a while. However, if Bowling Green Hockey wants to regain its powerhouse status, it will all start with Jonathan Matsumoto.
