After 209 long days, BGSU hockey finally takes the ice again, battling the Mercyhurst Lakers in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 5, officially marking the start of the Dennis Williams era.
Puck drop at Mercyhurst Ice Center is set for 7:07 p.m. for both games.
“It’s exciting times right now for the program,” Williams said at his preseason press conference on Wednesday morning. “We’re very excited about our first games coming up, and it’s a good opportunity for us to kind of gauge to see where we’re at and use it as a benchmark as we move forward.”
Matchup History
Bowling Green leads the all-time series against Mercyhurst, 5-2.
The two teams split their two meetings at Slater Family Ice Arena last season, with the Lakers escaping with a 4-3 victory in overtime before the Falcons responded with a 4-2 victory.
Interestingly, the Orange and Brown have won all three away games against Mercyhurst.
Scouting Bowling Green
The Falcons are set to begin a new era under Williams following the dismissal of head coach Ty Eigner after getting swept by Michigan Tech in the quarterfinals of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Tournament.
However, BGSU has retained much of their firepower from last season, with 25 players returning following no transfer portal entries over the summer.
The injury-ailed Falcons finished last season with a 13-22-1 overall and 11-12-1 conference record; however, they ended last year’s campaign with six consecutive losses.
Last year, Bowling Green ranked second-to-last in the CCHA with 86 goals, 142 assists and 1,017 shots on goal, resulting in the worst shot percentage in the conference (0.08).
Although the Falcons allowed the second-most goals in the CCHA last season, they did have a few strengths.
BGSU led the conference in faceoff winning percentage (.528), winning 1,157 of their 2,193 faceoffs. BG also had the third-best penalty kill percentage in the CCHA (.805), allowing just 25 goals in 128 attempts.
Scouting Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst finished last season with a 9-22-4 overall and a 7-15-4 conference record.
After competing last year in the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA), the Lakers are beginning their first season in the newly formed Atlantic Hockey America conference.
Mercyhurst finished last season with the third-worst scoring margin in the AHA, with 94 goals scored and 142 goals allowed.
However, they finished with the second-best shot percentage in the conference (.102).
Falcon Four Players to Watch
Ryan O’Hara (Senior forward, #20)
O’Hara, one of the four captains for the Falcons, led the Falcons in scoring last season with 10 goals, eight assists and 18 points.
In two games against the Lakers last season, the Oakville, Ontario, native notched three goals and an assist, tallying four points.
Ethan Scardina (Graduate student forward, #17)
Scardina, another captain for the Falcons, tallied six goals and six assists in 26 games last season.
The South Surrey, British Columbia, native also recorded two game-winning goals and three multi-point games in last year’s campaign.
Boris Skalos (Sophomore forward, #14)
Skalos returns to Mercyhurst after being named to the All-AHA Rookie Team last season.
The Clifton, New Jersey, native led the Lakers with 15 goals last year, including a team-high three game-winners.
Trent Sambrook (Sophomore defenseman, #6)
Sambrook is another returning All-AHA Rookie Team selection for the Lakers.
The 5-foot-10-inch defenseman finished last season with three goals, 10 assists and 13 points, ending his rookie campaign with a three-game point streak.
