It can and has been said about every BGSU Hockey series since the turn of the year: this is a big one. While they have been playing quite well, they have come to the point in the season where good play matters far less than the points taken every week.
The Falcons sit at fourth in the CCHA, behind Augustana, Minnesota State and Michigan Tech. This weekend they straddle the line between a home and away playoff series against St. Thomas who sits in fifth place.
The Tommies have underachieved most of the season, sitting at only 11-12-5 and 8-8-4 in conference with one of the better rosters in the CCHA. They were projected to finish first in the preseason coaches’ poll among three first-place votes yet have not sniffed the top four in quite a long time.
On the ice, their roster is parallelled only by Minnesota State, a top 20 team in the nation for the entire season. A combination of their best three forwards are top 10 in goals, assists, points and shots with a goaltender tandem the best in the CCHA.
While their schedule is quite difficult, they have still not won as many games as expected of them. They have, however, gone 8-2-1 since 2025 started, the best record in the CCHA.
They have three premier forwards, as mentioned, that are three of the best in the conference.
Senior forward Liam Malmquist leads all CCHA skaters in points (32) as well as set the program record for most points in a season. Junior forward Lucas Wahlin is a similar player, 10 goals and 16 assists for slightly less production and still potent offense.
Junior “power” forward Cooper Gay is tied for the conference lead in goals with 14 (with Brody Waters) and leads in shots with 115. He is currently the “Falcon killer” in the CCHA with eight goals and three assists over his nine games played against Bowling Green, only one of five series with less than three points.
While not as impressive, the goaltender situation is also quite good. Junior Aaron Trotter allows about 2.5 goals per game with a .910 save percentage, his senior partner, Jake Sibell, a step back with 3.03 goals allowed and .905 save percentage.
Trotter can be expected to be the starter as he has been through the last two series. With his 2.5 goals against average and St. Thomas’ three goals scored per game, statistically the Tommies are set up well.
Bowling Green is 1-3-2 with 2 shootout wins over the last two seasons, a total of 11 points taken for St. Thomas and only seven for BG. Seemingly all of the games come in high leverage situations in the standings as in all six matchups the teams fought for each other’s playoff spots.
Nothing will change this weekend, UST sitting at five in the standings with Bowling Green just ahead, a critical series for both sides with strong implications for the Mason Cup playoffs.
As in many cases this season, BG’s defense is going to have to be superior to hold off such a fantastic St Thomas offense. This places much pressure on BG’s defenseman, the penalty kills and on a massive question mark; the availability of Christian Stoever.
A senior Goaltender and the NCAA leader in save percentage, Stoever left Saturday’s game against Northern Michigan with an apparent right leg injury. He did not return for the final eight minutes of the game and his outlook for UST is still questionable.
Sophomore goaltender Cole Moore started both games against St. Thomas earlier in the season in St. Paul, Minn. He allowed eight total goals in the weekend although had a great 26 save two goal-allowed first game and not much defensive help in the six-goal second.
BG needs to put everything together for their hardest remaining test of the 2024-25 regular season. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Ben Corak will have the call on WBGU 88.1 FM starting at 6:45 both Friday the seventh and Saturday the eighth.
Falcon Four Players to Watch
Senior forward- Liam Malmquist, St. Thomas
What more is there to say about Malmquist, the heart of a high-octane offensive team and the leading scorer in the CCHA. Averaging over a point per game this season, he is nearly guaranteed to get a point over the two-game series.
The scary part for BG, however, is that they have not scored in the last four games and in the four games before, he scored six goals and three assists. Is he going to blow up, or stay silent? Has he used up all of his magic this season?
Junior forward- Cooper Gay, St. Thomas
It is improbable that Gay does not score a goal in this series considering he has annihilated BG across three seasons of play. He has scored eight goals and three assists against the Falcons, and they have spurned a rivalry against each other considering the orange and brown ended his season in 2023-24 in the Slater Family Ice Arena.
He has 14 goals and nine assists this season, the same number of scores and four more assists than Waters for BG in two less games played.
Senior right winger – Ryan O’Hara, Bowling Green
Whether before his first goal against RIT on December 29 or after, the offense of Bowling Green has run through O’Hara. He is a consistent powerplay guy, great passer and fantastic skater and puck handler, certainly the best offensive player for BG.
He just snapped a three-game pointless streak, scoring the game winning goal against Northern Michigan. With his eight goal he advances to 23 points this season, one in every series aside from Ohio State and Augustana, two currently ranked teams.
Not to mention he’s a captain and one of the most confident players on the ice.
BGSU Blueliners- Norris, Stjernberg, Pasanen, Wozney, Parker, McKinley, Korodiuk
Three goals scored per game and the most total goals scored this season, St. Thomas has, in the words of fifth year forward and captain Ethan Scardina, “a high-flying offense.” Possibly without their star goaltender, keeping the Tommies of the board may be a tall task.
This responsibility needs to be picked up, in majority, by the Falcon defensemen. They have had very clean defensive games peppered through the season and in higher quantity in 2025. They may need to play as they did against Augustana (two goals allowed in two games) to be able to come away with six points.
