BGSU hockey (12-6-4, 9-4-3) entered its weekend series against the Lake Superior State Lakers (19-14-1, 6-10-0) sitting at fifth in the CCHA standings with 27 points and was only three points away from first place in the conference, which was tied between St. Thomas (14-7-3, 11-3-2) and Augustana (16-6-3, 10-4-2), who had 30 points apiece.

The Falcons would split their series with the Lakers, claiming a 3-1 victory on Friday night, followed by a 1-0 loss on Saturday.

While many would argue that the Orange and Brown outplayed their opponent on both nights of the series, as BG outshot LSSU both games and finished the weekend having outshot the Lakers 66-41, Bowling Green claimed three out of a possible six points towards the CCHA standings to move their season total to thirty.

While the Falcons did leave some points sitting on the table, their weekend performance did allow the Falcons to move up to fourth place in the standings over Minnesota State (12-8-5, 8-6-3), which puts the Falcons in position to have home ice advantage in the first round of the CCHA Mason Cup playoffs.

The Falcons now sit fourth in the standings behind St. Thomas (36 points), Augustana (35 points), and Michigan Tech (16-8-2, 11-3-2, 34 points), and are currently followed by Minnesota State (28 points) and Bemidji State (9-12-3, 7-6-3, 25 points).

Had Bowling Green completed the weekend and season sweep over the Lakers, the Falcons would have remained in fourth place, but would have been only one point behind Michigan Tech in third place, two points behind Augustana in second, and would have been only three points away from tying St. Thomas in first place.

This is not the first instance of the Falcons leaving points on the table this season, with the Falcons notably only claiming two points during their weekend series with Northern Michigan earlier this season, as the Wildcats, who were winless before the series, claimed a regulation victory and overtime loss against the Falcons.

With the CCHA standings so close, the Falcons cannot continue to let points slip through their fingers, especially if they want to make a run to claim the MacNaughton Cup (CCHA regular season champion) at the end of the regular season.

For better or for worse, the Falcons remaining conference schedule will see to Orange and Brown taking on only teams ranked among the top six of the CCHA standings as the Falcons will host St. Thomas (Feb. 6 and 7) and Minnesota State (Feb. 20 and 21) and will be traveling to Bemidji State (Jan. 23 and 24), Augustana (Feb. 13 and 14) and Michigan Tech (Feb. 27 and 28) over the next six weeks.

While they will be playing tougher opponents, the Falcons will also be directly facing the teams that they are competing with for positions in the standings and will have control over their future.