The BG Men’s Ice Hockey Team will host the Minnesota State Mavericks this Friday and Saturday night at the Ice Arena.
These two teams last played each other on Nov. eight and nine when the Falcons won 4-3 in the first game and lost 1-0 in the last game at Minnesota State University. The Mavericks have a 4-1-1 record all-time against the Falcons.
BG comes into the series with a record of 5-4-3 overall, 3-2-1 in WCHA conference play and the Mavericks currently hold a 4-6-0 overall record, with a 2-2-0 WCHA conference record.
The Falcons will return to their home ice this weekend after being on the road for two consecutive weeks. The Falcons are currently unbeaten at the BGSU Ice Arena this season, holding a 4-0-1 record. The last time BG went unbeaten in their first six games at home in a season was 1995-96.
These two teams will take the ice against each other for the second time in three weeks, and the last time these teams will meet in the regular season.
Sophomore goaltender Tommy Burke saved 28 shots Friday night and helped the Falcons earn a 3-3 tie against No. 14-ranked Ferris State University. Burke remains unbeaten on the season with a 3-0-3 record in six games. Burke has a .912 save percentage and a 2.24 GAA for the season.
BG held a two goal lead late in both games last weekend against 14th ranked Ferris State University. However, the Bulldogs erased both Falcon leads, including three goals in the third period on Saturday night to win 4-2. The loss Saturday night was the Falcons first defeat of the season after holding a lead through two periods.
“We need to play with more purpose, we need to play much more poise and much more focus,” BG coach Chris Bergeron said. “We’ve got the intensity and the compete level down, but our lack of poise, our lack of focus and our lack of purpose with what we’re doing when we’ve had the lead the last couple games, has been blatantly obvious.”
Freshman forward Kevin Dufour scored his first collegiate goal of his career in Saturday night’s loss. He now has four points on the year and currently is second in points among freshman behind Pierre-Luc Mercier.
BG continued its special teams scoring drought over the weekend. The Falcons have failed to score a goal on the power play for the fifth consecutive series. The Falcons went 0 for 9 last weekend and have not scored a power play goal in their last 23 chances.
The Falcons ended the month of October with an overall record of 2-2-2 and improved their opening month record from last season’s 1-4-2 record in the opening month.
The Falcons return home for the first time in three weeks to take on WCHA conference opponent Minnesota State University at the BGSU Ice Arena this Friday and Saturday night. Both games start at 7:07 p.m.
