The BG hockey team continued its improvement with another win last weekend against Notre Dame. For a young team, these results can be big for confidence.

“I think our confidence is good,” coach Chris Bergeron said. “The results let our guys know we can play with anyone. We just have to convince them that a lot of our games came down to two or three negative plays that lost us those games. In the last month or so we have been on the positive side of those plays.”

Carpenter is Back

Freshman Ryan Carpenter had a big weekend against the Fighting Irish. He recorded an assist in Friday’s game, giving him the lead in assists on the team with 11.

In Saturday’s win, Carpenter scored two goals, which pushed him past Bryce Williamson for the lead in goals with eight on the season. The two-goal night snapped his 15-game goal drought dating back to Nov. 19 against Miami.

Getting Familiar with Ranked Teams

The Falcons are in last place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association with just 19 points, trailing leader Ferris State by 41.

However, the Falcons have played ranked teams well this season and especially of late.

Starting back from the series against Western Michigan, the Falcons close the regular season with five consecutive series against nationally ranked teams.

For the remaining three series they play No. 19 Northern Michigan, No. 6 Ferris State and No. 4 Michigan. Playing this type of competition can really give BG some confidence heading into postseason play.

Goals Coming at a Premium

BG has struggled to put goals on the scoreboard all season long.

This puts considerable pressure on goalie Andrew Hammond and the defensemen to keep the team in the game.

The Falcons are currently on a five-game power-play goal drought.

Since scoring four goals against Miami on Nov. 19, BG hasn’t hit the four-goal mark since.

The Falcons have been held to one goal or less in 11 of their 16 games, including back-to-back shutout games against Alaska-Fairbanks.