Western Michigan (1-0-1)
vs. #10/10 Bowling Green (2-0-0)
All-Time series — BGSU leads 53-73-7
October 13 | Lawson Ice Arena (3,667 seated)
Tues. | 7:00 p.m. | Kalamazoo, Mich.
THIS WEEK
Western Michigan hosts emerging WCHA power and former CCHA rivals Bowling Green for the first leg of a home-and-home series. WMU returns to Bowling Green on Dec. 30 for a game played at Toledo's Huntington Center as part of a double-header with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye.
TICKETS
Tickets for Tuesday's game are buy one, get one free by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX or visiting wmubroncos.com/tickets.
LAST WEEK
The Broncos have a quick turnaround from their season-opening series against the Ferris State Bulldogs. WMU defeated FSU on Friday 3-2 on power-play goals by Sheldon Dries, Chris Dienes and Griffen Molino. Junior goalie Collin Olson made his Bronco debut, making 31 saves on the night to earn his first win in the Brown & Gold.
On Saturday the Broncos traveled to Ferris State and battled the Bulldogs to a 1-1 tie. After 46 minutes of scoreless hockey Kyle Novak gave WMU a 1-0 lead but the lead only held for six more minutes as Kyle Schempp tied the game up a 12:44. Neither team could take advantage in overtime. Lukas Hafner got the start and made a game-high 39 saves.
AT A GLANCE: BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY FALCONS
THE SERIES: Bowling Green holds a commanding lead of the all-time series at 73-53-7. The Falcons also hold a 32-30-3 lead at Lawson Ice Arena, but have not won in Kalamazoo since Jan. 19, 2008. The last two meetings between the teams came on Jan. 18-19, 2013 in a home-and-home split. BGSU won in Bowling Green 3-2 and the Broncos won the next night 2-1.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS: Bowling Green has adapted well to the WCHA, going 18-15-6 in 2013-14 and then 23-11-5 last season. The Falcons spent the majority of the season in the nation's top 15 and entered the season ranked 16th in the USCHO.com poll (the weekly poll for 10/12 had not come out prior to printing). BGSU opened the season sweeping the Ohio State Buckeyes with a 6-3 win in Columbus and then a 2-0 shutout at home.
The Falcons return its top four scorers from last season, including leading scorer Brandon Hawkins. In his first season Hawkins led BGSU with 30 points on a team-best 16 goals and 14 assists. Pierre-Luc Mercier and Matt Pohlkhamp each had eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points, while Ben Murphy had 11 goals and 10 assists. Polkhamp is already off to a hot start with three points in the sweep of the Buckeyes. Sean Walker was the top-scoring defenseman last season with five goals and 15 assists for 20 points. The team averaged 3.05 goals per game.
BGSU's defense allowed 2.38 goals per game last season and senior goalie Tommy Burke was a big reason for that. Last season he posted a 14-6-3 record in 23 games, a 2.18 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. Sophomore Chris Nell posted impressive numbers in his freshman season last year, going 6-4-2 with a 2.32 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
The Falcon power play converted 15.6-percent (24/154) of its chances last season Hawkins, Murphy and Kevin Dufour each had four to tie for the team lead. Bowling Green's penalty kill ranked second in the nation last season, killing off 89.8-percent (141/157).
TRULY SPECIAL TEAMS
WMU's special teams put on a clinic in its series against Ferris State. In Friday's win the power play went 3-for-8 on the night to lead the Broncos to victory. It was the most power play goals scored by the team since the 2014 Shillelagh Tournament Championship game when WMU scored five in an 8-2 win over Union.
The Bronco penalty kill went 5-for-6 in Friday's win but was a perfect 6-for-6.
FIRSTS ALL AROUND
Several Broncos recorded career firsts in the season-opening series Ferris State. Freshmen Griffen Molino, Corey Schueneman, Colt Conrad, Matheson Iacopelli, Jade McMullen and Oliwer Kaski all played in their first collegiate hockey games. Conrad, Schueneman and Molino all registered their first collegiate points. Molino also scored his first career goal, the game-winner in Friday's 3-2 win over the Bulldogs. Junior goalie Collin Olson started his first career game as a Broncos and earned his first win for WMU after transfering from Ohio State.
TERVETULOA (Welcome)
With his appearance in Saturday's game at Ferris State, Oliwer Kaski became the first Finnish player to suit up in the Brown and Gold in program history. Kaski hails from Pori, Finland's fifth-largest city. This is the second straight season Western Michigan has had a player from a new country debut. Last season Frederik Tiffels became the first German in WMU Hockey history.
IN BUNCHES
In Friday's 3-2 win junior forward Kyle Novak tallied two assists for his first multi-point game of the season. Though his career all 18 of his points have come in 12 games. Four of them have been multi-point games. He followed it up by scoring his first goal of the season in Saturday's 1-1 tie at Ferris State.
SOLID START
WMU's 1-0-1 start is the second-best opening weekend the Broncos have had under head coach Andy Murray. His first season WMU swept Alabama-Huntsville to start out 2-0.
