No. 15 Ohio State Men’s Hockey Travels to Face Instate Foe Bowling Green – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 29, 2004
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FACEOFF
The No. 15 Ohio State men’s hockey team ends its regular-season series with Bowling Green Saturday. The Buckeyes (15-12-0, 10-9-0 CCHA) and Falcons (14-12-1, 10-6-1 CCHA) will meet at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at the BGSU Ice Arena in Bowling Green, Ohio.
WRAP IT UP
The game Saturday ends the regular season series between the Buckeyes and Falcons. The squads met Nov. 29, 2003 in Bowling Green, with Ohio State posting a 7-0 win.
THE BROADCAST
The Buckeyes’ game at Bowling Green will be broadcast by WOSU Radio (820 AM/wosu.org) with Neil Sika (play-by-play) and John Mowat (color) on the call.
LAST TIME OUT
Ohio State is coming off two losses at home to Michigan State by 4-2 and 3-0 scores. BGSU traveled to Alaska Fairbanks, where it won the opener, 6-2, before losing, 3-2, in the finale.
IN THE LEAGUE
Ohio State fell into a tie for fifth place (with Western Michigan and Northern Michigan) in the CCHA following its losses to the Spartans. The squad, with 20 points in 19 games played, is four points behind first-place Miami (18 games played), three behind second-place Michigan (16 gp) and Michigan State (18 gp) and two behind fourth-place Alaska Fairbanks (20 gp).
Bowling Green is in 10th place in the CCHA with 13 points in 18 games.
THE SERIES
According to the Ohio State record book, the Buckeyes trail the all-time series with Bowling Green, 54-90-5. Ohio State includes eight games in the series (Dec. 9, 1966-Feb. 19, 1969 when OSU went 3-4-1) Bowling Green does not because BGSU was not yet a varsity program.
ON THE ROAD
In Bowling Green, the Buckeyes trail, 18-55-3. In the last 10 games at BGSU Ice Arena, the teams are tied, 5-5-0. OSU has won its last two games at Bowling Green.
A LOOK BACK – OSU 7, BGSU 0
The Buckeyes blanked Bowling Green, 7-0, Saturday, Nov. 29 at BGSU Ice Arena in Bowling Green. After a scoreless first period, Ohio State exploded for four goals in the second period and three in the third, including two shorthanded goals and three power-play tallies. Against the Falcons, 12 Buckeyes had at least one point, while six had multiple points. Dave Steckel had two goals, Scott May and Nate Guenin had a goal and an assist each and Dave Barton, Sean Collins and Paul Caponigri each had two helpers. JB Bittner, Matt Waddell and Andrew Schembri scored the other goals for the Buckeyes, while Doug Andress, Matt Beaudoin and Rod Pelley all posted assists.
MARKELL THE FALCON
Ohio State head coach was a standout for Bowling Green from 1975-79. A three-time First Team All-CCHA honoree, Markell currently ranks sixth in the BGSU record books with 235 points. He is tied for seventh with 102 career goals and ninth with 133 career helpers. Markell, who won the Gay Blade Award (best attitude) four times and the Rink Rats Award (most popular) twice, was inducted into the BGSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.
COMPETING FOR THE CUP
Ohio State, Miami and Bowling Green are battling for the Ohio Cup again this season. The traveling trophy is presented annually by the Columbus-based Buckeye Sports Bulletin to the team with the best record against its instate opponents. The Buckeyes won the Ohio Cup last season for their fourth title overall. BGSU leads the way with 13 trophies.
The 2003-04 Ohio Cup Standings 1. Bowing Green 1-1-1 2. Ohio State 1-1-0 3. Miami 1-1-1
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS
Bowling Green is 7-13-6 on the year and 5-10-3 in the CCHA. The squad is coming off a split at Alaska Fairbanks, with a 6-2 win in the opener and a 3-2 loss in the finale. The squad has split its last three CCHA series (Notre Dame, Michigan State and UAF).
D’Arcy McConvey leads the team in assists (11) and points (17), while Brett Pilkington is first in goals with nine and tied for second in points with 16. Mark Wires also has 16 points, on seven goals and nine assists.
In net, Jordan Sigalet has started all 26 games for BGSU and leads the nation in minutes played (1,587:52) and saves (821). He has stopped 40 or more shots in five games this season, including 50 in the win at UAF. Sigalet has a goals-against average of 2.76 and a .918 save percentage on the year.
AT THE HELM
Scott Paluch, a 1991 graduate of Bowling Green, is in his second season at the helm of his alma mater. He is 15-38-9 in his career.
LIGHTING THE LAMP VS. BGSU
The Buckeyes have scored at least six goals in the last three meetings with the Falcons. OSU swept the Falcons by scores of 6-3 and 6-1 Jan. 16-17, 2003 in Value City Arena before the 7-0 win in November.
BUCKEYES VS. FALCONS
All-time against the Falcons, senior Paul Caponigri leads the Buckeyes with nine points and seven assists. Junior JB Bittner (4-4), senior Scott May (3-5) and senior Dave Steckel (3-5) all are tied with eight career points against BGSU. In just three games vs. BGSU, sophomore defenseman Nate Guenin has 1-5-6 totals.
STOPPED
Three Buckeyes had scoring streaks stopped Saturday vs. Michigan State. Rod Pelley had a five-game streak ended (3-2-5), Doug Andress had a four-game point and assist streak stopped and Bryce Anderson had a three-game (1-3-4) stretch ended.
ROAD WARRIORS
Ohio State will play six of its last nine regular-season games on the road. The Bowling Green game begins a three-game stretch, as the Buckeyes will travel to face Ferris State the next week. After a two-game home series with Nebraska-Omaha, OSU travels for two games at Western Michigan before opening a home-and-home with Miami on the road in Oxford. The Buckeyes are 6-4-0 on the road this season and are looking to stop a three-game road losing streak.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
In road games this season, Ohio State is scoring 3.4 goals an outing, while allowing 2.2. Both numbers are better than the squad’s overall marks so far this season of 2.9 goals scored and 2.4 goals allowed. Senior Paul Caponigri leads the way with 8-4-12 on the road.
IN THE BOX
Ohio State is averaging 8.0 penalties a game this season. After taking a season-high 16 penalties at Michigan Jan. 10, Ohio State has taken under eight penalties the last four games, including just three trips to the box vs. LSSU Jan. 16.
WHEN THEY SCORE, GOOD THINGS HAPPEN
In the opener against the Spartans, the Buckeyes lost for the first time this season when Scott May records a point. OSU is 10-1-0 on the year when May gets on the scoresheet. The team is 11-1-0 when Nate Guenin has a point. JB Bittner has the most wins when scoring a point, with a 12-2-0 ledger.
BREAK IT DOWN
Ohio State’s nine seniors are leading the team in scoring with 42-55-97 totals from seven skaters (plus one assist from goalie Mike Betz). The eight freshmen are second with 12-39-51, followed by the three sophomores with a 13-34-47 line. The teams three juniors have combined for 14-9-23.
LAST TIME OUT – MSU 4, AT OSU 2
The Buckeyes had their six-game unbeaten streak vs. Michigan State stopped with a 4-2 loss Friday in the series opener. Ohio State got on the board with a Chris Olsgard goal at the 12:50 mark of the first before the Spartans tied the game on Drew Miller’s goal with just 41 seconds remaining.
MSU controlled the scoreboard in the second, posting the only goals of the period (by Jim Slater and David Booth) to head into the final stanza up, 3-1. OSU pulled its goalie late in the third for the extra attacker. Rod Pelley pulled OSU within one (3-2) with a goal at the 18:32 mark. Dave Steckel had a chance to tie it with under a minute left, but his shot went off the cross-bar. Slater ended the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:26.
In the game, OSU outshot the Spartans, 44-26. Each team was scoreless on the power play – OSU was 0-for-4 and MSU was 0-for-2.
The next night, Ohio State was blanked, 3-0, by the Spartans. There was no scoring until MSU defenseman A.J. Thelan tallied at the 13:03 mark of the second. Thelan added a power-play goal 52 seconds into the final period and Adam Nightingale ended the scoring with an empty-net goal at 17:54. OSU outshot MSU in the game, 28-25. The Buckeyes were scoreless on five power-play chances, while the Spartans were 1-for-6.
SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY …
The Buckeyes fell to 4-8-0 on Friday and 10-3-0 on Saturday with their losses to Michigan State. The squad is 0-1-0 on Sunday and 1-0-0 on Tuesday.
WHAT FOLLOWS L?
Ohio State is 8-3-0 following a loss so far this season. The squad has three two-game losing streaks this year and they came in sweeps against Miami, Michigan and Michigan State.
SO CLOSE
Senior forward Dave Steckel should become the third Buckeye to hit the 100-point mark this season, joining Paul Caponigri and Scott May. Steckel has 45-49-94 totals in 131 career games.
COUNT ON A WINNER
This season, Ohio State is one of just three Division I men’s teams in the nation to not have a tie. Yale and Alaska Fairbanks are the other teams to have every game end in a win or loss on the year.
DE-FENSE!
The Buckeyes rank 12th in the country and first in the CCHA in team defense, allowing 2.44 goals a game. The squad set a program record last season, as it gave up just 2.21 goals an outing.
HELPERS
Buckeye defensemen Nate Guenin and Doug Andress are tied for fifth in the nation among defensemen with 15 assists each. The duo is tied for the team lead. The 15 helpers is a career best for Guenin, while it is one shy of Andress’ career high, set in both 2001 and 2003.
BLANKED
Michigan State’s shutuout of Ohio State Saturday marked the second time the Buckeyes were blanked on the season. The squad was shut out four times last year, including in two of the last three games.
A KEY
This season, the score after the first period has been a good indicator of the final result for the Buckeyes. Ohio State is 8-1-0 when leading after one and 1-6-0 when trailing after the first. When tied after one, Ohio State is 6-5-0.
When leading after two, OSU is a perfect 13-0-0. When trailing going into the final stanza, Ohio State has not come back to win, going 0-9-0. When tied after two, the Buckeyes are 2-3-0.
IT’S A TEAM GAME
This season, all 21 Buckeye skaters have at least one point, while 18 have at least one goal. Ten Buckeyes have double-digits in points; in 43 games last season, 14 Buckeyes had 10 or more points.
THE DOUBLE CLUB
This season, 10 Buckeyes have 10 or more points, while two others have nine. Paul Caponigri 13-10-23) leads the way, followed by Dave Steckel (12-7-19) and Scott May (8-11-19), Dan Knapp (4-13-17) and Nate Guenin (2-15-17), Doug Andress (1-15-16), JB Bittner (11-4-16), Rod Pelley (7-6-13), Andrew Schembri (5-6-11) and Matt Waddell (2-8-10). Daymen Bencharski (3-6) and Sean Collins (0-9) are just outside with nine points each.
THE HOME STRETCH
The Buckeyes will play host to just three more regular-season games in Value City Arena. The team will face Nebraska-Omaha in a two-game series Feb. 13-14 and will take on Miami March 6 in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Feb. 13 contest vs. the UNO Mavericks will feature free Hockey Brutus Bobbleheads for the first 1,000 fans courtesy of Huntington Banks. In addition, it will be Buck a Brat night and fans can enjoy Johnsonville Brats for $1 (while supplies last). Lastly, AAA cardholders can receive a ticket to the game for $4 by showing their AAA card at the game. The Feb. 14 game will be a Frozen Four Pack night, where fans can get four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas and four popcorns for only $40.
HELP THE CHILDREN
Ohio State senior goalie Mike Betz and the team will be holding a fundraising dinner at The Top Steakhouse April 18 to raise money for the Siouxland Tanzania Educational and Medical Ministries (STEMM). Members of the team will serve as waiters, with their tips going to the cause, and live and silent auctions will be held. For more information, call the OSU hockey office at 614-292-0820.
Last year, the event raised over $9,000. Betz and STEMM used part of the money this past summer to renovate an orphanage. In addition, the group built classrooms for elementary schools and was involved with HIV/AIDS education.
UP NEXT
The Buckeyes will travel to face Ferris State for two games in Big Rapids, Mich. The teams will face off at 7:35 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6 and at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7 at Ewigleben Arena.
