One upset isn’t enough to satisfy Bowling Green’s hockey team.
Instead, the Falcons will go for another surprise this weekend when they visit Central Central Collegiate
Hockey Association champion and fifth-ranked Michigan in the quarterfinals of the league playoffs.
After finishing last in the CCHA, BG won its first-round best-of-3 series at sixth-seeded Northern
Michigan last weekend.
BG and Michigan play a best-of-3 series that starts Friday and continues Saturday and, if needed, Sunday.
"It’s an advantage for our young guys to be going into a situation where people aren’t expecting
them to win other than the 25 people we have in that (locker room)," BG coach Chris Bergeron said.
The Falcons have nine freshmen and 10 sophomores.
"To me, that’s how you take a program from here to here, raising expectations," Bergeron said.
"You can’t go into weekends expecting not to do well, expecting not to compete and not to win
ultimately. We’re expecting to go there and play the game with a certain focus on the details and the
process that give us the best chance to win. We do have something to lose, that’s a playoff
series."
BG is 10-25-4 overall. Michigan, which received a first-round bye, is 23-9-4 overall and was 20-7-1 in
the CCHA.
"We’ve been stressing all year not to look at who we’re playing, just control the things we can
control," BG senior defenseman Andrew Krelove said. "We’ll do that again this week and fine
tune everything during practice."
INJURIES: Bergeron said all "indications are yes" that senior forward and captain David Solway
will play this weekend after missing the last three games with a concussion. He is one of BG’s best
players.
Solway participated in light practices Monday and Tuesday, and was scheduled for a full contact practice
today.
"After (today) will be the real indication whether he can play or not," Bergeron said. "If
that goes well, I would expect to see him."
But Bergeron said sophomore defenseman Ian Ruel would remain out with his concussion.
Michigan senior forward Louie Caporusso, one of the league’s best players, is questionable with a knee
injury suffered Feb. 25. He has nine goals and 17 assists in 35 games.
HOME: Michigan’s Yost Arena – because of the Wolverines’ outstanding team and their enthusiastic fans –
is one of college hockey’s toughest and most intimidating environments for visiting teams to play in.
The Wolverines are 13-2-1 at home this season, including 11 straight wins.
"It’ll be a cool experience. We’re all looking forward to it, but we’re going to try to block it all
out," Krelove said.
REMATCH: BG opened the season with 4-1, 4-2 losses at home to Michigan.
