GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Bowling Green is hoping this season’s appearance in the Western Collegiate Hockey
Association Final Five is the first of many.
And the next time, they’re hoping to play better.
The Falcons weren’t sharp Friday in a 4-0 loss to 15th-ranked Minnesota State.
“We put ourselves in a situation where we were competing for a championship, and we didn’t play well,”
said BG coach Chris Bergeron, who finished his fourth season.
“The more often we’re in these situations, the more lessons we’re going to learn and the better we’re
going to play as we move forward. But … the expectations (are) to get in these games and get in these
situations every year.”
The Falcons finished 18-15-6 overall and tied for third in the league with a 13-11-4 record.
But the season was full of inconsistency. BG had to win its last five games to earn home ice for the WCHA
quarterfinals.
The Falcons often played well for at least 40 minutes in many of their games, but didn’t play
consistently well throughout the season.
“It felt like we were starting to peak at the right time, here at the end. It just shows how important
the whole season is,” BG junior captain Ryan Carpenter said.
The Falcons skated in their league championship weekend for the second time in the last three seasons.
They advanced to the semifinals of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs in 2012 after
finishing last in the league.
“When we got to the CCHA Finals, I don’t think people thought we were going there to win,” Bergeron said.
“When we got on the bus to come to Grand Rapids, our intent was to win this thing and get to the
national tournament.”
The Falcons had to win the Final Five to earn a berth in the NCAA playoffs. BG’s last NCAA berth came in
1990.
“We need to play better during the regular season to put ourselves in an at-large berth situation,”
Bergeron said.
MSU appears to be in good shape for an at-large berth if it doesn’t earn the WCHA’s automatic berth to
the NCAA by winning the Final Five.
WINNING: The Falcons’ 18-15-6 record marked their first winning season overall since 1997 when they were
17-16-5.
PK: The Falcon penalty-kill was 4-for-4 against MSU.
The Maverick power play is third nationally at 25.7 percent.
BG was 22-of-24 on the penalty-kill in its last seven games..
PENALTY SHOT?: BG’s Pierre-Luc Mercier nearly had a penalty shot with 3:33 remaining in the second period
when he was slashed on a breakaway. MSU held a 2-0 lead at the time.
The slash prevented Mercier from getting a quality shot off, although BG still went on the power play.

“That’s a tough call,” Mercier said when asked if he felt he should have been awarded a penalty shot. “At
least we got a power play.”
FAREWELL: Friday’s game marked the final game for BG seniors Jake Sloat, Bryce Williamson, Cam Wojtala,
Brett Mohler and Andrew Wallace.
BG’s other seniors are Chad Sumsion, Ryan Viselli and Scott Zacharias.
FANS: A crowd of 2,700 was announced for the BG-MSU game. But most observers estimated the actual number
fans at the game to be closer to 500-600.