Bowling Green’s Ryan Carpenter will miss at least three more games because of his fractured
finger, Falcon hockey coach Chris Bergeron said Thursday.Carpenter – one of the top players in the Western
Collegiate Hockey Association – hasn’t played since he was hurt during BG’s exhibition Oct. 5.The center on
BG’s top line is recovering from surgery and will be re-evaluated again Nov. 4.The Falcons are idle this
weekend, but visit Ohio State Tuesday and begin WCHA play Nov. 1-2 when they host Alaska-Anchorage."If
he gets evaluated on the Monday (Nov. 4) and the answer is go ahead, he’ll have a full week of
skating," Bergeron said, meaning Carpenter might be back for BG’s games Nov. 8-9 at preseason WCHA
favorite Minnesota State."He’s in great shape. We’re not worried about the conditioning
aspect."Carpenter skates on the power-play and penalty-killing units. He’s used in every
situation."The other thing is with our depth, we don’t have to give him the minutes he would normally
have right away," Bergeron said. "We can ease him into those minutes and he can get game ready by
playing smaller minutes in games."MOHLER: BG senior forward Brett Mohler will miss 2-3 weeks with a
small fracture in his foot/ankle, Bergeron said. The injury happened during last weekend’s Colgate series.No
surgery will be needed.Bergeron said Mohler could be out longer than 2-3 weeks because of the time he’ll
need to get back into game shape once he is healthy.DEFENSE: The Falcons, 2-1-2 overall, have played well
defensively 5-on-5. BG has allowed just five goals with the teams at full strength"We always want to be
better, but we’re happy with the way we’re defending," Bergeron said. "There seems to be a purpose
to what we’re doing. We want to be hard to play against in the defensive zone and we seem to be doing that
when we’re at our best."BG is allowing just 2.4 goals and 24.8 shots per game.OFFENSE: Even though the
Falcons had just one goal in a tie against Colgate last Friday, they’re averaging 3.4 goals and 32.8 shots
per game."We’ve had a purpose to what we’re doing in terms of getting through the neutral zone and into
the offensive zone, the things that lead to scoring goals," Bergeron said.OFF: The Falcons took two
days off after the Colgate series and then did some individual skill and special teams work before returning
to their regular practice schedule Thursday in preparation OSU."It was good to see our guys focused,
ready to compete and execute as a high level," said Bergeron, whose team played five games in nine days
to start the season.HOT START: BG senior wing Bryce Williamson is off to a hot start, He has four goals and
three assists for seven points, good for a three-way tie for WCHA scoring lead."Being a senior, there’s
a lot more expectations on us," Williamson said. "I’m happy with how I’ve started and I want to
keep it going. I’m trying to be more consistent.""He just seems to be focused," Bergeron said
of Williamson, who career has been plagued by inconsistency.Williamson and freshmen Mark Cooper and Ben
Murphy were consistently good against Colgate. totaling five goals and five assists."We see the ice
similarly," Murphy said. "Coop and Bryce are good players. We all feed off each other. There’s
some good chemistry going right now."IMPACT: The Falcons are pleased with the solid two-way play of
freshman wing Matt Pohlkamp. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder has one goal and an on-ice rating of plus-2SDLqHe got
painted as more of a checking-type guy in junior hockey, but he’s put up numbers in the past," Bergeron
said. "He’s guy who can really chip in offensively."