Bowling Green’s offense figures to be significantly improved this season.
The Falcons return their top five scorers from last season when they played well during most of the
second half to advance to the semifinals of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs.
BG averaged just 1.9 goals per game last season when it finished 14-25-5 overall and 5-19-4 in the CCHA
for last place.
The Falcons open the season Saturday at Niagara in a nonleague game and then host the Ontario Institute
of Technology in an exhibition Sunday.
"We’re a bigger group, a stronger group and a more skilled group," said BG coach Chris
Bergeron, who is in his third season. "Hopefully, that will translate into more goals."
Sophomores Ryan Carpenter and Dan DeSalvo returning after combining for 25 goals and 30 assists last
season, while junior Camden Wojtala is back after producing 10 goals and 13 assists last season.
Among the other returnees is sophomore Adam Berkle, who had seven goals and 14 assists last fall. Also
expected to contribute is sophomore Dajon Mingo, who sat out last season for academic reasons; and
freshmen Ben Murphy, Mark Cooper and Brent Tate.
"We’re looking to spread the offense out and not rely on a few guys to carry us," Bergeron
said.
BALANCE: To better balance the scoring, Bergeron already has broken up the line of Carpenter, DeSalvo and
Berkle that carried the team in the playoffs last season.
DeSalvo was moved from wing to center to strengthen BG at that position. The move also means DeSalvo will
have the puck as a center.
BG’s 15 forwards have been divided into four lines.
DeSalvo is with Cooper, Murphy and Ryan Viselli. Carpenter is with Burkle, Mingo and Chad Sumsion.
Wojtala is with Tate, Bryce Williamson and Brett Mohler.
The team’s checking line consists of Andrew Wallace, Marc Rodriguez and Ted Pletsch.
"You’ve got the three lines you’re hopefully counting on to put up some offense 5-on-5, and then
Wallace’s group will chip in with whatever offense they can create which we think will be something more
than they have in the past based on what they’ve done so far," Bergeron said. "They’re
experienced."
Bergeron wasn’t sure how long the current lines would stay together.
"I anticipate giving the current lines a little bit of a chance to develop some chemistry beyond
what they’ve developed during the last three four weeks," Bergeron said. "We’re going to have
to play that by ear, I don’t know how much rope each line is going to get. We’re going to want some
execution and some chemistry, and some good positive things happening."
START: Saturday marks the NCAA’s official starting date for practice, meaning BG and Niagara are playing
a game on the earliest date possible.
The NCAA has allowed coaches to be on the ice for two hours a week starting Sept. 15. Prior to that, the
teams held captains practices.
"The biggest challenges you face are execution and conditioning," Bergeron said. "We need
to execute at a higher level than we have to this point in the very limited practices we’ve had."

FIRST: The BG-Niagara game is college hockey’s official opener.
There are two other games that night, Quinnipiac plays Maine and Merrimack plays Union, with both games
at 7.
LAST TIME: The Falcons are playing Niagara for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
"The other main challenge is we don’t know each other very well," Bergeron said. "That’s
not a bad thing and we can just focus on ourselves."
Niagara returns 19 players from last season when it was 17-11-9 overall and 14-6-7 in Atlantic Hockey.
The Purple Eagles were second to Air Force in this season’s AH poll.
"I expect a real hard effort (from Niagara), Bergeron said. "They seem like a real aggressive
bunch. They’re going to give us a different color (uniform) pushing back. It’s been five weeks of our
guys versus each other. Niagara is going to push back and push back hard, especially in their own rink,
and we’re going to learn a lot more about our team."
REMATCH: Niagara visits BG Dec. 29 to complete the home-and-home series.