Bowling Green faces one of college hockey’s elite teams this weekend.The Falcons host
10th-ranked Union in a nonleague series Friday and Saturday nights at the Ice
Arena.The Dutchmen return 22 lettermen from last season when they were 26-8-7
overall and won the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship before
advancing to the NCAA Frozen Four.Union is 0-1 this season, losing 4-1 to
Merrimack."Union is really good," BG coach Chris Bergeron said.
"You get away from the process and the details, and the things we need to
do to be good, they will expose you and expose you big time. We have to be
disciplined with our game plan. We have to be disciplined with the process and
the details of our game individually and our emotions."TURNOVERS: BG opened
with a 2-2 tie at Niagara. The Falcons also were 9-1 winners over the Ontario
Institute of Technology in an exhibition.The Falcons were encouraged by their
play, but still had too many turnovers."Our play with the puck has not been
good enough," Bergeron said. "We are far too loose with the
puck."SLOAT: Bergeron said BG junior defenseman Jake Sloat will miss at
least three months after breaking his leg against OIT.Bergeron added Sloat could
be back "competing to get back into the lineup" in early
January.MISSING: BG played last weekend without forwards, junior Bryce
Williamson and freshman Brent Tate. Both could return for Union.Williamson was
out because of an undisclosed medical condition that prevented him from having
contact during practice.Williamson, who was cleared for full contact Sunday,
could be a key scorer after totaling 14 goals during his first two seasons at
BG. He had 41 goals and 66 assists in the Alberta Junior Hockey League with 62
goals during the 2009-10 season.Tate didn’t play because of a sore back. The
6-foot-2, 170-pounder has good skill and plays a physical style."It’s a
minor situation," Bergeron said of Tate. "He has to play the game
healthy because he plays it so hard. If he’s 90 percent, it’s not good enough
because his body will break down because that’s how hard he plays."LEADERS:
Union junior goalie Troy Grosenick was a first-team All-American and Hobey Baker
Award finalist last season. He had a 1.65 goals-against average and a .936 save
percentage in 34 games.Other standouts for Union are sophomore defenseman Shayne
Gostisbehere (five goals, 17 assists, plus-18); junior defenseman Mat Bodie
(eight goals, 21 assists, plus-17); junior forward Daniel Carr (20 goals, 20
assists); and senior forwards Wayne Simpson (18 goals, 13 assists) and Kyle
Bodie (six goals, 24 assists).STATS: Union was in the top 12 nationally of every
major statistic last season.It was first in goals allowed (1.83 per game),
fourth in power-play conversions (24.2 percent), sixth in goals scored (3.49)
and 12th in penalty-killing (84.5 percent).Union was the third-least penalized
team, averaging just 10.3 minutes per game.NONLEAGUE: BG opens the season with
five nonleague games before starting Central Collegiate Hockey Association play
Oct. 26-27 against Ohio State. The Falcons are at Colgate of the ECAC Oct.
19-20."This is a really good opportunity to get into league-like
situations," Bergeron said. "It’s a 2-1 game with a minute to go or
it’s a 1-1 game with four minutes to go. Who is going to make a play? Who is
going to defend? Who is going to create an opportunity to score a goal? This is
good stuff to get prepared for CCHA play."FRIENDS: Bergeron and Union coach
Rick Bennett have been friends since the 1995-96 season when they were teammates
on the East Coast Hockey League’s Cincinnati Cyclones.SHOOTOUTS: If either of
the BG-Union games remains tied after overtime, the teams will use a shootout to
determine a winner.The result, however, would count as a tie under NCAA rules
since the CCHA is the only league to use shootouts during the regular
season.REMATCH: BG visits Union next season to finish the home-and-home contract
between the schools.