Eight freshmen, Michael Bevilacqua, Ben Doran, Breck McKinley, Cole Moore, Nick O’Hanisain, Brandon Santa Juana, Gustav Stjernberg, and Brody Waters, are joining the Bowling Green State University hockey team for the 2023-24 season.
Bevilacqua, a 6-1, 206-pound left-handed defenseman from Hamburg, New York, served as an assistant captain for the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers in 2022-23, tallying eight goals and 23 assists for 31 points.
He led the team’s defensemen in all three categories while ranking second on the squad in assists and fourth in points. Four of his goals were game-winners, including three that were scored in overtime.
The blue-liner scored five power play goals and tallied 13 power play assists, leading the team in both categories. Bevilacqua was named USHL Defenseman of the Week once and led the Buccaneers to the Clark Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Doran, a 5-11, 181-pound freshman forward from Chesterfield, Missouri, spent four seasons with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, serving as assistant captain in 2022-23. Over 201 career games, he tallied 34 goals and 47 assists for 81 points.
In 2022, he helped the Musketeers capture the Clark Cup Championship, ranking seventh on the team with four playoff points.
This season, he ranked sixth on the squad in goals (14) and seventh in assists (21) and points (35), leading Sioux City to a Clark Cup Playoffs appearance for the third consecutive season. Doran had six power play goals this season, helping the team to a 25.1% success rate on the power play, the best in the division.
McKinley, a 5-10, 175-pound right-handed defenseman from St. Albert, Alberta, played for the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints for four years, including one as an assistant captain. He skated in 162 games, recording 22 goals and 102 assists for 124 points.
The defenseman totaled 110 points over the last two seasons, leading the Saints to the AJHL Finals both years. He finished the 2022-23 campaign with 50 assists and 64 points, leading all defensemen in both categories. He was second on the team in assists and third in points.
He also represented Canada West’s U19 team at the 2022-23 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge, serving as an assistant captain and tallying four assists in six games.
Moore, a 6-5, 200-pound left-handed catching goalie from Toronto, spent the 2022-23 campaign with the Aberdeen Wings of the NAHL, compiling a 24-19-3 record. He led the Wings to an appearance in the Robertson Cup Playoffs while logging a .918 save percentage and 2.55 goals against average.
He spent 2,916 minutes in net, ranking third in the league. Moore also recorded three shutouts. In three playoff games, he registered a 2.10 goals against average.
He was named NAHL Central Star of the Week three times and NAHL Central Second Star twice. The netminder spent 2021-22 with the St. Michael’s Buzzers of the OJHL, earning a .925 save percentage.
O’Hanisain, a 5-11, 181-pound right-handed defenseman from Detroit, played 73 games for the NAHL’s Minot Minotauros over the last two seasons, serving as the team’s captain in 2022-23.
Last season, he led all defensemen in goals (9), assists (23), and points (32) while ranking third on the team in assists and fourth in points. He scored three game-winning goals and three power play goals.
He was the NAHL Defenseman of the Month in October and skated in two games for Team Central as the NAHL Top Prospects Showcase, tallying a pair of assists.
Santa Juana, a 5-10, 170-pound left-handed forward from Langley, British Columbia, joins the Falcons after spending five seasons in the BCHL, playing three with the Surrey Eagles and two with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
In those five seasons, he totaled 70 goals and 128 assists for 198 points in 164 games. In 2022-23, he was the assistant captain for the Silverbacks, leading the team to the Interior Division final.
The forward scored eight power play goals, including two in the playoffs, as well as two game-winning goals. He has ranked in Salmon Arm’s top-four in assists and points the previous two seasons, with the team earning a spot in the playoffs each year.
Stjernberg, a 6-3, 209-pound right-handed defenseman from Enebyberg, Sweden, played the 2022-23 season with the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers, where he totaled eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points.
He ranked second among the team’s defensemen in assists and points, trailing only fellow incoming Falcon Michael Bevilacqua. Stjernberg led Buccaneer blue-liners in goals, including four power play tallies and two game-winners.
He spent the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons with Orebro HK of Sweden’s J20 Nationell league, the highest-level junior league in the country. Over 71 games, he compiled 13 goals and 26 assists for 39 points. He was the team’s highest-scoring defenseman in 2021-22, a season that featured a playoff appearance.
Waters, a 6-2, 195-pound right-handed forward from Heidelberg, Ontario, comes to Bowling Green after three seasons in the BCHL, where he played 148 games with the Nanaimo Clippers.
In those seasons, he tallied 53 goals and 72 assists for 125 points. He had 75 points this season, ranking second on the team, including a team-best 14 playoff points. He also scored 14 points in the 2021-22 playoffs, ranking second on the team and leading the Clippers to the Fred Page Cup Finals.
His 2022-23 regular season point total of 61 was eighth in the BCHL. The forward scored nine power play goals and added 16 power play assists for 25 power play points. He also scored a shorthanded goal and a game-winning goal.
