{"id":130558,"date":"2021-11-25T14:00:17","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T20:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=130558"},"modified":"2021-11-24T15:49:57","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T21:49:57","slug":"this-week-in-ccha-hockey-bowling-green-on-pace-for-another-solid-season-as-falcons-aiming-to-maintain-that-standard-and-play-to-that-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2021\/11\/25\/this-week-in-ccha-hockey-bowling-green-on-pace-for-another-solid-season-as-falcons-aiming-to-maintain-that-standard-and-play-to-that-standard\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in CCHA Hockey: Bowling Green on pace for another solid season as Falcons aiming to ‘maintain that standard and play to that standard’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Coale Norris (14) celebrates a goal with his Bowling Green teammates last weekend during the Falcons’ sweep of Lake Superior State (photo: Stephen Linsky\/BGSU Athletics).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before the season started, outsiders weren\u2019t quite sure what to make of Bowling Green.<\/p>\n

After all, the Falcons had lost 11 players to either graduation or the transfer portal.<\/p>\n

It would have understandably been hard to predict how losing so many key contributors would affect a program that has won 20-plus games for seven straight seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing is, going into this year, with the 10-person class we had last year, we knew there was going to be significant turnover. So we tried to the best of our ability to plan for that,\u201d BGSU coach Ty Eigner said Tuesday. \u201cIt was a challenge, no doubt, it was a challenge. No matter what other people thought about our team outside of our program going into this year, you can\u2019t fault them or be mad at them for that opinion. We lost a bunch of players, and that\u2019s part of college athletics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside of the program, though, Eigner and his coaching staff had the same expectations. And so far, with one-third of the season gone, Bowling Green is 7-3-2 and well on pace for another solid finish.<\/p>\n

In other words, it seems that reports of the Falcons\u2019 demise have been greatly exaggerated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe standard that we\u2019ve had at this program around here the past, seven, eight years of winning 20 games and being a program that can go play anybody, anywhere, that doesn\u2019t change,\u201d Eigner said. \u201cWe\u2019ve tried to make sure our guys are aware of that. We\u2019re not lowering the standard because we had a big senior class. We have to do the best we can to maintain that standard and play to that standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Eigner knew all of those players would be impossible to outright replace, BGSU\u2019s coaching staff seems to have found a way to, as the cliche goes, reload instead of rebuild, with a combination of transfers, freshmen and returning players.<\/p>\n

Minnesota transfer Nathan Burke currently leads the team with eight goals while Ferris State transfer Coale Norris has 10 points. Defenseman Gabe Chicoine, a transfer from Division III Norwich, has 11 assists from the blueline. Eigner said all three have been \u201csignificant contributors\u201d to the Falcons in every game.<\/p>\n

Internally, players like forwards Taylor Schneider, Alex Barber and Sam Craggs — who elected to return for a fifth year — and goaltender Zach Rose have stepped into bigger roles than they were in previously. Schneider, Barber and Craggs have been anchoring the Falcons\u2019 first line while Rose has taken over nicely for the departed Eric Dop.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might have been a little uncomfortable for them early, but now they\u2019re comfortable knowing what the expectations are for them and knowing what their roles are,\u201d Eigner said of the team\u2019s returning players.<\/p>\n

But the biggest revelation has been BGSU\u2019s freshmen class. Eigner said the Falcons\u2019 coaching staff was excited about them coming into the season but now they have proven themselves in game situations.<\/p>\n

One of those freshmen, Austen Swankler, is currently leading the team with 13 points (five goals, eight assists) while another, goaltender Christian Stoever, has been rotating in the nets with Rose and has a .910 save percentage and 2.59 GAA through five games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew these kids would have opportunities to contribute right away because of the number of kids we were going to lose, and they\u2019ve done a really nice job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To give an idea of just how much BG has been relying on some of these freshmen, Eigner pointed to the Falcons\u2019 series against Minnesota State two weeks ago in Mankato. The Mavericks swept the series, 9-2 and 5-3 — the worst weekend for the Falcons so far this year. But Eigner was impressed with how well the freshmen played against the country\u2019s top team.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody believed Minnesota State was going to be a really good team, and that\u2019s proven to be true. But when you looked at the lineup charts last Saturday for our second game in that series, they had a bunch of returning players and no freshmen in their lineup,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had seven. That\u2019s just who we are. Our challenge for our group this year is to make sure we\u2019re working hard every day and be the best version of ourselves we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

That series — especially the heavy defeat — could have hurt BG\u2019s confidence a little. But the Falcons bounced back from that weekend on Mankato with a complete sweep of their own against Lake Superior State. The Falcons beat the Lakers 5-1 and 6-2, moving up to third place in the WCHA standings.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all part of Eigner and the BG coaching staff\u2019s plan to continue to get better as the season goes on.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven before we played a game this season, we believed our team has the ability to get better as the year goes on, just because we have so many new people,\u201d Eigner said. \u201c(Last weekend) was a really good bounceback for our guys and a really good way for our guys to build some momentum and build some confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before the season started, outsiders weren\u2019t quite sure what to make of Bowling Green. After all, the Falcons had lost 11 players to either graduation or the transfer portal. It would have understandably been hard to predict how losing so many key contributors would affect a program that has won 20-plus games for seven straight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":130559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,4,1,7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[854],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in CCHA Hockey: Bowling Green on pace for another solid season as Falcons aiming to 'maintain that standard and play to that standard' - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Before the season started, outsiders weren\u2019t quite sure what to make of Bowling Green. 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