Jan. 21, 2015
SAULT SAINTE MARIE, Mich.- Lake Superior State travels to face Western Collegiate Hockey Association rivals, the Bowling Green Falcons, in a two-game series this weekend. The Lakers (6-19-1, 5-13-0 WCHA) will face their fifth opponent that has cracked the top-ten of this year's national rankings.
The No. 6-ranked Falcons (14-4-4,10-2-2 WCHA) enter the weekend series coming off of a split on the road in Houghton, Mich. last weekend against Michigan Tech. Prior to the split, the Falcons had a nine-game unbeaten streak while going 6-0-3 during that time. Bemidji State, the Lakers' opponent last weekend, came in on a seven game unbeaten streak before the Lakers swept them.
Both games will begin at 7:07 pm ET. The series can be heard on 99.5 YES FM in town or online and there will also be a live web-streaming video feed of the game on wcha.tv.
During the last 10 games against the Falcons, both teams have won five games. In the last 20 games, the Lakers lead the series 10-7-3. Overall however, the Falcons still maintain a 81-67-10 series lead and a 46-24-5 lead when the Lakers are on the road. The Lakers own the series lead at home and at neutral locations 37-33-6 and 5-2-0 respectively.
The Lakers, following their first sweep of the season, are beginning to show improvements as a group and much more confidence against heavily favored opponents after being crowned the Florida College Hockey Classic champions.
Freshman goaltender Gordon Defiel is fourth in the nation for most games started in net this season. Defiel has the nation's most saves (758) and has faced the most shots by any goaltender this season. Defiel has 116 more shots faced than the next closest goaltender, Kyle Hayton of St. Lawrence. He currently posts a .909 save percentage and a 3.29 goals against average.
In the six games since the start of the Florida Classic, Defiel has posted a .950 save-percentage with a 1.81 goals-against average. He also has posted two shutouts and three total on the season. The .950 mark is good enough for sixth in the nation since Dec. 28 and his two shutouts tie the nation's lead.
Another Laker beginning to heat up in the second half is Alex Globke (4-5--9). His game-winning goal on Friday evening came with .6 seconds remaining in regulation. He also tallied the game-winning and series-sweeping goal during Saturday's 4-2 victory over the Beavers.
Making a grand reunion during the Lakers' sweep of Bemidji State was freshman Luke Sandler (3-1--4). Sandler, who had been suspended and had not appeared in a game since Nov. 1, joined the Lakers' top line during Saturday evening and posted a pair of goals to lead the Lakers to victory. Although he didn't factor into the stat column during Friday's game one, he brought the physical play that Lakers fans had grown accustomed to seeing from him while playing on the team's 'grind' line.
Following the weekend tilt the Lakers will have a bye week Jan. 30-31 where the will host a Blue/White game at the Historic Pullar Stadium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The game's proceeds will go to benefit a section of the Pullar to be honored for the late Marcus Andary. After January the Lakers will rotate home and away series for their final four series of the season, beginning with hosting Alabama Huntsville Feb. 13-14 and ending with Ferris State at home on March 6-7.
