Lakers Set for a WCHA Series Against Bowling Green

Lakers Set for a WCHA Series Against Bowling Green

Game Notes

FOR STARTERS                                                                                                                    

● Lake Superior State will travel to Bowling Green, Ohio this weekend for a weekend series against the No. 17 Bowling Green Falcons on Friday, Nov. 22 at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7:07 p.m. for a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at the Slater Family Ice Arena.

● Last weekend, the Lakers fell in both games of the series to the Michigan Tech Huskies by scores of 4-2 and 2-1 at the Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

● LSSU's record sits at 4-10-0 overall and 2-4-0-0 in WCHA play after opening the season against some of the NCAA's stiffest competition including two games against No. 2 Denver, a pair of road games against the Michigan Wolverines as well as a road series against the No. 4/5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Lakers began conference play with two wins against Ferris State on Nov. 1 and 2 followed by losses to the Bemidji Beavers and Michigan Tech Huskies.

• Lakers Head Coach Damon Whitten is in his sixth season behind the bench in Sault Ste. Marie. Whitten has led the team to a 70-114-19 record, including 23 wins in 2018-19.

• Lake Superior is coming off of the program's best season in 23 years, posting a 23-12-2 overall record and finishing fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).

 

LAST WEEKEND RECAP                                                                                                            

● In the first game of last weekend's series against Michigan Tech, Max Humitz would score his team-leading seventh goal of the season in the second period to put the Lakers on the board. Humitz extended his goal streak against the Huskies to four games.

● The goal was assisted by junior Yuki Miura, who recorded his sixth assist of season, and Will Riedell, who notched his third assist of the year.

● The second Laker goal of the game was scored by freshman forward Niko Esposito-Selivanov, his first career collegiate goal. Esposito-Selivanov's goal came in his first home game.

● Riedell tallied his second assist of the game, marking his first multi-point game of the season. Mitchell Oliver also assisted on the play adding to his career-high assist total (4).

Mareks Mitens got the start in goal for the Lakers and would make 26 saves in the game.

● In the second game of the series, the Lakers would fall to the Huskies by a final score of 2-1 despite a shot on goal advantage of 35-18. In the third period alone, the Lakers recorded 18 shots on goal. Humitz led the Lakers with eight shots in the game.

● The Lakers lone goal of the game was scored by Pete Veillette, who has now surpassed his previous career high in goals with his third goal of the season and tied his previous career high in points (8).

● Miura would add his second assist of the weekend series to bring his point streak to a career-high three games (0G, 3A). Miura has continued to set new highs in assists and points this season with nine points through 14 games.

● Defenseman Lukas Kaelble would tally the secondary assist on the goal for his fifth point this season.

● In Saturday's game, the Lakers had a strong game at the face-off circle winning 33 draws compared to the Huskies 17 wins. Freshman Dustin Manz went 10-for-14, senior Brendan McKay went 8-for-10 and sophomore Ashton Calder went 7-for-10. Manz ranks fourth among all WCHA players with a .618 face-off win percentage this season.

● Mitens would get the nod in goal for the second night in a row, his 12th game started which surpassed his number of starts from the 2018-19 season. Mitens stopped 16 shots in the loss for the Lakers.

● Mitens leads all WCHA netminders with 292 saves this season and minutes played this season (716:04). No goaltender in the league has faced as many shots as Mitens has this season (334). 

 

LAKERS VS. BOWLING GREEN                                                                                       

● The Lakers and Bowling Green Falcons will meet for the first time this season. Last season, the teams played each other two times with each team winning won game. The Lakers won the first meeting by a final score of 5-0 and the Falcons would respond in the series closer with a 5-2 win.

● The WCHA opponents will be back in action against one another for the second time in less than a month as the teams will meet again on the weekend of Dec. 13-14 in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

● Last season, five current roster players scored at a point-per-game pace against the Falcons, recording two points against Bowling Green in the two-game series: Ashton Calder (1G,1A), Collin Saccoman (1G, 1A), Will Riedell (1G, 1A), Lukas Kaelble (1G, 1A), and Max Humitz (2A).

● In the all-time series between the two teams, the Falcons hold the advantage in the series against the Lakers with a 84-74-13 record. The conference rivals first met during the 1970 season.

 

SCOUTING THE FALCONS                                                                                          

• Bowling Green is led by first year Head Coach Ty Eigner, who served as an assistant coach for the Falcons for the previous nine seasons.

•The Falcons, who are ranked No. 17 nationally, hold a 7-4-0 overall record and a 4-2-0-0 WCHA record this season. Bowling Green is coming off of a two-game sweep of Alaska Anchorage, winning by scores of 3-1 and 3-0.

• Senior defenseman Alec Rauhauser is the leader of the Falcons as he enters the weekend with 99 career points. Rauhauser was named the WCHA's Defenseman of the Month in October and leads the Falcons with 12 points this season on five goals and seven assists in 11 games played. 

• In addition to Rauhauser, the Falcons have two more players who have tallied double digit point totals through 11 games this season. Connor Ford has five goals and six assists while Alex Barber has one goal and nine assists. Barber leads the team in assists. 

• Junior forward Cameron Wright leads Bowling Green in goals this season with eight goals in 11 games.

• Falcons netminder Eric Dop received WCHA Goaltender of the Week honors on Nov. 18 for his play against Alaska Anchorage. The junior goalie has started 10 games in goal, posting a 2.19 goals against average and a .914% save percentage.

•Bowling Green has a 19.6% success rate while on the power play this season and the team's penalty kill percentage is at 84.1%.

 

CONFERENCE PLAY AHEAD                                                                                                    

•Following this weekend's series, the Lakers will continue with Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) games through the next stretch of play.

• The remainder of the fall semester will see the Lakers alternate between home and away series with the team hosting Bemidji State on Thanksgiving weekend, traveling to No. 1 ranked Minnesota State and the hosting the Bowling Green Falcons at home. 

 

BALANCED ATTACK                                                                              

● The Laker offense has been evenly distributed this season as 19 players have recorded at least a point, 13 players with four or more points, seven players with eight or more points and three players recording eleven or more points. 15 different players have registered a goal for the Lakers this season.

● The Lakers have five players among the top 22 scorers in the WCHA.

• 13 different players have scored a goal for Lake Superior this season and all four game winning goals have been scored by different players. 

• In the Lakers first weekend of conference play, 10 different players notched at least a point in the series with eight players recording two or more points during the pair of games. 

•13 Lakers notched at least one point against Merrimack, 10 players had two or more points, four players had three points and one had five points. Nine different players recorded at least one point in the Lakers Oct. 26 game against Notre Dame.

•Last season the Lakers had 13 players record 10 or more points with nine of those players returning this season. Eight players registered at least 22 points and five of them are returning members of the 2019-20 squad. 

• The Lakers also return one of three 30-plus point scorers from 2018-19 in Max Humitz (33 points). 

• 13 different players netted the game winning goal for the Lakers in 2018-19 - with 10 of those players returning to the lineup this year. 

 

ANCHORED DOWN                                                                                

• The Lakers returned five of their top six defensemen from last season as well as two goaltenders to provide a solid back end presence for the team heading into the 2019-20 season. 

• Lake State's defense has been active with six  d-men recording at least two points through the first ten games of the season.  Collin Saccoman  leads all Lakers defenseman with nine points (6G, 3A), and notched his first multi-goal game of his career against Notre Dame on Oct. 26.

• Saccoman has scored five goals in the past three games and ranks second among the Lakers as well as all NCAA  defensemen in goals this season.

• Saccoman was named WCHA Defenseman of the Week earlier this month ranks second among all WCHA defenseman in points this season with nine and first in goals with six. Saccoman is tied for the team lead in goals, which half of have come on the power play this year.

Will Riedell has posted two goals and four assists this season and recorded his first multi-point game of the season with two assists in the Nov. 15 game against Michigan Tech.

Lukas Kaelble has five points this season with his most recent point coming in the Nov. 16 game against Michigan Tech.

• In the opening weekend of the 2019-20 season, the Lakers defensemen proved to be the same steady force that they were last season with five defensemen all tallying a point against the Warriors and five of them having multi-point weekends. 

•  Two game-winning goals this season have been scored by Laker d-men (Nordqvist, Saccoman). 

• Four of the last year's regulars recorded at least 11 points - Will Riedell (11), Nordqvist (18), Kaelble (23) and Saccoman (25). 

 

BETWEEN THE PIPES                                                                                             

• Laker netminder Mareks Mitens earned his second set of back-to-back wins this season as he backstopped the team to a pair of wins against Ferris State at home on Nov. 1 & 2. 

● Mitens leads all WCHA netminders with 292 saves this season and minutes played this season (716:04). No goaltender in the league has faced as many shots as Mitens has this season (334). 

● Mitens enters the weekend closing in on 1,000 career saves as a Laker as he currently sits at 980. 

Roman Bengert got the start in goal for the Lakers in the Oct. 26 game against Notre Dame. The game, which ended in a 6-4 Laker defeat, marked Bengert's his first career start for the Lakers. Bengert would stop a career-high 24 shots in the contest. Bengert would start his second career game on Nov. 9 at Bemidji State.

• Mitens started the first seven straight games this season for the Lakers, which included a home series against Merrimack, a pair of home games against No. 2 Denver, a road series against Michigan and the first game of a two-game series at Notre Dame. Mitens posted a 2-5-0 record through that stretch. 

• In the opening series of the season, goaltender Mareks Mitens was solid in net for the Lakers as he stopped 52 of the 57 shots he faced from the Warriors, including a penalty shot save in the first game. It marked the first time in Mitens' career that he has posted back-to-back wins in a weekend series. 

Mareks Mitens appeared in 11 games for the Lakers in 2018-19, including a shutout on the road against Minnesota State.