# 2023–24 Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey season

The 2023–24 Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey season was the 55th season of play for the program and the 45th in the CCHA. The Falcons represented Bowling Green State University, played their home games at the Slater Family Ice Arena and were coached by Ty Eigner in his 5th season.

## Season

Just before the start of the season the team's leading scorer from last season, Austen Swankler, abruptly left school and entered the transfer portal. Shortly afterwards, head coach Ty Eigner was placed on leave and three players were suspended due hazing allegations. A little over a month later, an independent investigation discovered that older players had provided alcohol for underaged persons at an off-campus event. At the time there was no evidence that Eigner or any of his staff were aware of the behavior so the coach was reinstated. However, due to the nature of the violation, the school's athletic director, Derek van der Merwe, began to directly oversee the program while requiring the coaching staff to receive additional training to prevent a recurrence. This incident was particularly galling for Bowling Green as the school was still recovering from the 2021 death of Stone Foltz that led to hazing becoming a felony under Ohio state law.
The season progressed under a cloud and saw the get off to a very poor start. With the offense missing six of its top seven scorers from a year ago, the team desperately needed to be coached into a cohesive unit, something Eigner could not do while suspended. As a result, the Falcons didn't show much ability to score until November. The defense, too, suffered early and returning starter Christian Stoever was soon replaced by Cole Moore in goal. As a freshman, it took Moore took some time to get up to speed. He started to look like he had sorted himself out right about the same time that the offense began to come out of its hibernation. Beginning in mid-November, Bowling Green started acting like a functional team and was able to earn a split or better for four consecutive weeks. The steady play from the Falcons had them in the middle of the CCHA standings by Christmas.
The Falcons opened the second half of their season with a pair of defeats to Ohio State. The losses gave BG a terrible non-conference record and left the Falcons only one path to the NCAA tournament: a conference championship. The team took that to heart and once they resumed conference play, Bowling Green rolled over their competition. Over a month-long stretch, the Falcons went 6–1–1 and put themselves within shouting distance of a 1st-place finish. The offense looked better than it had all season and didn't even stop when their leading scorer, Ryan O'Hara, was injured on February 3.
Just when it appeared that the team was heading for a home stand in the postseason and a better than average chance at a championship, the offense vanished. Bowling Green scored just 2 goals in its final four games. The four losses dropped the Falcons to 6th in the standings and forced them to hit the road for the quarterfinals. The opening match with Michigan Tech saw more of the same with the team getting shutout for the third time in as many weeks. The offense did show some signs of life in the third period and was able to continue that trend into the rematch. With their season on the line, the Falcons opened strong with two goals in the first 8 minutes. A lapse at the start of the second allowed Tech to take the lead but BG was able to regain the lead in the middle of the period. With their narrow lead, Bowling Green could ill-afford any mistakes but that's exactly what happened. The Falcons tool a pair of penalties in rapid succession to give the Huskies a lengthy 2-man advantage. Michigan Tech scored twice more before the third to retake the lead. BG tied the game once more at the start of the final frame but then continued to commit infractions. The Falcons were whistled for two minors in the third and while they were able to kill of the first, Tech netted its fourth power play goal of the game on the latter and swept the Falcons out of the postseason.
Shortly after the conclusion of the season, Eigner was fired.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Alex Barber | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Jokers de Cergy-Pontoise) |
| Nathan Burke | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Orlando Solar Bears) |
| Max Coyle | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation (signed with Indy Fuel) |
| Evan Dougherty | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Atlanta Gladiators) |
| Chase Gresock | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with San Jose Barracuda) |
| Hunter Lellig | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Anton Malmström | Defenseman | Sweden | Signed professional contract (St. Louis Blues) |
| Adam Pitters | Forward | United States | Graduate transfer to Long Island |
| Zack Rose | Goaltender | Canada | Graduate transfer to Augustana |
| Taylor Schneider | Forward | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Austen Swankler | Forward | United States | Transferred to Michigan Tech |
| Zach Vinnell | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation (signed with Indy Fuel) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Michael Bevilacqua | Defenseman | United States | 20 | Hamburg, NY |
| Ben Doran | Forward | United States | 20 | Chesterfield, MO |
| Spencer Kersten | Forward | Canada | 23 | Waterloo, ON; graduate transfer from Princeton |
| Breck McKinley | Defenseman | Canada | 19 | St. Albert, AB |
| Cole Moore | Goaltender | Canada | 20 | Toronto, ON |
| Josh Nodler | Forward | United States | 22 | Oak Park, MI; graduate transfer from Massachusetts; selected 150th overall in 2019 |
| Nicholas O'Hanisain | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Detroit, MI |
| Owen Ozar | Forward | Canada | 23 | Prince Albert, SK; transfer from Denver |
| Tommy Pasanen | Defenseman | Finland | 22 | Schweinfurt, GER; transfer from Clarkson |
| Adam Schankula | Forward | Canada | 20 | Newmarket, ON; joined mid-season |
| Brandon Santa Juana | Forward | Canada | 21 | Langley, BC |
| Gustav Stjernberg | Defenseman | Sweden | 20 | Enebyberg, SWE |
| Brody Waters | Forward | Canada | 21 | Heidelberg, ON |

## Roster

As of September 18, 2023.

## Standings

2023–24 Central Collegiate Hockey Association Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Bemidji State † | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 48 | 82 | 64 | 38 | 20 | 16 | 2 | 117 | 111 |
| St. Thomas | 24 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 68 | 62 | 37 | 15 | 20 | 2 | 97 | 105 |
| #19 Michigan Tech* | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 63 | 54 | 40 | 19 | 15 | 6 | 109 | 102 |
| Minnesota State | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 73 | 62 | 37 | 18 | 15 | 4 | 111 | 96 |
| Northern Michigan | 24 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 36 | 57 | 67 | 34 | 12 | 16 | 6 | 83 | 105 |
| Bowling Green | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 60 | 69 | 36 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 86 | 116 |
| Lake Superior State | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 79 | 73 | 38 | 17 | 20 | 1 | 114 | 113 |
| Ferris State | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 49 | 80 | 36 | 10 | 24 | 2 | 83 | 125 |
| Augustana ^ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 4 | 90 | 105 |
| Championship: March 22, 2024 † indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Mason Cup) ^ Augustana is playing a transition schedule of 16 games against conference opponents that are not counted in the standings Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll ||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 7 | 7:05 pm | at Robert Morris* | Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania | FloHockey | Stoever | W 3–0 | 1,225 | 1–0–0 |
| October 8 | 5:07 pm | Robert Morris* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 0–3 | 1,345 | 1–1–0 |
| October 14 | 7:07 pm | at Augustana* | Denny Sanford Premier Center • Sioux Falls, South Dakota | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–3 | 3,664 | 1–2–0 |
| October 15 | 6:07 pm | at Augustana* | Denny Sanford Premier Center • Sioux Falls, South Dakota | FloHockey | Moore | L 1–4 | 2,891 | 1–3–0 |
| October 20 | 7:07 pm | #9 Western Michigan* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | L 2–5 | 4,862 | 1–4–0 |
| October 21 | 6:00 pm | at #9 Western Michigan* | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Moore | L 2–5 | 2,760 | 1–5–0 |
| November 3 | 7:07 pm | Mercyhurst* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 2,814 | 1–6–0 |
| November 3 | 7:07 pm | Mercyhurst* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | W 4–2 | 3,065 | 2–6–0 |
| November 10 | 7:07 pm | St. Thomas | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 1–4 | 2,172 | 2–7–0 (0–1–0) |
| November 11 | 7:07 pm | St. Thomas | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 3–4 | 2,180 | 2–8–0 (0–2–0) |
| November 17 | 7:07 pm | at Lake Superior State | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | FloHockey | Moore | W 5–3 | 831 | 3–8–0 (1–2–0) |
| November 18 | 7:07 pm | at Lake Superior State | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | FloHockey | Moore | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 1,059 | 3–9–0 (1–3–0) |
| November 24 | 7:07 pm | Northern Michigan | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | W 6–2 | 2,610 | 4–9–0 (2–3–0) |
| November 25 | 7:07 pm | Northern Michigan | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | L 0–2 | 1,340 | 4–10–0 (2–4–0) |
| December 1 | 7:07 pm | at Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan | FloHockey | Moore | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 2,974 | 5–10–0 (3–4–0) |
| December 2 | 6:07 pm | at Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan | FloHockey | Moore | L 2–3 | 2,759 | 5–11–0 (3–5–0) |
| December 8 | 7:07 pm | Ferris State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | W 1–0 | 1,836 | 6–11–0 (4–5–0) |
| December 9 | 7:07 pm | Ferris State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | W 4–3 | 1,816 | 7–11–0 (5–5–0) |
| December 14 | 8:07 pm | at Bemidji State | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey | Moore | L 1–3 | 1,019 | 7–12–0 (5–6–0) |
| December 15 | 8:07 pm | at Bemidji State | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey | Moore | L 2–5 | 1,539 | 7–13–0 (5–7–0) |
| December 30 | 6:00 pm | Windsor* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio (Exhibition) | FloHockey | Stoever | L 1–5 | 1,210 | |
| January 5 | 7:00 pm | at Ohio State* | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Moore | L 2–6 | 5,050 | 7–14–0 |
| January 6 | 7:07 pm | Ohio State* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–4 | 5,000 | 7–15–0 |
| January 19 | 7:07 pm | Minnesota State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | W 4–3 | 2,313 | 8–15–0 (6–7–0) |
| January 20 | 7:07 pm | Minnesota State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 1–4 | 2,812 | 8–16–0 (6–8–0) |
| February 2 | 7:07 pm | at Ferris State | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | Stoever | W 4–3 | 1,901 | 9–16–0 (7–8–0) |
| February 3 | 6:07 pm | at Ferris State | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | Moore | W 3–1 | 2,275 | 10–16–0 (8–8–0) |
| February 9 | 7:07 pm | Lake Superior State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | W 6–3 | 2,202 | 11–16–0 (9–8–0) |
| February 10 | 7:07 pm | Lake Superior State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | W 4–2 | 3,012 | 12–16–0 (10–8–0) |
| February 16 | 8:07 pm | at St. Thomas | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Moore | T 3–3 $^{SOW}$ | 894 | 12–16–1 (10–8–1) |
| February 17 | 7:07 pm | at St. Thomas | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Moore | W 3–1 | 796 | 13–16–1 (11–8–1) |
| February 23 | 7:07 pm | Michigan Tech | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | L 0–7 | 2,664 | 13–17–1 (11–9–1) |
| February 24 | 7:07 pm | Michigan Tech | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Moore | L 1–3 | 4,184 | 13–18–1 (11–10–1) |
| March 1 | 7:07 pm | at Northern Michigan | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Moore | L 1–4 | 2,565 | 13–19–1 (11–11–1) |
| March 2 | 7:07 pm | at Northern Michigan | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Stoever | L 0–1 | 3,007 | 13–20–1 (11–12–1) |
| CCHA Tournament ||||||||||
| March 8 | 7:07 pm | at Michigan Tech* | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan (Quarterfinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Moore | L 0–5 | 2,718 | 13–21–1 |
| March 9 | 6:07 pm | at Michigan Tech* | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan (Quarterfinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Stoever | L 5–6 | 2,889 | 13–22–1 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Ryan O'Hara | LW | 26 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 12 |
| Spencer Kersten | RW | 36 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 8 |
| Brett Pfoh | F | 34 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 28 |
| Brody Waters | LW | 34 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 25 |
| Josh Nodler | C/RW | 36 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 28 |
| Jaden Grant | F | 36 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 14 |
| Seth Fyten | F | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 37 |
| Ethan Scardina | C | 26 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 22 |
| Quinn Emerson | C/RW | 36 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 10 |
| Gustav Stjernberg | D | 31 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 40 |
| Brandon Santa Juana | F | 36 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 16 |
| Dalton Norris | D | 23 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 19 |
| Ben Doran | F | 25 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 28 |
| Owen Ozar | F | 36 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 40 |
| Ben Wozney | D | 22 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 16 |
| Eric Parker | D | 33 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 29 |
| Michael Bevilacqua | D | 20 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
| Tommy Pasanen | D | 29 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 20 |
| Breck McKinley | D | 31 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Brayden Krieger | F | 26 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Adam Schankula | F | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Christian Stoever | G | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Nick O'Hanisain | D | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Jack Blake | F | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Pete Eigner | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Salvatore Evola | F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Spencer Schneider | F | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cole Moore | G | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 86 | 142 | 228 | 395 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Cole Moore | 28 | 1378:19 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 66 | 734 | 1 | .918 | 2.87 |
| Christian Stoever | 17 | 755:33 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 41 | 327 | 1 | .889 | 3.26 |
| Salvatore Evola | 4 | 18:06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .875 | 3.31 |
| Empty Net | - | 18:32 | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 36 | 2170:30 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 116 | 1068 | 2 | .902 | 3.21 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | – | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | – | NR |
| USA Hockey | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | – | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25. Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award | Ref |
| Cole Moore | CCHA Rookie Team | |