# 2022–23 Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey season was the 54th season of play for the program and the 44th in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The Falcons represented Bowling Green State University and were coached by Ty Eigner in his 4th season.

## Season

Bowling Green began the season with a decent performance in the first two weeks, splitting a pair of series with above-average opponents. In week 3, however, the team's hopes were dealt a massive blow when starting goaltender, Zack Rose, suffered a torn labrum and missed the remainder of the season. Coach Ty Eigner turned to Christian Stoever to man the pipes but the sophomore got off to a rocky start. After a week off, Stoever looked much more comfortable in the cage against Minnesota State and, though the team lost both games, the results were much more promising.
With Stoever settling into the starting role, the Falcons had to address another of their early-season problems; a lack of scoring. After scoring 6 goals in the opener, BG averaged just 2 goals per game over the next eight matches. Unsurprisingly, the team got off to a 2–7 start as a result. Once November rolled around, however, the offense began to coalesce around Austen Swankler and started scoring. After the poor start, the Falcons won six out of seven and brought themselves back up to .500. The team had a chance to establish itself a potential NCAA contender with a slate of 4 games against ranked teams to end the first half of their season. Unfortunately, BG lost each contest and were only close in one of the matches.
With their chances for an at-large bid near zero, Bowling Green kicked off the second half of its season with a 6-game winning streak that put it atop the CCHA standings. However, the Falcons were unable to keep their position and won just once in their final eight games. Despite the skid, the Falcons earned a home site for the quarterfinals and faced off against Ferris State. The two teams were evenly matched throughout both games though BG needed to score late to tie the score on both occasions. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs ended up with an overtime goal twice and upset the Falcons.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Cameron Babiak | Defenseman | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Gabriel Chicoine | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation (signed with Maine Mariners) |
| Chrystopher Collin | Forward | Canada | Left mid-season (signed with Trois-Rivières Lions) |
| Adam Conquest | Forward | United States | Transferred to Lindenwood |
| Sam Craggs | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Toledo Walleye) |
| Garrett Daly | Defenseman | United States | Transferred to St. Thomas |
| Chase Danol | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |
| T. J. Lloyd | Defenseman | Canada | Transferred to Alaska |
| Trevor St. Jean | Forward | United States | Graduation (retired) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Jack Blake | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Manhattan Beach, CA |
| Quinn Emerson | Forward | United States | 21 | Manhattan Beach, CA |
| Sam Evola | Goaltender | United States | 21 | Rochester, MI |
| Jaden Grant | Forward | United States | 20 | White Lake, MI |
| Chase Gresock | Forward | United States | 24 | Powell, OH; graduate transfer from Miami |
| Hunter Lellig | Defenseman | United States | 23 | Waterloo, IA; graduate transfer from Minnesota Duluth |
| Brett Pfoh | Forward | Canada | 20 | Port Moody, BC |
| Zach Vinnell | Defenseman | Canada | 24 | Cochrane, AB; transfer from Merrimack |

## Roster

As of August 6, 2022.

## Standings

2022–23 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 |
| #12 Minnesota State †* | 26 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 52 | 83 | 56 | 39 | 25 | 13 | 1 | 126 | 81 |
| #13 Michigan Tech | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 68 | 54 | 39 | 24 | 11 | 4 | 103 | 88 |
| Bowling Green | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 41 | 89 | 76 | 36 | 15 | 19 | 2 | 114 | 114 |
| Northern Michigan | 26 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 82 | 77 | 38 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 123 | 103 |
| Bemidji State | 26 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 73 | 63 | 36 | 14 | 17 | 5 | 94 | 97 |
| Ferris State | 26 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 34 | 62 | 91 | 37 | 14 | 19 | 4 | 92 | 131 |
| St. Thomas | 26 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 69 | 81 | 36 | 11 | 23 | 2 | 86 | 117 |
| Lake Superior State | 26 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 52 | 80 | 36 | 9 | 25 | 2 | 71 | 118 |
| Championship: March 18, 2023 † indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Mason Cup) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll ||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 1 | 6:07 PM | at Northern Michigan | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Rose | W 6–4 | 2,967 | 1–0–0 (1–0–0) |
| October 2 | 6:07 PM | at Northern Michigan | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Stoever | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 2,064 | 1–1–0 (1–1–0) |
| October 7 | 7:00 PM | at Michigan State* | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | BTN+ | Rose | W 3–1 | 5,472 | 2–1–0 |
| October 8 | 7:07 PM | Michigan State* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Rose | L 1–2 | 3,422 | 2–2–0 |
| October 13 | 7:00 PM | at #18 Western Michigan* | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Rose | L 1–4 | 2,912 | 2–3–0 |
| October 14 | 7:07 PM | #18 Western Michigan* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–8 | 2,816 | 2–4–0 |
| October 22 | 7:00 PM | vs. Adrian | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio (Exhibition) | | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| October 28 | 8:07 PM | at #8 Minnesota State | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | KEYC | Stoever | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 4,172 | 2–5–0 (1–2–0) |
| October 29 | 7:07 PM | at #8 Minnesota State | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | KEYC | Stoever | L 2–4 | 4,007 | 2–6–0 (1–3–0) |
| November 4 | 7:07 PM | Michigan Tech | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–3 | 2,350 | 2–7–0 (1–4–0) |
| November 5 | 7:07 PM | Michigan Tech | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | W 6–1 | 2,872 | 3–7–0 (2–4–0) |
| November 11 | 7:07 PM | St. Thomas | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | W 3–2 | 2,204 | 4–7–0 (3–4–0) |
| November 12 | 7:07 PM | St. Thomas | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | W 3–2 | 2,467 | 5–7–0 (4–4–0) |
| November 18 | 7:07 PM | at Ferris State | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | Stoever | W 6–0 | 1,497 | 6–7–0 (5–4–0) |
| November 19 | 7:07 PM | at Ferris State | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | Stoever | L 1–4 | 1,904 | 6–8–0 (5–5–0) |
| December 2 | 7:07 PM | at Lake Superior State | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | FloHockey | Rose | W 7–4 | 987 | 7–8–0 (6–5–0) |
| December 3 | 6:07 PM | at Lake Superior State | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | FloHockey | Stoever | W 5–1 | 876 | 8–8–0 (7–5–0) |
| December 9 | 7:07 PM | #16 Minnesota State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 1–2 | 2,312 | 8–9–0 (7–6–0) |
| December 10 | 7:07 PM | #16 Minnesota State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–6 | 2,024 | 8–10–0 (7–7–0) |
| December 16 | 7:07 PM | #14 Ohio State* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–5 | 4,412 | 8–11–0 |
| December 17 | 7:07 PM | at #14 Ohio State* | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | BTN | Evola | L 4–9 | 5,271 | 8–12–0 |
| December 29 | 7:07 PM | Rensselaer* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | W 3–1 | 1,678 | 9–12–0 |
| December 30 | 7:07 PM | Rensselaer* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | W 5–2 | 1,989 | 10–12–0 |
| January 6 | 7:07 PM | Lake Superior State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Evola | W 5–2 | 2,371 | 11–12–0 (8–7–0) |
| January 7 | 7:07 PM | Lake Superior State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | W 5–3 | 2,339 | 12–12–0 (9–7–0) |
| January 13 | 7:07 PM | Bemidji State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | W 4–2 | 3,009 | 13–12–0 (10–7–0) |
| January 14 | 7:07 PM | Bemidji State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | W 5–2 | 3,339 | 14–12–0 (11–7–0) |
| January 19 | 8:07 PM | at St. Thomas | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–4 | 490 | 14–13–0 (11–8–0) |
| January 20 | 8:07 PM | at St. Thomas | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Stoever | T 3–3 $^{SOW}$ | 739 | 14–13–1 (11–8–1) |
| January 27 | 7:07 PM | USNTDP* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio (Exhibition) | FloHockey | Evola | L 3–6 | 2,602 | |
| February 3 | 7:07 PM | Ferris State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 1–2 | 3,211 | 14–14–1 (11–9–1) |
| February 4 | 7:07 PM | Ferris State | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | T 4–4 $^{SOL}$ | 3,706 | 14–14–2 (11–9–2) |
| February 10 | 7:07 PM | at #12 Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan | FloHockey | Stoever | W 5–2 | 3,938 | 15–14–2 (12–9–2) |
| February 11 | 5:07 PM | at #12 Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–4 | 4,019 | 15–15–2 (12–10–2) |
| February 24 | 7:07 PM | Northern Michigan | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–4 | 3,103 | 15–16–2 (12–11–2) |
| February 25 | 7:07 PM | Northern Michigan | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Stoever | L 2–4 | 4,498 | 15–17–2 (12–12–2) |
| CCHA Tournament ||||||||||
| March 3 | 7:07 PM | Ferris State* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio (Quarterfinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Stoever | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 1,686 | 15–18–2 |
| March 4 | 7:07 PM | Ferris State* | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio (Quarterfinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Stoever | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 1,638 | 15–19–2 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Austen Swankler | C | 35 | 19 | 25 | 44 | 43 |
| Chase Gresock | C | 36 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 12 |
| Ryan O'Hara | F | 36 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 25 |
| Nathan Burke | F | 36 | 17 | 12 | 29 | 12 |
| Taylor Schneider | LW | 36 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 12 |
| Alex Barber | F | 36 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 34 |
| Zach Vinnell | LW | 36 | 1 | 19 | 20 | 10 |
| Ethan Scardina | F | 31 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 14 |
| Ben Wozney | D | 36 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 14 |
| Max Coyle | D | 34 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 34 |
| Dalton Norris | C/LW | 36 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 8 |
| Jaden Grant | F | 36 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 |
| Quinn Emerson | LW | 28 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
| Adam Pitters | F | 27 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 32 |
| Brayden Krieger | F | 28 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| Anton Malmström | RW | 33 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
| Brett Pfoh | D | 24 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Evan Dougherty | D | 32 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| Eric Parker | D | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Hunter Lellig | F | 34 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 34 |
| Spencer Schneider | RW | 24 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| Seth Fyten | D | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Christian Stoever | G | 31 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Pete Eigner | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chrystopher Collin | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Salvatore Evola | F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zack Rose | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Blake | F | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 114 | 197 | 311 | 370 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Pete Eigner | 2 | 2:29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 |
| Christian Stoever | 31 | 1802:20 | 11 | 17 | 2 | 86 | 914 | 1 | .914 | 2.86 |
| Zack Rose | 5 | 244:43 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 115 | 0 | .891 | 3.44 |
| Salvatore Evola | 4 | 127:03 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 56 | 0 | .862 | 4.25 |
| Empty Net | - | 21:53 | - | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 36 | 2198:08 | 15 | 19 | 2 | 114 | 1089 | 1 | .909 | 3.11 |

## 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 | 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 | 27 (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 Today | 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 | NR | NR |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| Austen Swankler | CCHA First Team |
| Nathan Burke | CCHA Second Team |
| Dalton Norris | CCHA Rookie Team |