Lakers travel to Bowling Green for CCHA First-Round Playoffs

Lake Superior State will take a four-game unbeaten streak into the first round of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Playoffs, which begin Friday when the Lakers play at Bowling Green State. No. 10 seed LSSU (9-18-7 overall, 7-15-6 CCHA) and No. 7 seed BGSU (16-18-0 overall, 13-15-0 CCHA) play a best-of-three series at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and (if necessary) Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on Rock 101 FM and simulcast on www.lssulakers.com. Saturday’s game will be televised on Comcast. Tickets are $12 for reserve seats and $10 for general admission. They are available by calling the Bowling Green State ticket office, 419-372-0000. The Lakers lost 4-2 to the Falcons on Jan. 11 and won 4-1 on Jan. 12. Six different LSSU players scored goals during that regular-season split. Sophomore defenseman Simon Gysbers led LSSU in points with 1-3—4 and was named CCHA Defenseman of the Week. Freshman goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson was in net when the Lakers beat BGSU, while sophomore goalie Pat Inglis took the loss, giving up four goals on 23 shots. Since then, Inglis is 2-2-2 with a 2.76 gaa and .908 save percentage. For the season he is 3-9-4 with a 3.70 gaa and .877 save percentage. Mahoney-Wilson is 6-9-3 with a 2.94 gaa and .900 save percentage. LSSU points leaders heading into the playoffs are senior forward Dan Eves (9-15—24), sophomore forward Zac MacVoy (8-16—24), sophomore forward Nathan Perkovich (15-5—20), junior forward Troy Schwab (5-14—19) and freshman forward Rick Schofield (10-7—17). Schofield centers a line that includes Eves and Schofield, and the threesome has compiled 13 goals and 20 assists as the Lakers have gone 6-3-3 during their last 12 games. The Lakers avenged their early-season losses to Northern Michigan and ended the regular season with a 3-2 win and 2-2 tie against the Wildcats last week. The Falcons lost last weekend’s games to sixth-ranked Michigan State, 6-3 and 4-0. They are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games. Senior forward Derek Whitmore leads BGSU in points with 26-7—33, followed by freshman forward Jacob Cepis with 13-15—28. Whitmore and Miami’s Ryan Jones are the league’s co-leaders in goals scored against CCHA opponents with 23 each, while Cepis is tied for third in league scoring by a freshman. Freshman goaltender Nick Eno (11-8-0) has a 2.58 gaa and .913 save percentage overall for the season. The last time LSSU and BGSU met in the CCHA Playoffs was during the first round in 1999-00. The Falcons swept the series to improve to 9-6-0 all-time against LSSU in the playoffs. The teams met once in the CCHA title game with the Falcons winning 5-3 in 1988. BGSU coach Scott Paluch was the captain of the ’88 Falcon team. Other first-round matchups include Alaska at Nebraska-Omaha, Western Michigan at Ferris State and Ohio State at Northern Michigan. Top-four finishers Michigan, Miami, Michigan State and Notre Dame received first-round byes.