Worst Seasons in the Past 25 Years Part 12: Bowling Green

Welcome to the Worst Season in the Past 25 Years, a series in which r/CollegeHockey reviews the worst season for all 60 Division I teams over the summer to alleviate the crushing boredom known as the off-season and take a horrific tour down memory lane.

If you are interested in writing an entry for your team, please let me know via PM. I’ll be posting entries on weekdays at approximately at 6 pm Eastern time and will be going in alphabetical order. If an entry is not posted at that time, assume that “real life” has gotten in the way and that I am not able to post. If I am aware in advance that I will not post at 6 pm on a particular day, I will announce it in prior posts as a heads up.

And now.../r/CollegeHockey presents the Bowling Green Falcons (golly, that’s three Falcon teams!). For the majority of their history, Bowling Green were part of the CCHA before moving to WCHA in 2013. In the 1983-84 season, the Falcons won the Natty; they were led by current Boston College head coach Jerry York. However, Bowling Green has not appeared in the Ice Dance since 1991.

In the past 25 years, the worst season for the Falcons is…

2009-2010 Record: 5-6-25 (W-D-L); CCHA: 4-6-18 (W-D-L; 11th/12th)

Wins: Alaska Fairbanks, @Michigan, Clarkson*, Western Michigan, Noter Dame

Ties: @Nebraska Omaha, @Notre Dame, @Northern Michigan, Western Michigan, Noter Dame, Michigan State

Losses: @Mankato St. (x2), Providence (x2), @Nebraska Omaha, @Ferris State (x2), Alaska Fairbanks, Michigan^, @Notre Dame, Lake Superior State (x2), Michigan State, @Michigan State, Minnesota*, @Ohio State (x2), @Northern Michigan, Michigan, @Michigan, Miami (x2), @Michigan State, @Nebraska Omaha-

*Dodge Holiday Classic

^ Game in Toledo, OH

-CCHA tournament, first round

Biggest Beatdown: Bowling Green 2 - Miami of OH 10

Head Coach: Dennis Williams

In his only season as coach, Williams led the Falcons in an appalling season where the ten win barrier normally met was only completed to the halfway point. In the scoring department, Jordan Samuels-Thomas led the team with 11 goals. In terms of assists, Samuels-Thomas, Tomas Petruska, and Kyle Page had 14 apiece. In goal, Nick Eno had a save percentage of .896 and a GAA of 3.30.

Bowling Green started their season with an exhibition game against Wilfrid Laurier, a 7-3 win. A series against Mankato State led to a Mavericks sweep. Another exhibition game followed, this time against the US U18s, where the Falcons lost by a scoreline of 7-2. A non-con series with Providence led to a pair of losses. The CCHA slate began with a trip to Omaha, where the Falcons got one point.

November started with a trip to Ferris State; Bowling Green did not win any games there. A split series with Alaska Fairbanks at home, the first win in official competition for the Falcons. The following weekend had another split series, this time with Michigan. The game in Ann Arbor was won, but the next night’s game in Toledo was dropped to the Wolverines. The month ended with a trip to Notre Dame, where the Falcons got a single tie.

December was winless, with Lake Superior St. and Michigan St. sweeping the Falcons. The new year kicked off with participation in the Dodge Holiday Classic, a loss to Minnesota and a win against Clarkson. This was followed by a trip to Ohio State, where the Buckeyes swept the Falcons. A trip to Northern Michigan the next weekend garnered a tie and a loss. A more favorable series with Western Michigan rounded off January, with a win and a draw.

A home-and-home series with Michigan started February, both games being losses. A home series with Miami led to a thrashing, 13-4 on aggregate. A win and a draw against Noter Dame boosted Falcons spirits, at least temporarily. A home-and-home series with Michigan State ended the regular season, only a tie was salvaged. In the postseason, Bowling Green faced off against Nebraska Omaha in the CCHA tourney, losing in two by a combined scoreline of 12-2.

After this season, Williams’ contract was not renewed and he was replaced by Chris Bergeron. Since then, the Falcons’ seasonal record would improve, reaching a high of 23 wins for the 2014-15 season. However, this regular season uptick has not lead to an appearance in the Ice Dance. If Bowling Green can maintain their form of 20+ win seasons, they should be able to establish themselves as the cream of the crop in the WCHA (which the Falcons joined in 2013).

For Week 3 of this series, we will look at the worst seasons in recent memory for the following schools: Brown, Canisius and Clarkson. Once again, if you are interested in doing the entry for your favorite school, shoot me a PM. Your school, name, and date will be added at the end of each post to serve as a reminder. So far, the following people have inquired about a spot:

School	Username	Tentative Date
Brown	u/kdb77	6/21
Cornell	u/ABigRedWallaby	6/29
LSSU	u/binkelman	7/10
UML	u/LantisEscudo	7/13
Northeastern	u/therevengeance	8/2
Penn State	u/saucysalesman	8/8
RPI	u/Nicholas1227	8/16
Union	u/azureamor	8/22
Vermont	u/LocksTheFox	8/23

Finally, a shoutout to u/saucysalesman who inspired the idea of this series for doing one for football over at r/cfb. Additionally, thanks to r/CollegeBasketball for the idea of the sub-par MS Paint logos for each school.

Previous Entries in the Worst Seasons Series:

AHA	Hockey East	WCHA	Independent
Air Force	Boston College	Alabama Huntsville	Arizona State
American International	Boston Univ.	Alaska Anchorage
Army West Point		Alaska Fairbanks
Bentley		Bemidji State