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. [1] Shortly afterwards, head coach Ty Eigner was placed on leave and three players were suspended due hazing allegations. [2] 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. [3] 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. [4]
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. [5]
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. [6]
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