Feb. 26, 2002

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• Next Games: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-15-5/10-12-4) vs. Bowling Green Falcons (9-21-6/7-16-3)
• Date/Site/Times: Fri.-Sat., March 1-2, 2002 – Joyce Center (2,713) – 7:05 p.m.
• Broadcast Information: The games can be heard live on WDND South Bend’s ESPN Radio 1620 with Dave Mager calling the action.

FINAL COUNTDOWN: Notre Dame closes the regular season this weekend, March 1-2 with a visit from the Bowling Green Falcons. Game time on Friday and Saturday night is 7:05 p.m. The Irish come into the weekend looking to nail down the eighth spot in the CCHA playoff race. The Irish were eliminated from a shot at home ice advantage last weekend when Western Michigan swept Ferris State. Ohio State locked up seventh with Monday’s 4-1 win over Miami. The Irish are one point ahead of ninth-place Ferris State.

The Bulldogs have a home-and-home weekend se-ries with Michigan State. To finish eighth, the Irish need any combination of three points from Notre Dame wins and ties or Ferris State wins or ties. Ferris State would control the first tie-breaker (league wins) if the two teams end up tied in points. Head-ing into the final weekend, the Irish could play at any of the following five schools: Alaska Fairbanks, Northern Michigan, Nebraska-Omaha, Western Michi-gan and Ohio State.

IRISH VERSUS FALCONS: The two teams have met 57 times in the all-time series with Bowling Green holding a 29-24-4 edge. Notre Dame traveled to Bowling Green in December where the Irish split the week-end series, winning 6-3 on Dec. 7 before losing 4-2 the following night. Since Notre Dame returned to the CCHA in 1992-93, the Falcons have a 15-12-2 edge in the series. At the Joyce Center, Notre Dame leads the series 13-10-1 and is 7-4-1 since rejoining the CCHA. The two teams met just twice last year at the Joyce Center with Notre Dame taking 3-2 and 5-2 wins. The Irish are 4-0-1 in the last five games at the Joyce Center going back to the 1996-97 season.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS: Bowling Green enters the weekend series in 11th place with a 9-21-6 overall record and a 7-16-3 mark in CCHA play. The Falcons are coming off a home split with Northern Michigan -losing 4-1 on Feb. 22 and then shutting out the Wildcats 6-0 on Feb. 23. Offensively, Bowling Green is led by forwards Greg Day (17-16-33), D’Arcy McConvey (8-16-24) and Scott Hewson (8-13-21). The goaltending is in the capable hands of Tyler Masters who has played in 28 games with a 7-16-4 overall record. Masters, who blanked Northern Michigan with 36 saves, has a 3.36 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. Earlier this season, he made 45 saves in a 4-2 win over the Irish. For more information on the Bowling Green Falcons, check their website at www.bgsufalcons.com.