2023–24 Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey 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]

As of September 18, 2023.^[7]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Ben Wozney	Junior	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2001-06-15	Richmond, British Columbia	Penticton (BCHL)	—
4		Nick O'Hanisain	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2002-02-09	Detroit, Michigan	Minot (NAHL)	—
5		Gustav Stjernberg	Freshman	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	2002-10-12	Enebyberg, Sweden	Des Moines (USHL)	—
6		Michael Bevilacqua	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2003-01-26	Hamburg, New York	Des Moines (USHL)	—
7		Spencer Schneider	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	159 lb (72 kg)	2000-09-11	Lakeville, Minnesota	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
8		Brandon Santa Juana	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	173 lb (78 kg)	2002-08-05	Langley, British Columbia	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
10		Josh Nodler	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-04-27	Oak Park, Michigan	Massachusetts (HEA)	CGY, 150th overall 2019
11		Taylor Schneider	Graduate	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-02-18	Lakeville, Minnesota	Dubuque (USHL)	—
13		Brett Pfoh	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	179 lb (81 kg)	2002-01-22	Port Moody, British Columbia	Spruce Grove (AJHL)	—
14		Dalton Norris	Sophomore	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2001-09-28	Oxford, Michigan	Lincoln (USHL)	—
15		Spencer Kersten	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-05-16	Waterloo, Ontario	Princeton (ECAC)	—
16		Brayden Krieger	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2001-02-09	Elora, Ontario	Brooks (AJHL)	—
17		Ethan Scardina	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2000-11-02	South Surrey, British Columbia	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
18		Quinn Emerson	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-03-12	Manhattan Beach, California	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
20		Ryan O'Hara	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-07-18	Oakville, Ontario	Waterloo (USHL)	—
21		Seth Fyten	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2000-11-23	Didsbury, Alberta	Spruce Grove (AJHL)	—
22		Owen Ozar	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	156 lb (71 kg)	2000-04-05	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan	Denver (NCHC)	—
23		Ben Doran	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	2003-02-27	Chesterfield, Missouri	Sioux City (USHL)	—
24		Eric Parker	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-01-15	Calgary, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	—
25		Tommy Pasanen	Senior	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	218 lb (99 kg)	2001-07-30	Schweinfurt, Germany	Clarkson (ECAC)	—
26		Jack Blake	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-09-21	Manhattan Beach, California	Oakville (OJHL)	—
27		Breck McKinley	Freshman	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2003-10-08	St. Albert, Alberta	Spruce Grove (AJHL)	—
28		Jaden Grant	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2002-09-02	White Lake, Michigan	Youngstown (USHL)	—
29		Brody Waters	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	2002-04-09	Heidelberg, Ontario	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
30		Christian Stoever	Junior	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-04-16	Northville, Michigan	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
31		Peter Eigner	Junior	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-05-04	Bowling Green, Ohio	Tri-State (Midget AAA)	—
34		Cole More	Freshman	G	6' 6" (1.98 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	2003-06-04	Toronto, Ontario	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
35		Salvatore Evola	Sophomore	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-04-24	Rochester, Michigan	Johnstown (NAHL)	—

^[9]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.^[10]
Note: USA Today did not release a poll in week 12.