West Side round-up

Both Ferris State and Western Michigan fail to win at home

Ferris State (2-2-3; 1-1-3 CCHA) lost to Alaska-Fairbanks (4-2-2: 2-1-1 CCHA) 5-2 on Friday night. UAF got their first goal on a powere play at the end of the first period, and scored quickly at the start of the second to go up 2-0 on the Bulldogs. Matt Stephanishion (assisted by Greg Rallo) scored a powerplay goal at 12:15 of the second period to put the Bulldogs on the board. UAF then scored three straight goals, and despite an abundance of shots, Ferris could not penetrate their defense, anchored by goalie Chad Johnson. In the last two minutes, Rallo managed a power play goal with some help from Eric Vesely and Dan Reidel, but UAF had done its damage. Mitch O'Keefe finished Friday's game with 34 saves.

Ferris State kept Saturday's 3-3 game close from the beginning. Adam Miller scored at 5:21 of the first period on a power play goal. The Nanooks tied up the game with a power play goal of their own. The second period opened with a Greg Rallo penalty, which resulted in a UAF penalty shot. Jordan Emmerson made good on the opportunity. In the third period, Rallo and Chris Zarb set up Mark Bomersback to tie up the game again. After another UAF goal, Ferris tied the score for the last time--Zac Pearson notched his first goal of the season courtesy of Adam Miller and Matt Verdone. Both teams managed four shots apiece in overtime, but neither goalie budged. O'Keefe finished the game with 30 saves; Johnson with 35.


Western Michigan, coming off a glorious and unexpected sweep of the then-#4 OSU Buckeyes, came tumbling back to Earth with back-to-back losses to Lake Superior State at home. Friday's abyssmal 10-0 loss decimated the Broncos' defense, and goalie Dan Bellissimo (who finished with 27 saves and 6 goals against) was pulled in favor of freshman Ryan Mensing, who let in four more goals before the final buzzer sounded and put the Broncos out of their misery.

The Broncos refused to go down in the same way on Saturday: Jeff Pierce made sure of that, scoring one minute into the second period off a Paul Szczechura assist. The Lakers tied up the game with a power play goal, but Bellissimo and the Broncos defense held steady until the last eight minutes of the game, when Lake Superior State scored two unanswered goals to go up 3-1. Despite pulling Bellissimo and peppering Laker goalie Jeff Jakaitis, the Broncos could not convert.

The Broncos and Bulldogs will face each other in a home-and-home series this weekend.

Photo courtesy of http://www.lssuhockey.blogspot.com/