Ferris State-Bowling Green postponed

Thursday's game at BGSU Ice Arena between Bowling Green and visiting Ferris State was suspended after the first period because of problems with the ice. The game will be rescheduled at a date and time mutually agreed upon by the two schools and played in Bowling Green.

The game was scoreless after one period before a line under the ice was hit while a rink attendant was drilling a hole for the net's pegs.

As scheduled, BGSU and Ferris will play in Big Rapids tomorrow night starting at 7:05 p.m.

Wayne women still hungry for first victory

The Wayne State Warriors still could not seize their first win of the season last weekend, enduring a loss and a tie against visiting Clarkson.

In the 2-0 Clarkson win on Friday, the Warriors got behind early, when Christine Bailkowski hammered in a rebound from a Katie Morrison shot. While the Warriors played even with Clarkson for much of the game, they could not convert, and a deflected pass from Clarkson player Andrea Maluta found its way past WSU goalie Val Turcotte. Coach Jim Fetter pulled Turcotte, who finished with 24 saves, with about a minute remaining, but the Warriors could not score.

The Warriors hoped for redemption on Saturday, but the result was a bittersweet 1-1 tie. Lindsey DiPietro scored the game's first goal for Wayne State during a second period power play. Melissa Boal and Peyton Patterson earned assists on the play.

The Warrior defense, anchored by goalie Tiffany Thompson (pictured), held steady until the final three minutes of the game, when Clarkson forward Ashley Shaidle scored unassisted to send the game to overtime. Neither team was able to find the net and the game ended in a tie.

Despite the unsatisfying results, the Warriors' defense had reason to be proud. In addition to Turcotte's solid effort on Friday, Thompson finished with 34 saves on Saturday, and the penalty kill unit was flawless, stifling each of Clarkson's power play opportunities.

Thompson was recognized for her efforts as she was named the CHA Defensive Player of the Week. Additionally, DiPietro earned Offensive Player of the Week honors for her efforts in Saturday's contest.

The Warriors hit the road this weekend and travel to Hamilton, N.Y., to face Colgate University on Friday and Saturday.

Western falls to Niagara

Last Saturday's contest between the Western Michigan Broncos and the Niagara Purple Eagles started with a Niagara goal as Sean Bentivoglio beat Broncos' goalie Daniel Bellissimo just ten seconds into the game. Bentivoglio struck again before the end of the period, and the Broncos were fighting for survival in the quest for their first victory of the season.

Brent Walton answered the call in the second period. His power-play goal, assisted by captain Mike Erickson and Paul Szczechura, put the Broncos within striking distance. Midway through the period, defenseman Ryan Mahrle (pictured) got some help from Matt Clackson and Sean Weaver, and scored to put the Broncos on even ground with the Purple Eagles. But less than a minute later, Reid Yantzi went to the box and Niagara capitalized on the situation. Bentivoglio set up Les Reaney for the Purple Eagles' go-ahead goal.

"To start the third period, the shift our top line had got us going and we were running through our four lines," said NU head coach Dave Burkholder. "That set the tone for the third period. Finally our power play had some good puck moevement. That was a huge goal that Les tipped in. When we played a single game like we did, that’s a big test and we responded. That’s two games in a row that we played really well in the third."

Bellissimo finished with 33 saves.

"I’m pleased with our effort, but disappointed with the outcome," reflected Western coach Jim Culhane.

Western Michigan will return home tomorrow to face fourth-ranked Ohio State in Western's first CCHA faceoff of the season.

"We’re looking forward to getting into league play." Culhane said. "Hosting the Buckeyes will be a tremendous challenge for our young team. They’re coming in as one of the nation’s top-ranked programs. We need the seventh man to support us this weekend at Lawson— a strong contingent of students and community support.”

Photo courtesy of WMU

Ferris and LSSU play back-to-back ties

Ferris State skated to two consecutive ties with Lake Superior State last weekend: a 4-4 decision on Friday and a 1-1 result on Saturday.

Matt Stephanision got things going on Friday night with a power-play goal. Dan Reidel and Greg Rallo were credited with the assists. Matt Verdone, with help from Zac Pearson and Jim Jorgensen, netted his fifth goal of the season to put Ferris ahead by two.

LSSU scored three unanswered goals courtesy of Kory Scoran, Dominick Osman and Alex Dunn to take the the lead going into the third period. Verdone notched his second goal of the game on a power play to tie the score. Jorgensen and Chris Zarb assisted. The Lakers responded with a power-play goal of their own from the stick of Trent Campbell. Zarb and Verdone set-up Brendan Connolly to respond with an even-strength effort, but the Bulldogs could not light the lamp again before the end of the game. Bulldogs' goalie Mitch O'Keefe (pictured above) finished with 24 saves.

Saturday saw another split decision. Corey Couturier and Matt Frank set up Adam Miller for the Ferris goal, but the Lakers responded two minutes later with a Josh Sim goal. O'Keefe had 21 saves in Saturday's effort.

The Bulldogs play a delayed home-and-home series with Bowling Green starting tonight in Ohio and concluding Saturday night in Big Rapids. Lake Superior State plays a home-and-home with Northern Michigan, hosting the Wildcats Saturday night and traveling to NMU tomorrow night.

MSU routs U.S. Under-18 Team, 5-2

Michigan State jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes and held on for a 5-2 exhibition win Tuesday night over the U.S. Under-18 Team at Munn Ice Arena.

Dan Sturges (left) and Peder Skinner each had a goal and an assist for the Spartans while Chris Lawrence piled on three assists.

"It is tough to play an exhibition game against a highly-skilled team like them after a very emotional Michigan game," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "I thought we played great in the first period, so-so in the second, and solid in the third. Overall, I thought we played well."

Jeff Lerg made 25 saves for the Spartans and captain Drew Miller (power-play), Bryan Lerg (power-play) and Chris Mueller also scored in the win.

Chris Summers and Erik Johnson scored for Team USA, who got a 30-save performance from goaltender Joe Palmer.

"Michigan State is very talented," USA head coach John Hynes said. "They played a full game and obviously they gave us all that we could handle and more. They worked hard tonight and you can see why they are a top-team team."

The No. 8 Spartans travel to No. 2 Cornell this weekend.

ACHA Wrap Up

Golden Grizzlies still undefeated in ACHA

Oakland University remained undefeated in ACHA play this past weekend garnering two important league wins over Davenport University and Ferris State.

Friday night, the Grizzlies were lead by Will McMahon with three goals and Brent Cooper with four points (goal, three assists) in a 5-1 win.

"It was a game, despite the score, that could have gone either way," commented OU head coach Sean Hogan. "I thought our goaltender Chris Joswiak played an outstanding game giving us a chance to win."

Joswiak (pictured) turned aside 29 Davenport scoring opportunities in the win.

Saturday's contest was all OU from the start as the visiting Grizzlies would beat Ferris State, 9-3. OU was again lead by McMahon with four goals. Captain Brandon Lipari and Dan Oleksy also chipped in with two goals each. Goaltender Andrew Hansen started his first game in net for the Grizzlies and stopped 24 of 27 shots in securing the win.

Oakland will play EMU in a home-and-home series this weekend. Friday, the Eagles will visit the ONYX at 8:30 p.m.and Saturday the Grizzlies will travel to Ann Arbor for a matinee at 4:00 p.m.

Lakers Ride Out Tough Weekend
By Chris Moore

Grand Valley State University opened this past weekend against #4 University of Michigan. GVSU started strong in the first two periods, going up 3-2 on goals by Mike Kadzban, Phil Murray, and Jeff Stempin.

In the third, a few defensive breakdowns and unlucky bounces that went Michigan's way allowed Michigan to take a 5-3 lead until Murray added his second late in the game. Though the Lakers pounded the goal in the final minute, they couldn't put one in for the tie. Three of Michigan's five goals deflected off of GVSU players in the heartbreaking 5-4 loss. GVSU out-shot Michigan 39-38 in the game.

Saturday, GVSU traveled back to Grand Rapids to play intercity rival Davenport University. Davenport came out on fire and embarrassed the Lakers. GVSU played with no emotion the entire game allowing DU to score 10 seconds into the game and it stayed that way from there on. Mike Johnson and Dean Watkins each added goals, but it wasn't near enough as the Lakers fell 10-2.

Next weekend, GVSU is home to Minnesota State-Mankato for two games.

Around the ACHA…..

Division-1
#1 Illinois 8, Michigan State 0
#1 Illinois 8, Michigan State 2

#7 Michigan-Dearborn 13, John Carroll 3 at ACHA Showcase, Youngstown, OH
#7 Michigan-Dearborn 3, #17 Duquesne 2 at ACHA Showcase, Youngstown, OH
Arizona 8, #7 Michigan-Dearborn 5 at ACHA Showcase, Youngstown, OH

St. Clair (Ont) 9, #11 Eastern Michigan 3
St. Clair (ONT) 10, #11 Eastern Michigan 1

Indiana 7, Western Michigan 2
Western Michigan 4, Indiana 1

Division-2
Illinois 8, Michigan State 0
Illinois 8, Michigan State 2

Division-3
Kalamazoo College 8, Albion 7 (Northwood Tournament)
Calvin 10, Robert Morris 0 (Northwood Tournament)
Calvin 3, Colorado 3 (Northwood Tournament)
Calvin 5, Hope 2 (Northwood Tournament)
Hope 9, Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2 (Northwood Tournament)
Florida Golf Coast 6, Hope 1 (Northwood Tournament)
Oakland 5, Lawrence Tech 4 (Northwood Tournament)
Florida Golf Coast 11, Muskegon Community College 3 (Northwood Tournament)
Muskegon Community College 2, Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2 (Northwood Tournament)
Muskegon Community College 5, Northwood 2 (Northwood Tournament)
Colorado 11, Northwood 4 (Northwood Tournament)

Women
Michigan State (white) 3, Ohio State 3

NMU sweeps MTU, retains Ramada Cup

The battle for this year's Ramada Cup is here and gone. Northern Michigan was able to sweep Michigan Tech this past weekend, 5-1 and 2-1, and retain the Ramada Cup for another year. The series was a home-and-home series with the first in Marquette and the second in Houghton.

Saturday was a penalty-filled game, 59 in total, 41 for the Huskies. NMU controlled the play all game and the only mistake made by netminder Bill Zaniboni came with less than five minutes left in the game on a shorthanded goal by Chris Conner (pictured), his first shorty of the year and 12th of his career at MTU, which is now the all-time school record.

Saturday night was a different story as MTU controlled most of the play, but again had a hard time solving Zaniboni in net. There was not as much specialty time Saturday as there was Friday, but both teams were able to get a power-play goal. MTU's came from Mike Botavanja on a one-timer from the point. Tech had chances to tie in the last seconds, but were unable to get the bounces.

MTU starts WCHA play this weekend when Minnesota-Duluth comes to town. Both teams are young and both struggled a bit in early non-conference play, so it should make for a couple good games by a couple hungry teams.

For a more complex write up on both games, please click here.

Wolverines and Spartans play to 3-3 tie

The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry continued Saturday night in Ann Arbor and nothing was settled as the two teams played to a 3-3 tie in front of 6,784 at Yost Ice Arena.

Tim Kennedy and Andrew Ebbett traded first-period goals with Kennedy’s giving the Spartans an early 1-0 lead 4:17 into the game. Ebbett, U-M's captain, tallied at 13:01.

The goal snapped a 142:52 shutout streak for MSU goalie Dominic Vicari, which extended back to the opening minute of the game against Wayne State in the Lefty McFadden Invitational on Oct. 8.

In the second period, the teams again swapped goals as Brandon Kaleniecki’s power-play goal at 1:03 game U-M a 2-1 lead only to see Tyler Howells tie it back up for the Spartans at 3:22. Andrew Cogliano made it 3-2 Michigan with a power-play goal at 7:14, but a late goal by Tim Crowder at 19:17 gave MSU a 3-3 tie.

Nothing was settled in the final 20 minutes or in overtime. Michigan defenseman Tim Cook did get booted out of the game at the 11:18 mark for a check from behind that also got him a five-minute major.

“It was a hard-fought game and we knew it would be,” Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. “From our standpoint, we didn't get off to a good start. We turned the puck over and it cost us a goal, but our power play got us back out of the first period tied. It was a battle after that. Our power play was a good factor and our penalty kill was as well. I can't tell you that we played that bad, but they played well and we played right into their hands in terms of turnovers. We got stronger as the game moved on but we couldn't score. It was anyone's game.”

“We played well enough to win, but they could have won, too,'” MSU coach Rick Comley said. “It was very intense and very physical.”

Michigan goalie Billy Sauer (pictured) finished with 35 saves while Vicari stopped 20 for the Spartans. Sauer, though, had his first experience in the rivalry and how loud Yost can be.

“I had my first little taste last weekend against Boston College, so I kind of knew what to expect,” Sauer said. “It was still a little nerve-wracking when I first got out there. I thought I was going to be sick the first few minutes to tell you the truth. To look up there and see 6,900 people screaming, it was a great experience.”

Late in the third playing four-on-four, Michigan State nearly picked up the go-ahead goal, when defenseman Ethan Graham's dump-in attempt careened off of Sauer and into the slot. MSU captain Drew Miller picked up the loose puck, but Sauer made his best save of the night, forcing the game into overtime.

“I just knew he wasn't going to score,” said Sauer. “I could see him winding up the whole way and all I had to do was get in front of him. I knew he wasn't going to make any other move, so it wasn't really that hard.”

Michigan State returns to action on Tuesday with an exhibition contest against the U.S. Under-18 Team at 7:05 p.m. and continues regular-season action with a trip to Cornell on Oct. 29 and 30. The Wolverines take to the road for the first time this season next weekend as they make the trek to play Alaska-Fairbanks. U-M faces UAF at 7:05 p.m. Alaska time (11:05 p.m. EDT) each night.

Michigan and Michigan meet again in the regular season Jan. 17 in East Lansing, but could meet at the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 30.

NOTEBOOK
Michigan has added three walk-ons: sophomore defenseman Jon Montville (Novi), sophomore forward Chris Fragner (Ann Arbor) and senior forward Morgan Ward. The latter is ineligible for the fall semester as a result of his transfer from Army. Neither Montville nor Fragner played in the MSU game.

The Michigan State game was also Parents’ Night at Yost.

Kennedy and Crowder scored their first collegiate goals for the Spartans.