Bulldogs edge Spartans in Tuesday tilt

Ferris State freshman Dan Riedel (left) scored a power-play goal at 7:22 of the third period to lift the Bulldogs over No. 16 Michigan State, 2-1, Tuesday night at Munn Ice Arena.

The loss kept the Spartans (8-7-4 CCHA, 14-10-5 overall) in third place in the CCHA with 20 points, while the Bulldogs (7-6-5 CCHA, 12-8-6 overall) jumped into a three-way tie for fourth with Michigan and Lake Superior State with 19 points each.

"I'd say that both teams looked fatigued," FSU head coach Bob Daniels said. "We played two pretty hard games against Lake State and Michigan State played two hard games against Nebraska-Omaha and had to travel. I think that lends itself to a weary looking game. I also think that's why goal scoring was down."

After a scoreless first period, Ferris' Mark Bomersback and MSU's Tim Crowder traded second-period goals with Crowder's coming on a man-advantage at 19:40.

That set the stage for Riedel's winner.

"Give Ferris credit, because they played their game to a T," Spartans' head coach Rick Comley said. "They pack it and keep it tight and try to convert on power-plays and turnovers. If you give them a 5-on-3, eventually they'll probably score a goal. That was obviously the swinging point in the game, and I thought their goalie did a really good job and did what he had to do. On our part, we didn't have the jump that we've had and they take things away from you in their zone for sure."

Jeff Lerg made 25 saves for MSU and Mitch O'Keefe stopped 27 for Ferris.

Michigan State returns to action on Friday when it faces archrival Michigan at Munn Ice Arena. The game, which will be televised live on College Sports Television, will start at 8:05 p.m. The Bulldogs host Miami-Ohio this weekend.

Spartans get verbal commitment from Schepke

Omaha Lancers' forward Matt Schepke has commited to play for Michigan State next season.

From Warren, Schepke came to the Lancers from Michigan Tech in the middle of last season.

This season, the 21-year-old Schepke is tied for the team lead in points with 32 and is tied for third in goal scoring, tied for second in game-winning goals (5) and is fourth in shorthanded goals (4) overall in USHL play.

Schepke's commitment represents a total of 14 Lancers who will be heading to a DI school to play hockey either next season or in 2007.

Ferris State continues dominance over LSSU

Lake Superior State University and Ferris State University played to a 2-2 tie Friday night in Big Rapids before the hometown Bulldogs won Saturday night's contest.

Friday, Ferris took an early lead with a power-play goal by Nick Scheible at the 4:06 mark of the first period. Lake Superior was able to mount an offensive attack during the last ten minutes of the opening period with captain Steve McJannet scoring his fifth goal of the season and Nathan Ward adding a power-play goal a little over four minutes later to give the Lakers a 2-1 lead.

LSSU goaltender Jeff Jakaitis surrendered the game-tying goal to Ferris’s Matt Verdone midway through the third period.

FSU outshot LSSU, 44-20. Jakaitis recorded 42 saves in the tying effort, with Ferris' Mitch O'Keefe recording 18 saves.

Saturday night, the Bulldogs topped the Lakers, 3-1. After a first period in which Ferris outshot LSSU 18-7, LSSU found themselves in a scoreless tie thanks to the excellent goaltending performance of Jakaitis. The Lakers where able to score the first goal of the game midway through the second period with freshman Josh Sim scoring his third goal of the season.

Mark Bomersback was able to tie the score on a power play awarded to Ferris on a hooking call to Sim. FSU’s Corey Couturier scored the game-winning goal at 15:07 of the third period.

LSSU was unable to take advantage of a power play in the closing minutes of the game and gave up a 4-on-6 shorthanded goal to Bomersback with Jakaitis sitting on the bench.

The loss drops LSSU into a tie for fourth in the CCHA with Michigan, who has two games in hand over the Lakers. Ferris is now tied for seventh place with 17 points in the CCHA. Ferris State is 7-2-4 against Lake State in their last 13 meetings, including going 1-0-3 this season.

There are currently seven points separating the 11th-place team from the second-place team in the CCHA, making every game that the Lakers play the remainder of the season must-win games. Lake Superior hosts Bowling Green this weekend while the Bulldogs play at Michigan State this evening.


Photo courtesy of LSSUHockey.com.

BGSU rebounds for split with Michigan

After an impressive 6-1 win Friday night at home against Bowling Green, Michigan couldn't get the series sweep Saturday night as their home-and-home ended with a 5-2 loss to the Falcons.

Michigan's nine-game winning streak and 12-game (11-0-1) unbeaten streak against Bowling Green came to an end. The streak began on Jan. 26, 2002. The last Falcon win in the series had been on Jan. 25, 2002. U-M's eight-game (7-0-1) unbeaten streak at Bowling Green was also snapped. The last Wolverine road loss to BGSU came on Dec. 3, 1999.

Andrew Cogliano had two goals and an assist and Noah Ruden made 26 saves as the Wolverines got back in the CCHA win column on Friday. Goals by captain Andrew Ebbett and Cogliano (power play) gave U-M a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes and Tim Cook (shorthanded), Cogliano and T.J. Hensick found the net in the second period to put the Wolverines up 5-1. Kevin Porter (pictured right) added the final goal for U-M.

With his goal, Porter tied his single-season career high for goals with his 11th tally of 2005-06. Last year he had 11 goals in 39 games.

"We always seem to have bad starts, especially (Tuesday) at the Michigan State game," said Cogliano. "We needed a good start. So when Andrew Ebbett got the first goal and then I got the second, we got a good jump on the game. We came prepared and ready for the second period."

But Saturday, U-M (14-9-1, 9-6-1 CCHA) allowed three power-play goals for just the third time this season and BGSU head coach Scott Paluch earned his first win in 12 tries against the Wolverines. He was previously 0-10-1.

Chad Kolarik and Porter each had a power-play goal and an assist in the loss and Ruden and Billy Sauer combined for 44 stops. Ruden allowed all five BGSU goals in 43:35 of work.

The next games for the Wolverines come against the Spartans on Jan. 27-28. Friday's game is at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing and will start at 8 p.m. and will also be televised by CSTV. Saturday's bout moves to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit and that game will be on FSN Detroit and start at 7:35 p.m.

Michigan State splits with UNO

Nebraska-Omaha stopped Michigan State's six-game winning streak with a 3-2 win Saturday night at Qwest Center Omaha.

The Spartans had taken a 4-3 overtime win Friday night on a Colton Fretter goal 1:43 into the extra session.

Bryan Lerg and Jim McKenzie scored Saturday night and Jeff Lerg, named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week (103 of 109 saves in three games), made 31 saves. David Booth assisted on both Spartan goals.

In Friday's win, Lerg made a season-high 41 saves in the OT win. Booth, Chris Mueller and Ethan Graham scored in regulation for MSU while captain Drew Miller added three assists.

On the game-winner, Fretter (pictured above left) stripped a UNO defender in the offensive zone and went in untouched to beat Mavericks' goaltender Jerad Kaufmann.

Michigan State (14-9-5, 8-6-4 CCHA) hosts Ferris State tonight and then play a pair against Michigan, starting Friday night at Munn Ice Arena and Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Finlandia men split, women lose

The Finlandia men split their weekend series at home against Marian while the women lost their lone game on Sunday against Wisconsin-Superior.

Friday, Brad Van Tassel's goal at 4:09 of overtime gave the Lions a 6-5 win. Jason Aldrich had two goals and an assist and Mike Parks recorded a goal and two assists. Josh Paquette and Joe Beaudry also scored to back Joe Juntilla's 26 saves in goal. Joe Lewis chipped in with three assists.

The next night, FU fell, 5-2, as only Aldrich and Keith Johnstone found the back of the net. Lukas Alberer made 31 saves in the loss.

Finlandia (6-8-2, 6-4-2 MCHA) travels to Northland this weekend.

The FU women could only muster a Sara Sleik goal Sunday in a 5-1 defeat against Superior. Katie Markovich finished with 33 saves, but the Lions only conjured 11 shots on goal for the game.

This weekend, Finlandia (7-9-1, 1-8-0 NCHA) ventures to Wisconsin-Eau Claire Saturday and Wisconsin-River Falls on Sunday.

ACHA Weekend Round-Up, Jan. 24

Oakland takes 2 of 3 on the road
By Matt Mackinder

Oakland University garnered two much-needed wins to stay near the top of the ACHA Central Region Rankings this weekend as the Grizzlies defeated Miami-Ohio and Ohio State.

"We really needed to have a good weekend if we wanted to stay in the top two," stated OU head coach Sean Hogan. "I think we will be there, but it will be up to the ranking members."

Friday night versus Miami, Oakland took a 7-3 win. Will McMahon netted a hat trick while Brent Cooper, Adam Chornoby, Jordan Ingram and Nick Ranck (first goal as a Grizzly) added solos. Andy Hansen made 28 saves in net.

Miami rebounded with a 5-4 win Saturday. Chris Joswiak made 22 saves in the loss and defenseman Dale Swims netted his first goal of the year.

OU played its third game in three nights Sunday and beat the Buckeyes, 8-3. The Grizzlies received a hat trick from Cooper, two goals from captain Brandon Lipari and single goals from Ranck, McMahon and Ingram. Hansen stopped 34 shots.

Oakland will finish up its home schedule with Grand Valley State Friday night at 8:30 p.m. at the ONYX. It’ll be Senior Night as Dan Oleksy, BJ Belliotti, Anthony Magdowski and Ronnie Teasdale will play their last home game for the Grizzlies.

3 games, 3 wins for Lakers
By Chris Moore

Grand Rapids, Michigan - Grand Valley stayed at home this weekend for three games, two against the University of Dayton and one on Sunday against the University of Michigan.

Friday started out well for the Lakers, with GVSU netting three goals to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission. Dayton fought back in the second to make it a 4-3 game at one point, but a few more goals by the Lakers secured a 7-4 win for GVSU. Tim Hillebrand netted his first career hat trick for GVSU and was awarded player of the game. Dean Watkins, Adam Zobl, Jeff Tejchma and Brandon Rood rounded out the scoring for the Lakers. Troy VanderWeyden picked up the win in net, making 26 saves as GVSU outshot Dayton 52 - 30.

GVSU came out strong in Saturday's game against the Flyers and made sure that Dayton was never in the game. Dayton's netminder was the only reason that the game was even respectable as he made several key saves throughout the game. Up 3-0 after one and 5-0 after two, GVSU played a solid 60 minutes of solid hockey. The defense stepped up in the third and never allowed Dayton a chance to get back into it, winning the game 5-1. Nate Beverwyk, Jeff Stempin, Zobl, Hillebrand, and Tejchma all added goals in the game. Kevin Chapman won his second game as a Laker making 20 saves. GVSU outshot the Flyers 56-21.

After two games already on the weekend, GVSU came out a little slow on the Sunday matinee game against the Michigan Wolverines. A bad turnover made the game 1-0 for U of M's favor early and just a minute later, Michigan put in a point shot, with GVSU's net clearly displaced for quite a time after a scrum in front. The ref allowed the goal, which brought about quite an uproar from GVSU's players and crowd.

With the Lakers still upset from the clearly missed call, the Wolverines added two more goals to take an early 4-1 lead. Only from the hard work of Tejchma did the Lakers pull with to head to the locker room down 4-2 scoring both goals in the period.

The second was an evenly played period, with found Michigan pulling ahead 5-2 early. Not quite ready to give up, Nate Morang added a goal soon after and with just 6 seconds left in the second period, Mike Marquardt fired a knuckle puck from the point which found the net and gave the Lakers the momentum which they would carry into the third. Just minutes into the third, Nick Boyle tied the game up with his first career goal for the Lakers. Not done yet, GVSU's Hillebrand gave the Lakers the lead with his fifth goal of the weekend.

The Lakers continued to dominate the third, with Rick Lehman and Andrew Beller each adding a goal to seal the win GVSU. Chris Moore picked up his 10th win facing 29 shots in the 8-5 win.

GVSU travels to current #1 Oakland University next Friday to play the
Grizzlies at 8:30 for the only game of the weekend.

D-I

#6 Lindenwood 2, #8 MICHIGAN-DEARBORN 2 (OT) [TIE]

#3 Ohio 3, #8 MICHIGAN-DEARBORN 0

#3 Ohio 1, #8 MICHIGAN-DEARBORN 1 (OT) [Michigan-Dearborn Wins Shootout 1-0]

Western Michigan 4, SAINT LOUIS 3 (OT)

SAINT LOUIS 5, Western Michigan 2 (Empty Net Goal)

D-II

Central Michigan 4, Ferris State 0

Michigan 8, Central Michigan 6

Ferris 0, Davenport 9

MSU 5, Robert Morris College-Chicago Maroon 2

MSU 5, Robert Morris College-Chicago Maroon 4

Minnesota State- Mankato 4, Michigan Tech 1

Minnesota State- Mankato 6, Michigan Tech 2

D-III

Lawrence Tech 8, Albion 0

Alpena CC 7, Lansing CC 8

Alpena CC 5, Lansing CC 2

Kalamazoo 2, Hope 12

Hope 4, Calvin 10

Oakland 5, Northwood 8

Teslak named WCHA Rookie of the Week

Story from http://michigantechhuskies.com

For the second straight week, a member of the Michigan Tech hockey team earned Western Collegiate Hockey Association honors as announced by league officials Monday. Freshman Michael-Lee Teslak has been named the Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week after his performances in a pair of stalemates Jan. 20-21 against Alaska-Anchorage. The netminder's award comes a week after teammate Justin St. Louis was tabbed WCHA co-Rookie of the Week.

Teslak made 70 saves in the two-game series and did not allow an even-strength goal in either contest. He stopped 29 of 31 shots in the series-opener and 41 of 43 shots in the rubber match Jan. 21. Teslak's 41-save effort marked the fourth time he has compiled at least 40 saves in the 2005-06 campaign.

The leader of all WCHA rookie goalies in saves (543) and saves per game (32), Teslak owns a 6-8-2 record in addition to a 3.50 goals against average and a .905 save percentage in 977:05 of action.

Teslak is the fourth Husky to receive a weekly WCHA honor this season. This week's recognition marks Teslak's second career WCHA Player of the Week award, as he was selected WCHA Rookie of the Week after a 57-save exhibition versus Michigan State Dec. 29, 2005.

The Huskies are off this weekend and return to conference play Feb. 3-4 with a two-game set at Minnesota State.

Western falls on the road to Miami-Ohio

Facing CCHA juggernaut Miami-Ohio is no small feat for any team, particularly conference cellar-dweller Western Michigan. While the team, particularly injured netminder Daniel Bellissimo (pictured above) and senior Brent Walton, put forth an admirable effort, they came up short and were swept in Ohio.

For Western, taking a 6-1 drubbing on Friday was a hard way to start the weekend. Miami (17-4-4, 14-3-2 CCHA) got out to an early 2-0 lead, and while Walton's power-play goal was a bright spot for the Broncos (Paul Szczechura and Daryl Moore assisted), the Red Hawks responded with four unanswered goals. Bellissimo stopped 24 shots in the first two periods before he began feeling the strain of a nagging groin injury and was replaced by Eric Marvin, who made 15 saves in the third period.

While Saturday's contest appeared to be going down the same path, Miami had a 2-0 lead by early in the second period, the tide turned in Western's direction at 13:30 of the second period. Moore and Mike Lesperance set up Walton on the power play, and then Moore and Lesperance connected again on the power play early in the third, this time to send the puck to Jeff LoVecchio, who beat Miami goalie Jeff Zatkoff.

And when Reid Yantzi scored his first goal of the season at 16:22, it seemed victory was within the Broncos' grasp. But a two-man disadvantage proved fatal for Western. Bellissimo gave up a goal to Miami with 22 seconds remaining, and the fired-up Red Hawks scored again with two seconds remaining to snatch the 4-3 win from Western.

“I’m really proud of our effort tonight, I thought our guys battled hard tonight against a good Miami team,” said WMU coach Jim Culhane. “The difference was that they found a way to win when the game was on the line.”

Bellissimo finished with 40 saves in Saturday's game.

Western (5-16-3, 5-11-2 CCHA) welcomes Northern Michigan to Kalamazoo next weekend.

Wayne women sweep RPI Engineers

The Wayne State women hadn't recorded a win in six contests, and visiting Rensselaer (13-3-2) hadn't lost a game since Nov. 19. But the Warriors (8-12-4) defied expectation and swept the Engineers with a 2-1 win on Friday and a 4-2 victory on Saturday.

The Warriors got out to an early lead on Friday. Offensive powerhouse Melissa Boal sent a long pass to Kristy Leng (pictured) who lit the lamp with a top-shelf shot. The team maintained the lead going into the first intermission, thanks in large part to goalie Tiffany Thompson, who stopped all nine RPI shots and stayed steady when the Warriors were down by two skaters.

The Engineers came out strong in the second, but Thompson's tenacity was again showcased when she stopped an RPI breakaway. The tide then turned in Wayne's favor again, and Laura Monk set up Sam Poyton for Poyton's 16th goal of the season, a new school record. Lindsay DiPietro looked to make it 3-0 a few minutes later on a clean breakaway, but was stopped by RPI goaltender Rosina Schiff.

DiPietro was sent to the box midway through the third period for tripping, and RPI capitalized on the opportunity to break Thompson's shutout. However, despite gaining another power play and pulling Schiff with a minute remaining, RPI could not even the score before the final whistle.
Thompson finished with 20 saves.

"That win was a huge confidence boost for us," said WSU head coach Jim Fetter. "Our last month or so, we've played well against some top five teams, but didn't win any of them. This win is a step forward for us."

Valery Turcotte started in net for the Warriors on Saturday. Despite being named the starter at the beginning of the season, Thompson's performances cannot be ignored, resulting in a constant challenging decision for Fetter.

"Without a doubt, it's hard (to decide who starts)," he said. "But we told them from day one, don't make our job easy. And they've made it tough for us with the way they've played the past few games."

Turcotte didn't make the decision any easier on Saturday, recording a win of her own and making 16 saves.

One of the two shots she didn't stop came at 12:37 of the first when Keri Rabatin knocked in a rebound. But Turcotte wasn't rattled and made one of her strongest saves moments later. The Warriors offense helped her out by dominating the Engineers for much of the period, outshooting them 10-5.

Their work paid off in the second period. After several good Warrior shots, blueliner Tina Vanderhoeven sent a pass to Leng, who set up Boal for her tenth goal of the season. On a power play a few minutes later, it was Boal who assisted, sending a cross-ice pass to Poyton to take the lead at 7:33 of the second. Danielle Wilson was also credited with an assist.

The Warriors' scoring flurry continued. Boal earned her second goal of the game, getting some help from Leng and DiPietro during a scramble in front of the net, and knocked it in to put the Warriors ahead by two.

Leng, who had only two points on the season coming into the weekend, earned her third assist at 15:45. She took a pass from Rachel Benninger and set up Monk for a breakaway that beat RPI netminder Ashley Mayr.

The Engineers tried to mount a comeback in the final period, outshooting the Warriors 10-2. A long shot from Melanie Guillemette beat Turcotte to bring the Engineers within two at 10:35 of the third period. The Engineers appeared in position to narrow the gap late in the period when the Warriors were down by two players. It didn't help that key defensemen Vanderhoeven and Peyton Patterson were in the box, but a strong penalty kill staved off RPI. The best scoring chance of the period came in the final seconds, when Boal attempted to score on the empty net. However, her attempt at breakaway glory was foiled by an RPI trip and the game closed out with the Warriors on the power play.

For Fetter, the offensive energy was the most critical factor in the series

"We've been in situations where we haven't been able to score any goals," Fetter said. "Today we got some."

Next weekend, the Warriors face a struggling Robert Morris team on the road. Fetter spoke on the necessity of his team staying in top form.

"We have Robert Morris this weekend and then a week off, so it's important not to get into any bad habits this weekend."