FSU sweeps WMU in home-and home

By Andy Oliver / Ferris State Beat Writer
By Tom Morelli / Western Michigan Beat Writer

Ferris State earned two wins last weekend in a home-and-home set with Western Michigan .

Friday night at Ferris State, Mitch O'Keefe pitched his second shutout of the season in a 4-0 win.

Cody Chupp started the scoring just 53 seconds into the first period when he walked in from the right side blueline and beat Western goaltender Riley Gill over his glove. Assisting on Chupp's goal were Matt Case and Brendan Connolly. Late in the first, at the 17:55 mark, Ferris freshman Scott Wietecha scored his second goal of the season on a one-timer from the point. Chupp moved the puck to defenseman Zach Redmond, who sent a nice pass to Wietecha for the one-timer.

At 6:28 of the second period, Ferris defensemen Evan Case scored his first goal of the season. Mike Embach worked the puck down low to Adam Miller who hit a wide-open Case back door of the Western goal. Ferris’ final goal of the game came at the 7:56 mark of the third period while on the power play. Embach moved the puck to Aaron Lewicki who set up Evan Case at the point for a shot through traffic, scoring his second goal of the night.

O'Keefe made 29 saves and Gill stopped 33.

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For the fourth time this season, Western Michigan failed to win a weekend series.

Interestingly enough, three of these sweeps came at the hands of CCHA opponents. Ferris State added their name to the list last Friday and Saturday night, as the Broncos have now lost eight of their last 10 games.

After being shutout the previous night by the Bulldogs, 4-0, Western Michigan managed to generate some offense this time around.

Ferris State grabbed the lead less than eight minutes into the opening period, with Brendan Connolly getting the best of Broncos goaltender Riley Gill.

The Bulldogs carried that momentum into the second period, where they extended their lead at the 12:26 mark, thanks to a lamp-lighter by Justin Lewandowski.

Not to be outdone, Western Michigan’s Cam Watson took advantage of a Ferris State hooking penalty to score a power-play goal a mere two minutes later. Watson’s goal gave him a team-high six for the season, and came courtesy of forward Dave Krisky.

As the middle stanza came to a close, Zach Redmond of Ferris State added an insurance goal, giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead.

Freshman winger Travis Paeth chipped for the Broncos midway through the final period, scoring his first career goal at 10:02. Helping out on the play was Nathan Ansell and Mike Lesperance.

Despite a two-goal effort, Western Michigan continued their struggle with getting shots on net, managing 19 to Ferris State’s 37.

The Broncos’ special teams remained a bright spot in the game, as the power play converted once on four tries, and the penalty kill denied five scoring opportunities.

Gill kept busy in his work between the pipes, stopping 34 of 37 shots.

With the loss, Western Michigan drops to 4-10-0 overall (2-8-0 CCHA). The Broncos will have a chance to better their record next Friday and Saturday night when Wayne State University travels to Kalamazoo for a two game series.

Ferris State (7-6-1 , 6-4-0 CCHA) plays Michigan State in another home-and-home series this weekend starting Friday in Big Rapids.