Bulldogs split at Bowling Green

By Tom Balog / Ferris State Beat Writer

The Ferris State Bulldogs find themselves in a log jam after a road split against the Bowling Green Falcons over the weekend.

The Bulldogs got a goal from Justin Menke and the game winner from Justin Lewandowski on Friday as Ferris surprised the Falcons 2-1 at the BGSU Ice Arena.

The Falcons only marker was picked up by Northville, Michigan native Todd McIlrath.

Pat Nagle also made 25 saves as FSU saw their winning streak extended to three games and unbeaten mark to five games.

BG freshman and Howell’s transplant Nick Eno made 39 stops for the Falcons.

That brief streak came to an abrupt halt on Saturday night as BGSU got two, third period goals from John Mazzei in 2-1 victory.

Mike Fillinger scored the Bulldogs lone goal and Mitch O'Keefe made 32 saves.

Eno turned away another 22 shots between the pipes for BG.

FSU is now tied for fifth in the CCHA with Bowling Green, Nebraska-Omaha, and Northern Michigan with just two regular season games remaining.

Next up is a two-game home-and-home set with #1 Michigan beginning Friday night at the Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor.

MiCHO Power Poll 2.20.2008

Another week and another No. 1 ranking for the nation’s top-ranked team as the Michigan Wolverines remain the cream of the crop in the MiCHO Power Poll.

The Wolverines swept Lake Superior State at Yost Ice Arena last weekend to maintain their grip as the state’s most dominant team.

Michigan State stays at No. 2 after taking both ends of a home-and-home series with Western Michigan.

Ferris State moves from No. 4 to No. 3 after defeating then-No. 2 Miami on the road last weekend in convincing fashion.

Last week’s third-ranked team, Northern Michigan, gets bumped to No. 4 after splitting with Ohio State.

All other spots remain the same as last week.

Complete Poll

1) Michigan, 25-3-4 (swept Lake Superior)
2) Michigan State, 20-8-5 (swept Western Michigan)
3) Ferris State, 13-12-5 (swept No. 2 Miami)
4) Northern Michigan, 13-16-3 (split with Ohio State)
5) Michigan Tech, 11-14-3 (split with No. 12 UMD)
6) Wayne State, 9-21-2 (split at UAH)
7) Lake Superior, 6-18-6 (swept by No. 1 Michigan)
8) Western Michigan, 7-22-3 (swept by No. 8 Michigan State)

Each week, MichiganCollegeHockey.com editors Matt Mackinder and Tom Balog will compile the MiCHO Power Poll. The poll will comprise the eight Division I teams in the state of Michigan.

Lerg named “Michigan’s Best”

Michigan State junior goalie Jeff Lerg has had quite a time in the Spartans Green and White sweater.

In just his third year, Lerg has already won 61 games, racked up nine shutouts, backstopped his team to a surprising NCAA Title, and now he’s been named Michigan’s Best by readers of the Detroit Free Press.

For the award, Lerg beat out such notables as Detroit Tigers battling champion Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Red Wings perennial Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom and Detroit Pistons All-Star guard Chauncey Billups.

Lerg also joins MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo and just the second Spartan to win the award in its 22-year history.

Lerg and the sixth-ranked Spartans (20-8-5, 16-5-3 CCHA) will hit the ice again this weekend to battle the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines (25-3-4, 18-2-4 CCHA).

Friday’s game will faceoff at 8:05 at the Munn Arena in East Lansing. Saturday’s finale will hit the ice at 7 p.m. at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Photo courtesy of MSU Sports Info

Warriors settle for split down south

By Karl Henkel / WSU Men's Beat Writer

While the weekend started off promising, the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers were too tough of a task for Wayne State in the finale and the Warriors were forced to settle for a split in a late-season CHA series.

Derek Bachynski, who had a huge weekend, led the way with three points Saturday, Jeff Caister set up two goals and Stavros Paskaris' third-period goal broke a 2-2 tie en route to a 4-2 Warrior win.

After trailing 1-0 heading into the second period, Bachynski netted two goals in a five-minute span, the first on the power play.

But just 3:56 later, Kevin Morrison chipped in a rebound to knot the score at 2-all.

Then, just over eight minutes into the third period, Paskaris rifled a wrister past Charger goalie Cameron Talbot, which proved to be the game-winner.

Ryan Adams sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 41 seconds remaining and Brett Bothwell made 13 saves in net.

Part deux saw Wayne State overcome a two-goal deficit, but a late second-period goal by UAH gave them a second lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Trailing 2-0 less than six minutes into the game, Bachynski added his third goal of the series in the first, again on the power play, and Paskaris tied the game with a tally 3:39 into the second.

Morrison scored for the Chargers with 57 seconds to go in the second frame.

Still a one-goal game, the Warriors were unable to convert any of their 15 third period shots. Chris Fairbanks (Milford) then put the game out of reach at 15:09, before Matt Sweazey scored an empty-netter, completing the 5-2 Charger win.

Bachynski's three-goal, two-assist series earned him CHA Offensive Player of the Week, while Caister's three helpers got him CHA Defensive Player of the Week honors.

WSU (9-21-2, 5-11-0 CHA) is idle this weekend before heading to Bemidji State Feb. 29-March 1 for two CHA games.

MSU earns sweep against Western Michigan

By Matt Mackinder/Michigan State Beat Writer &
By Tom Morelli/Western Michigan Beat Writer

Michigan State earned some much-needed momentum heading into this weekend’s series with Michigan with a two-game home-and-home sweep of Western Michigan last weekend.

Friday night in East Lansing, Tim Kennedy had a goal and an assist - his first goal since the calendar turned to 2008 - as Michigan State earned a 3-0 shutout victory over Western Michigan at Munn Ice Arena.

MSU also snapped a three-game losing streak against the Broncos.

Jeff Lerg made 23 saves for his third shutout of the year and senior captain Bryan Lerg and Chris Mueller also scored for MSU.

“I felt confident throughout,” Jeff Lerg said to USCHO. “When my game is on, I feel confident. I felt comfortable making saves, and tonight the guys did a pretty good job getting out of the way and not tipping them. It pretty much just made my job easier. It’s an easy night if you do a lot of little things right and that’s what happened.”

Jerry Kuhn kicked out 36 shots for the Broncos.

After getting shutout the night before, Western Michigan was able to muster some offense on Saturday against Michigan State, but still came up short in a 4-2 loss against the No. 8 ranked team in college hockey.

Bryan Lerg put the Spartans on the board first, finishing off a pass from Jeff Dunne and Tim Crowder with 4:38 gone by in the opening period. Lerg’s goal was his 16th of the season, which came off the man-advantage.

Crowder extended Michigan State’s lead early in the second period, knocking home his 12th goal of the campaign. Andrew Rowe and Jeff Petry were credited with the assists.

A checking-from-behind penalty on the Broncos’ Jeff Pierce gave the Spartans another power-play opportunity in the middle of the period. Justin Abdelkader and Tim Kennedy fed Chris Mueller the puck, who jammed one home over goaltender Riley Gill.

Penalties became costly for Michigan State shortly thereafter, as a holding call on Daniel Vukovic and a slashing call on Abdelkade left the team in a 5-on-3 situation. Western Michigan took advantage of the matter, as junior Patrick Galivan slid the puck toward defenseman Tyler Ludwig at the blue line. Ludwig then fed a wide-open Ansell, who was standing between the face-off circles. The long-range shot by Ansell beat netminder Jeff Lerg, this breaking any efforts of a shutout.

The Broncos came within a goal of their opponent in the first minute of the final period. Winger Jeff LoVecchio came streaking down the right side of the ice, firing a laser off of Lerg. As he got off his shot, LoVecchio took a huge hit from the Spartans’ defense and went crashing to the ice. Galivan scooped up the loose rebound in the crease and scored his first goal since January 6th against Nebraska-Omaha. LoVecchio was escorted to the locker rooms visibly clutching his right side, but would return later in the game.

Looking for the equalizer, Western Michigan head coach Jim Culhane pulled Gill in the last minute of the game to put an extra attacker on the ice. Bryan Lerg snagged the puck, and passed up-ice to Mueller, who added his second goal of the night on an empty-netter.

Western Michigan (7-22-3, 3-19-2 CCHA) travels to Miami this weekend for a two-game set.

The Spartans (20-8-5, 16-5-3 CCHA) return home Friday when they host the top-ranked Wolverines in an 8 p.m. game that will be televised on CSTV. The teams will then faceoff on Saturday at Joe Louis Arena on FSN Detroit.

“Coming off two road losses last weekend, you struggle a lot emotionally,” said MSU head coach Rick Comley. “Now, I think this week we can have a positive practice and get ready for Friday.”

WSU women falter in RMU split

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Just one week after beating national powerhouse Mercyhurst for the first time ever and earning a No. 10 national ranking, the Wayne State women tasted an upset from the other side in a split at home with Robert Morris.

The 2-1 loss Friday was WSU’s first to RMU in their four-year history.

With the loss, WSU saw its school record 11-game unbeaten streak snapped.

Melissa Boal scored just 32 seconds into the second period and Valery Turcotte made 27 saves, ending her personal 11-game unbeaten streak as well.

The Warriors rebounded for a 2-1 win of their own Saturday as Lindsay DiPietro and Sam Poyton scored to back Turcotte’s 16-save performance.

Wayne State (18-7-3, 6-1-1 CHA) will host No. 7 Mercyhurst in a battle for first place atop the CHA standings Friday and Saturday at the City Sports Center. Friday’s game starts at 7 p.m. and Saturday’s matinee goes at 2 p.m.

Wildcats split with Ohio State

By Lee Hampden/Northern Michigan Beat Writer

With a split at Ohio State last weekend, Northern Michigan continued their hold on eighth place in the CCHA.

Brian Stewart turned in a stellar 46-save performance Friday night as the Wildcats skated to a 2-0 shutout over the Buckeyes.

Matt Siddall and Mark Olver scored NMU’s goals. Stewart also assisted on Olver’s goal, an empty-netter with under a minute left in the third period.

Saturday night was a heartbreaker as former Michigan State Spartans forward Tommy Goebel scored as time expired in the third period to give OSU a crazy 3-2 win.

The Buckeyes had tied the game at 16:08 of the period.

Olver and Gregor Hanson scored for the Wildcats in the second period and Stewart stopped 29 shots.

NMU (13-16-3, 10-12-2 CCHA) hosts Nebraska-Omaha this weekend.

Wolverines sweep aside Lakers at Yost

By Matt Mackinder/Michigan Beat Writer

The top-ranked Michigan Wolverines continued their roll last weekend with a convincing two-game sweep of Lake Superior State at Yost Ice Arena.

Michigan is now unbeaten in their last seven games (3-0-4) and is 12-2-2 on home ice this season.

"Well, it was definitely great to get the two wins,” U-M freshman forward Louie Caporusso said. “I do not think we have swept a series in four weeks. So, it was definitely great that we got these two wins. It wasn't pretty; that's for sure. But we will take them."

Friday night, Chad Kolarik scored all four goals for the Wolverines and senior captain Kevin Porter assisted on three in a 4-2 win over the Lakers.

Kolarik was asked after the game if he should start his own Hobey Baker campaign.

"No, this is Kevin Porter's year,” said Kolarik. “Let him have it and I'm just having fun. He's carrying me night-in and night-out; Porter's carrying me on his back."

Billy Sauer finished with 25 saves for the Wolverines, while Brian Mahoney-Wilson made 30 stops for LSSU.

Simon Gysbers and Nathan Perkovich scored for the Lakers.

The Wolverines completed the sweep with another 4-2 victory Saturday night.

Bryan Hogan played in net and stopped 21 shots and Caporusso potted a pair for the Wolverines.

Travis Turnbull and Matt Rust tallied the other U-M goals.

“There was some good hockey in parts and there was some ugly hockey,” U-M head coach Red Berenson said. “I thought we took too many penalties, or there were too many penalties called in the game. But any time you have a sweep in a weekend in this league this time of year, you've got to do a lot of things right and you've got to get some breaks.”

Dan Eves and Rick Schofield added goals for the Lakers, who got a 20-save outing from Pat Inglis.

The Wolverines (25-3-4, 18-2-4 CCHA) will travel to East Lansing this Friday to take on the Michigan State Spartans at Munn Ice Arena. The in-state rivalry is scheduled to begin at 8:05 p.m. and will be broadcast by CSTV. The following night, both teams will head to Detroit to play at Joe Louis Arena. The puck will drop at 7:05 p.m. and television coverage will be provided by FSN Detroit.

LSSU (6-18-6, 4-15-5 CCHA) plays host to Alaska this weekend and will celebrate Senior Night and pay tribute to the late Diane Floyd on Saturday.

Tech splits with #12 Minnesota-Duluth

By Joseph Lakeland / MTU Beat Writer

The Michigan Tech Huskies closed out their 4-game homestand with a mixed result, splitting with the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs at the MacInnes Arena.

Michigan Tech dominated Friday’s game one and skated away with a relatively easy 5-2 win in front of 2,137 fans.

Senior and Hancock native Peter Rouleau led the Huskies scoring attack with three goals and two assists. Alex Gagne also added a pair of goals and an assist to help MTU to their first win in five games.

“Pete gave us 40 great minutes tonight,” said head coach Jamie Russell in the Michigan Tech Athletics recap. “Our guys came back after the first period and scored three goals in the second period.”

Michael-Lee Teslak stopped 20 shots in between the pipes for MTU. Alex Stalock turned away 22 for UMD.

MTU had their chances on Saturday, but surrendered a late goal and fell by a final of 3-2.

Tyler Shelast started the scoring with a power-play marker at 14:53 of the first period, but the Bulldogs scored the next two goals and skated into the third with 2-1 lead.

Ryan Bunger tied it up at 17:57 and the two teams looked poised for overtime.

The Bulldogs had other ideas though as Evan Oberg’s shot through traffic found it’s way in for the eventual game winner at 19:00 for a 3-2 UMD lead.

Michael-Lee Teslak stopped 22 shots for MTU. Alex Stalock only needed to stop 15 shots for UMD.

MTU sits in eighth place in the WCHA with 6 games to play in the regular season. Next up will be a pair of games at 19th ranked St. Cloud State next weekend.

Bulldogs freeze #2 Miami

by Tom Balog / Ferris State Beat Writer

Who saw this one coming? I’m betting not many as the Ferris State Bulldogs (13-12-5, 10-10-4 CCHA) put together two surprising wins at the Ewigleben Arena and toppled one of the big guns in college hockey.

The Bulldogs scored three first period goals en route to a 6-5 upset of #2 Miami on Friday night.

Cody Chupp led FSU with a pair of goals and Mitch O’Keefe recorded 29 saves.

Aaron Lewicki, Blair Riley, Justin Lewandowski, and Adam Miller also scored as the scored their second big upset in two weekends. Last weekend, the Bulldogs went on the road and scored an upset of the ninth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Joyce Center .

Miami was led by Ryan Jones who notched a hat trick to bring his season total to 27 goals.

The RedHawks outshot the Bulldogs 41-34 and each team recorded 3 power-play markers.

The Bulldogs proved the win wasn’t a fluke the next evening as they rolled over the RedHawks for a second straight game.

Freshman Mike Fillinger scored at 16:22 of the opening period to put the Bulldogs up 1-0.

That score would stand all the way until 7:54 of the third when Alexandre Lacombe would tie it up for Miami.

First year defenseman Scott Wietecha netted the game winner for FSU at 16:45 and then Cody Chupp sealed the game with an empty net goal with 11 seconds left on the clock.

Freshman Pat Nagle got the start in net for the Bulldogs and rewarded his team with 36 saves.

The pair of wins pushed FSU into a sixth-place tie with the Bowling Green in the CCHA with a pair of game looming against the Falcons at the BGSU Ice Arena next weekend.