Bulldogs stymied in series with Alaska

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

As if Alaska didn’t cause enough pain for Ferris State the first time around, the Nanooks were at it again last weekend, winning both games to take a 4-0 sweep in the season series.

The Bulldogs (12-15-7 overall, 9-12-5-2 CCHA) began Friday night’s game on a positive note, thanks to a goal by Justin Menke with five minutes remaining in the opening period. Helping out on the goal were defenseman Zach Redmond and center Brendan Connolly.

Ferris State remained on top until about midway through the third period, when Alaska scored a pair of goals within a three-minute span. Kevin Petovello evened-up the score at 10:51 with his shot on goaltender Pat Nagle, which came while the Nanooks were shorthanded. With their team back at full-strength, Alaska completed their come-from behind victory off a goal by Ron Myers with 13:21 elapsed.

In his 19th start of the season, Nagle collected 30 saves. At the other end of the ice, Chad Johnson put a stop to 28 shots.

Saturday was a bit of déjà-vu for the Bulldogs, as they once again relinquished an early lead that resulted in defeat.

Ferris State’s offense awakened in the early going of the second period, as Menke set-up Connolly for his ninth goal of the season with 26 seconds gone by. At about the five minute mark, the Bulldogs added to their lead on a marker by Mike Embach, which came courtesy of Justin Lewandowski and Aaron Lewicki.

The Nanooks made it clear that they would not go down easy, as Brandon Knelsen passed the puck to younger brother Dion to beat Taylor Nelson at 9:34.

In the third period, Derek Klassen and Rob Meyers were responsible for giving Petovello his second goal in as many nights with seven minutes remaining, which gave Alaska an opportunity to force overtime.

The Nanooks wasted little time in the extra session, winning at the 1:16 mark on an Adam Naglich goal from Brendan Knelsen and Bryant Molle.

Johnson was the winning goaltender once again, racking-up 23 stops to Nelson’s 27.

Ferris State closes out the regular season with a home-and-home series this Friday and Saturday night against the University of Michigan.