Bulldogs outperform ND in sweep

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Fresh off their third place finish in the Badger Showdown, Ferris State began their second half of league play in dominant fashion by posting 5-2 and 4-2 victories against Notre Dame over the weekend.

Five different skaters lit the lamp for the Bulldogs, beginning with defenseman Scott Wietecha’s marker in the opening period. With two Fighting Irish players in the penalty box, forward Blair Riley began the scoring opportunity by passing the puck to junior Zach Redmond. Looking for the open man, Redmond fed one over to Wietecha on the left side of the ice for the finish.

The lead would be short-lived in the second, as Notre Dame’s Kevin Deeth capitalized on the man-advantage to beat Ferris State goaltender Pat Nagle just 49 seconds in.

With 5:37 elapsed, the Bulldogs broke the tie on a rebound shot from senior Aaron Lewicki. The play began when linemate Justin Menke skated into Irish zone and ripped a shot from the right side that deflected off the pads of Notre Dame netminder Mike Johnson. Aside from Menke, junior winger Mike Embach was also credited with an assist.

A little over a minute later, captain Cody Chupp won a faceoff in the neutral zone to help make it a 3-1 margin. Chupp chipped the puck over to Redmond, who scored from the blueline to tally his fourth of the season, which proved to be the game-winning goal.

Despite an Irish marker by Ian Cole with over three minutes remaining in the frame, Ferris State upped their lead in the third with scores from Menke and Embach.

Johnson had the edge in saves over Nagle, 26-18.

While there was no shortage on goals, it was a much more physical encounter the following night, as both teams racked-up double-digits in penalties.

Towards the midway through the opening stanza, Embach (pictured above) put Ferris State on the board first to notch his fourth point in the weekend series.

The Bulldogs quickly found themselves in a hole later in the period, as Notre Dame racked-up two power-play goals to take the lead following 20 minutes of action.

Freshman Eric Alexander scored the only goal of the second period with 6:53 gone by to put Ferris State back on the board. Helping set-up the play for Alexander was Travis Ouellette and Redmond.

14 seconds into the third, Riley netted his team-high 16th marker of the campaign, scoring off a rebound just outside of the Irish crease.

Chupp would add an insurance goal minutes later with a backhanded shot that bounced in off the crossbar.

Nagle made 27 stops to improve to 7-2-1 between the pipes. On the other side of the ice, Tom O’ Brien finished with 29 saves.

The Bulldogs (16-4-2 overall, 10-2-2-2 CCHA) look to take sole possession of first place in the league when play host to No. 1 ranked Miami, beginning Friday at 7:05 pm.

Photo courtesy of Joe Gorby