Sunday, January 05, 2014

Bulldogs finish runner-up in Mariucci Classic

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

No. 2 ranked Ferris State had their unprecedented 16-game unbeaten streak snapped Saturday night in the finals of the Mariucci Classic by Colgate, following an impressive showing against RPI in the opening round.

This was the Bulldogs' fifth appearance in the Mariucci Classic and first since their third-place finish during the 2010-2011 season.

The red-light ran rampant in Friday's contest, as Ferris State cruised to a 7-2 victory over RPI. Garrett Thompson and Justin Buzzeo gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead in the first before the Engineers responded with under three minutes left in the frame on a goal by Milos Bubela.

Freshman Chad McDonald scored the eventual game-winner with 7:30 elapsed in the middle stanza, followed by a power-play marker from sophomore Matt Robertson to put Ferris State ahead by three.

Just over a minute into the final period, junior defenseman Travis White notched his first collegiate goal, with Sean O' Rourke and Buzzeo providing helpers on the play.

RPI added to their total with a short-handed effort by Mike Zalewski with nine minutes remaining, only to be answered back by Robertson on an empty-netter at the 17-minute mark.

In addition to his pair of goals, Robertson also registered assists on the Bulldogs' first two scores.

Freshman defenseman Ryan Lowney led all players in the plus/minus category with a +4 rating.

Notching his 15th win of the season between the pipes was junior C.J. Motte, who had 32 saves to Scott Liebold's 24.

Ferris State ran into a familiar foe in the tournament final on Saturday in Colgate, whom they previously split with to begin the 2013-2014 season.

In the rubber match, the Raiders were able to hand the Bulldogs just their third loss of the season, scoring two power-play goals en route to a 3-0 victory.

Motte dropped his first game of the season, finishing with 26 stops, while counterpart Charlie Finn shied away 19 shots to secure the shutout.

Ferris State (15-3-3 overall, 10-0-2 WCHA) resumes their conference schedule this weekend, as they play host to Michigan Tech (7-11-6, 5-5-4).

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