Ferris State sweeps Irish to remain atop CCHA

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

With their home-and-home sweep over Notre Dame this past weekend, the No. 5 ranked Ferris State Bulldogs have extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games and are the first team in the nation to reach the 20-win mark this season.

Junior forward Kyle Bonis had a hand in all three scores Friday night, as the Bulldogs notched their fourth shutout of the campaign.

Following a scoreless opening period, Ferris State's first goal came midway through the second while on the power-play. With Derek Graham and Travis Ouellette as the set-up men, Bonis skated behind the net and bounced one in off of goaltender Mike Johnson.

With 22 seconds remaining in the frame, Bonis scored once again, but in a more conventional fashion, as he stood outside the crease before receiving a pass from defenseman Scott Czarnowczan.

Graham would lit the lamp himself at the 5:38 mark of the third, with helpers being credited to Chad Billins and Bonis.

Senior netminder Taylor Nelson outperformed Johnson in the saves department, 32-20 to earn his third shutout this season.

The Bulldogs wrapped-up the series on Saturday with a 5-1 decision in front of nearly 2,500 fans at the Ewigleben Arena in Big Rapids.

Following two quick scores in the opening stanza by Nate Milam and Billins, the Fighting Irish wouldn't get on the scoreboard until Riley Sheahan's power-play marker with six seconds left in the frame.

Cory Kane provided Ferris State with some breathing room in the second period with a marker at 15:25, before Graham and Jordie Johnston provided insurance goals in the final 20 minutes of action.

Nelson made 27 stops to improve to 15-4-2 as a starter. After allowing two goals on five shots, Notre Dame pulled Steven Summerhays in favor of Johnson, who tallied 25 saves on 28 opportunities.

The Bulldogs (20-8-4 overall, 14-6-4-1 CCHA) will play host to conference cellar-dwellers Bowling Green this weekend, with a 7:05 pm start time slated for both games. Ferris State swept the Falcons in their previous series back in November.

Bulldogs, Irish split home-and-home series

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Home ice went a long way this past weekend for Notre Dame and Ferris State, as both teams walked away with a 4-1 decision in a series featuring two of the nation's top 10 teams.

A week after being swept by Western Michigan, the No. 9 ranked Bulldogs ended their skid by rattling off three goals over the first two periods on Friday to build a comfortable lead against the Fighting Irish.

Although Sam Calabrese of Notre Dame would break-up goaltender Taylor Nelson's shutout bid at 8:13 of the third, Ferris State responded less than a minute later with a power-play marker by senior forward Jordie Johnston.

Nelson tallied a game-high 28 saves, half of which came in the second period alone. Counterpart Mike Johnson took the loss for the Irish, finishing with 19 stops.

Junior forward Matthew Kirzinger finished with a +2 rating and a pair of helpers for the Bulldogs, whom improved their record to 6-1-1 at the Ewigleben Arena this season.

In the series finale at South Bend the folllowing night, No. 7 ranked Notre Dame struck first six minutes into the opening period with a goal by Jeff Costello, which came while on the man-advantage.

Sophomore forward Garrett Thompson evened-up the score at the 11:35 mark of the middle stanza by sneaking the puck past Irish netminder Steven Summerhays. Garnerning assists on that play were freshmen Nate Milam and Simon Denis.

With 15 seconds to go in the frame, Notre Dame regained control of the scoreboard by adding another power-play goal, with this one being credited to T.J. Tynan.

In the final period, the Irish's Mike Voran put the game out of reach by contributing two insurance goals.

Freshman goaltender C.J. Motte, who held a 25-22 advantage over Summerhays in the saves department, dropped to 4-3-1 as a starter for Ferris State.

The Bulldogs (11-6-1 overall, 7-6-1-0 CCHA) remain idle until December 29-30, when they travel to Burlington, Vermont to compete in the Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup. Ferris State opens against RIT before facing host Vermont the following night.

Bulldogs prove unlucky aganist Irish

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

In their final home series of the season, Ferris State struggled to upend the top team in the CCHA, losing 3-2 and 5-2 decisions to Notre Dame over the weekend.

Friday's contest began in rather quiet fashion, as both teams went nearly an entire period without scoring. With under two minutes remaining however, Nick Larson put the Fighting Irish ahead by scoring in a rather unorthdox fashion. After teammate Mike Voran blasted a shot from the right circle, the puck then bounced off the chest of a Ferris State player, where an opportunistic Larson quickly found the back of the net with a backhanded shot from just outside the crease.

Sam Calabrese extended Notre Dame's lead with 2:19 gone by in the second by intercepting a pass in the Bulldogs' defensive zone and firing the puck past netiminder Pat Nagle from the right wing.

Despite being shorthanded, Ferris State would respond over a minute later, as senior Mike Embach finished off a pass from freshman defenseman Scott Czarnowczan to record his eighth marker of the campaign. Also earning an assist on that play was senior blueliner Chad Billins.

Some heavy traffic in front of the net played an essential part in Riley Sheahan's game-winning goal, as the Fighting Irish restored their two-goal lead while on the man-advantage at 7:12.

The Bulldogs inched closer with a lamp-lighter by sophomore forward Matthew Kirzinger with 6:45 elapsed in the third stanza, but they would be unable to score the equalizer in the waning moments of the game.

Mike Johnson finished with 37 saves, compared to Nagle's 34.

Tied at 2-2 going into the final period on Saturday, Notre Dame completed their series sweep by scoring three unanswered goals within a 12 minute span.

Ferris State notched both of their goals in the second period, with power-play markers from Czarnowczan and junior winger Aaron Schmit.

Nagle accounted for 28 stops, which included 16 in the opening frame. At the other end of the ice, Steven Summerhays recorded 29 saves.

Prior to the game, the Bulldogs honored their senior class of Embach, Mike Fillinger, Nate Hennig, Justin Menke, Nagle, Todd Pococke, Zach Redmond and Scott Wietecha.

With the pair of losses, Ferris State drops to 16-14-4 overall and 11-12-3-2 in conference play. The Bulldogs will close out their regular season this weeekend when they visit Ohio State. Puck drop for both contests is scheduled for 7:05 pm.

Irish sweep away Wildcats

By Susannah Nichols/ Northern Michigan Beat Writer

Notre Dame leads the CCHA--and this weekend the Northern Michigan Wildcats got a taste of why. The Irish drubbed the 'Cats 8-1 on Friday, and then beat them again 3-1 on Saturday.

The 'Cats lit the lamp first in Friday's game, when Mike Maltese scored unassisted at 7:42 of the first period. But the team's usual strategy of getting soundly outshot (39-17) and still walking away with the win didn't pan out against the Irish, in part due to the fact that the 'Cats served 42 minutes worth of penalties.

Notre Dame went on to score eight unanswered goals, including one shorthanded and two on the power play. Freshman goalie Jared Coreau, reigning CCHA Goaltender of the Week, made 10 saves and allowed four goals before being replaced by Reid Ellingson early in the second period. Ellingson had 21 saves on 25 shots.

Saturday's defeat wasn't quite as painful for the 'Cats. The Irish jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 2:20 into the game, and added a second goal in the waning minutes of the first period. Still, the 'Cats kept pace offensively, outshooting the Irish 11-8 in the first twenty minutes.

The Irish went up 3-0 after scoring in the last seconds of a power play that resulted from Wildcat Andrew Cherniwchan being called for a five-minute major for kneeing. For the second night in a row, Coreau was replaced mid-game. He headed to the bench with seven saves.

Ellingson stopped all of the 10 shots he faced, and late in the second period, the 'Cats capitalized on a power play to get on the board. Scott Macaulay and Phil Fox set up Justin Florek for his eighth goal of the season.

Northern outshot Notre Dame 7-5 in the last period (and 25-20 over the course of the game), but neither team made another goal.

The 'Cats (9-11-4, 7-7-2 CCHA) are idle next weekend, but will look to rebound January 21-22, when they welcome Ferris State to Marquette.

Wildcats and Irish do the splits

By Susannah Nichols/ Northern Michigan Beat Writer

The patron saint of goaltenders must have a special affection for the Northern Michigan Wildcats: how else to explain freshman netminder Jared Coreau's stunning performance in Saturday's 3-2 win over conference-leading Notre Dame? The Irish outshot the 'Cats 55-15 on their home ice, but it was Coreau and the 'Cats who skated off with the victory.

However, the patron saint must have taken a day of rest on Sunday, as the Irish backed up their 43 shots with a 5-2 win.

On Friday, Northern only got five shots in the first period, but managed to convert on two. Both goals came on the power play: Tyler Gron scored first, with assists by Greger Hanson and Kyle Follmer. And in the last minute of the period, Phil Fox and Stephan Vigier set up Scott Macaulay to make it 2-0.

Notre Dame spent most of the second period peppering Coreau, but only Wildcat Brian Nugent, with some help from Macaulay and Erik Higby, could manage to light the lamp.

The Irish cut the 'Cats' lead to one in the final stanza, but Coreau and the Wildcat defense held on for the win.

On Sunday, Notre Dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Mike Maltese banged in a power play goal to make it 2-1. Hanson and CJ Ludwig assisted on the play.

Maltese, along with Andrew Fernandez, then set up Nicholas Kosinski to tie up the game early in the third period. But Notre Dame scored three unanswered goals, including an empty-netter, to seal the 5-2 win and force the 'Cats to settle for a split.

Northern goalie Reid Ellingson had 38 stops in the loss.

The 'Cats (8-8-3, 7-5-2-0 CCHA) and the Irish will go another round in mid-January. Until then, the Wildcats will take a break from conference play: they return home this weekend for a Friday night faceoff with UP rival Michigan Tech of the WCHA, and then take on Denver over New Year's weekend.

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

Wildcats take three points from Irish

By Susannah Nichols/ Northern Michigan Beat Writer

Despite being outshot 38-18 on Saturday night, Northern Michigan (3-5-2, 2-3-1-0 CCHA)managed to get the goals it needed to upset No. 8 Notre Dame, 3-2. The next afternoon, the Wildcats appeared poised to repeat their performance, but the Irish (5-5-2, 2-2-2-1 CCHA) surged back from a two-goal deficit to tie the game, then win in the shootout by the same 3-2 count.

Jared Brown and Ray Kaunisto each scored in the first period of Saturday's game to give the Wildcats the early lead. The Irish got within a goal by the end of the period, but goalie Brian Stewart's steadfast play in the net allowed the Wildcats to keep their lead through the second period.

Matt Butcher netted his first goal of the season to widen the 'Cats lead early in the third period. Northern stayed defensively strong, even managing to stifle a two-man advantage for the Irish. Though Notre Dame got within one and Irish goalie Mike Johnson left the net with 30 seconds remaining, the 'Cats held on for the win.

Stewart finished with 36 saves.

On Sunday afternoon, Northern controlled the offensive energy in the first period, allowing the Irish only three shots. In the second, period, Brown and Kaunisto each scored again to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. Alan Dorich got his first points of the season by assisting on both goals, and Justin Florek helped out on Kaunisto's goal as well.

Notre Dame's Billy Maday scored midway through the second and early in the third to knot up the game. Northern outshot the Irish 14-9 in the final period, but couldn't get past goalie Brad Phillips. The game stayed deadlocked to the final horn and through the overtime period.

In the shootout, Maday and Calle Ridderwall each netted goals for the Irish, but only Gregor Hanson could convert for Northern.

Stewart finished with 25 saves in Sunday's game.

NMU returns to Marquette to face Nebraska-Omaha next Friday and Saturday. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. both nights.

Bulldogs swept by Notre Dame

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Following a dominant performance against Northern Michigan in their previous series, Ferris State experienced a turn for the worse after losing twice to No. 1-ranked Notre Dame over the weekend.

Bulldogs captain Cody Chupp gave his team an early nod in the second period Friday night after scoring in the first minute of play. Chupp’s fifth of the campaign came against Irish goaltender Jordan Pearce and was set-up by assistant captains Blair Riley and Zach Redmond.

Notre Dame evened-up the score at 8:29 in the period, when Ben Ryan finished off a pass from Erik Condra and Ian Cole. A slashing penalty the next minute by Ferris State defenseman Chad Billins proved costly as Calle Ridderwall lit the lamp on the man-advantage to put the Irish ahead by a 2-1 margin.

Ridderwall came through again in the next period when he and Kevin Deeth set-up a power-play goal for Christian Hanson with just four minutes remaining in the game.

Pearce collected 30 saves, compared to the 24 stops by Bulldogs netminder Taylor Nelson.

Ferris State put together a competitive performance against Notre Dame the following night, but once again came up short in the end.

Both teams remained scoreless until late in the second period, when Dan Kissel finished off a pass from Cole and Patrick Gaul that snuck past goaltender Pat Nagle at the 17:55 mark.

Kissel’s goal turned out to be the game-winner, which extended to Irish’s unbeaten streak to 12 games. However, tempers flared at the end of the game which resulted in three players from each side getting slapped with roughing and misconduct penalties. Among the guilty parties were Scott Wietcha, Aaron Lewicki and Redmond of Ferris State and Teddy Ruth, Ryan Guentzel and Brett Blatchford of Notre Dame.

Pearce put together a 25-save performance to get his second victory in as many nights, while Nagle stopped 33 shots.

The pair of losses drops the Bulldogs to a 7-8-3 overall record and they now stand at 6-6-2 in conference play. Ferris State looks to get back on the winning side next weekend when they face-off with Alabama-Huntsville in a non-conference series at the Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids.

College Hockey Faceoff coming to Palace

Updated 9-20-2007- College hockey makes its return to the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday, January 19, 2007 with a doubleheader featuring traditional conference foes.

The action begins at 3:30 with the Wayne State Warriors facing off with the back-to-back CHA regular season champ Niagara Purple Eagles.

The Purps dominated last season’s series with the Green and Gold, going 4-1-1.

"I think it will be great venue for our game," said Warriors head coach Bill Wilkinson. "It's an NHL-type of building that will give the players a chance to feel that they are playing in a professional setting. It should be a positive atmosphere for a college showcase weekend. We are looking forward to playing the Niagara Purple Eagles at the Palace."

Saturday’s nightcap will be rematch of last year’s CCHA title game with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish battling the Michigan Wolverines.

Last season, the Irish won all three meetings with the Maize and Blue.

Tickets for the College Hockey Faceoff can be purchased at Palacenet.com, the Palace box office or any Ticketmaster location.

Marysville's Rogers verbals to Irish

From the Western College Hockey blog...

The Port Huron Times Herald is reporting that Notre Dame has received a verbal commitment from Marysville goalie Joe Rogers.

Rogers has to be one of the most interesting stories in junior hockey. He was born with a birth defect in his glove hand, which makes it nearly impossible to catch pucks in his glove, but he has worked to become one of the best goalies in his age group.

He'll be playing Junior B hockey for the Petrolia Jets in the Western Ontario Hockey League this season.

UPDATE: The Times Herald ran a full article on Rogers this week. He'll join the Irish in 2009.