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.
1 comment:
Worst officiated game I have seen in 20 years. These guys should have been doing bantam level games.
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