Bulldogs conclude 2013 with 15-game unbeaten streak

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Testing their talents against schools in the newly-formed Big Ten conference (and former fellow CCHA rivals) Michigan and Michigan State, No. 4 ranked Ferris State escaped unscathed this past weekend, tying the school record for most consecutive games without a loss at 15.

The Bulldogs ventured to Ann Arbor on Wednesday night, where they skated to a 2-2 tie. Freshman forward Kyle Schempp registered his seventh goal in unassisted fashion at 13:06 in the first, before the Wolverines' Andrew Copp netted the equalizer 1:20 later. Earning helpers on that play were Phil DiGiuseepe and Tyler Motte (brother of Ferris State goaltender C.J. Motte).

No. 3 ranked Michigan grabbed their only lead of the net in the opening minute of the second, as Alex Guptill snuck the puck past Motte 38 seconds into the restart.

The 2-1 lead stood until less than six minutes left in regulation, when defenseman Brandon Anselmini fired a shot from the point to force the extra session.

With neither team able to produce the game-winning goal in overtime, the contest officially goes into the NCAA record-books as a tie. However, under Big Ten rules, the home team has to power to declare a shootout, even in a non-conference game.

Garret Thompson of Ferris State and Michigan's Copp both found the back of the net in the second round of the shootout, but it wouldn't be decided until five rounds later, when Alex Kile's shot was determined by officials to have crossed the goal line to give the Wolverines the win.

Zach Nagelvoort had a slight advantage in the saves department over Motte, 29-28.

In Saturday's contest in East Lansing - dubbed the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game - the Bulldogs closed out the 2013 calendar year with a 2-0 triumph over Michigan State.

Freshman Chad McDonald produced the game-winning goal just shy of the midway point of the first period off a feed from linemate Kenny Babinski. The score is McDonald's fourth of the campaign and first since November 22 in a 5-3 win over Alaska.

A five-minute major levied against Michigan State's Matt DeBlouw for boarding in the early moments of the ensuing frame helped spur a scoring opportunity for the Bulldogs on the power-play. Junior forward Justin Buzzeo produced his eighth goal this season, with freshmen Gerald Mayhew and Ryan Lowney each registering assists on that play.

Motte recorded his second shutout of 2013-2014 with a 16 save effort to improve to 14-0-3 as a starter.

Taking the loss in net for the Spartans was Jake Hildebrand, who stopped 20 of 22 shots faced.

Ferris State (14-2-3 overall) is idle until January 3, when they face RPI in the opening round of the Mariucci Classic. Pending the result of that game, the Bulldogs will face either Colgate or host Minnesota the following night.

Up next for both Michigan (10-2-2) and Michigan State (5-9-1) is the Great Lakes Invitational on December 27-28 at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Wolverines draw Western Michigan in the opening round, while the Spartans clash with Michigan Tech. All four games can be seen on either Fox Sports Detroit or Fox Sports Detroit Plus at 3:30 and 7:00 pm both nights.

Bulldogs split home opener with St. Lawrence

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

What goes around, comes around.

That's the lesson learned by both St. Lawrence and Ferris State this past weekend, as their series produced a similar storyline, but with a different result.

Playing at home for the first time this season, the Bulldogs took the early lead with 47 seconds left in the opening stanza on a Justin Buzzeo marker.

Despite being a man down to begin the ensuing frame, Ferris State was able find the back of the net, thanks to a goal by forward Justin DeMartino from fellow senior Corey Kane with 1:07 elapsed.

The Saints however would respond two minutes later, as Drew Smolcynski put the puck past netminder Charles Williams to cut the deficit in half.

With less than three minutes until intermission, St. Lawrence knotted the score at two goals apiece on a lamplighter from Brian Ward.

Gunnar Hughes notched his second assist of the contest on Smolcynski's game-winner with 13:36 elapsed, in what would be the only score of the third.

Williams (0-2) stopped 26 shots, compared to Matt Weininger's 24-save performance for the Saints.

Saturday's contest was "Pink in the Rink", where Ferris State players donned pink jerseys in an effort to increase breast cancer awareness and raise money for research.

The Saints rushed out to a 1-0 lead midway through the first off a power-play goal from Eric Sweetman.

Just 32 seconds into the following period, Matt Carey made it a 2-0 affair with assists being credited to Jeremy Wick and Greg Carey.

Thompson broke the Bulldogs' scoring drought shortly thereafter while on the man-advantage, before Buzzeo added an even-strength marker with under nine minutes left in the stanza.

A penalty-laden third period from both sides would end-up benefiting Ferris State, as Kane restored their lead off a pass from senior forward Andy Huff.

Freshman Seth Adams and Huff each notched a power-play marker to put the Bulldogs ahead 5-2, before St. Lawerence's Woody Hudson lit the lamp with 1:31 remaining.

Eight players tallied helpers for Ferris State, with senior defenseman Scott Czarnowczan leading the way with two assists to his credit.

Junior goaltender C.J. Motte collected 31 saves to improve to 3-0 as a starter this season.

Ferris State 3, Mercyhurst 2: The Bulldogs bounced back from a 1-0 deficit in Tuesday's game to rattle off three consecutive goals, beginning with sophomore Kenny Babinksi's first of the campaign off a rebound with 4:43 left in the first period. Thompson and DeMartino each found the back of the net 32 seconds apart during the second to give Ferris State a 3-1 lead entering the final period of play. Motte shied away 22 of 24 shots for the win.

The Bulldogs (3-2 overall) are idle this weekend, but will open their inaugural season in the WCHA on November 1-2 with a series against Alabama-Huntsville.

Bulldogs split opening series with Colgate

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Ferris State opened the 2013-2014 season this past weekend, where they split a pair of games on the road against Colgate.

The Big Reds grabbed the early lead in Saturday's match-up, with Mike Borkowski and Andrew Black scoring less than two minutes apart in what would be the only scores of the first period.

The ensuing stanza went the way of the Bulldogs, beginning with a marker by senior forward Corey Kane at 3:53 off a pass from junior defenseman Jason Binkley.

A power-play goal by senior defenseman Scott Czarnowczan at 13:29 would even-up matters at two goals apiece, which came while on a 4-on-3 advantage.

Another three minutes would pass before Ferris State found the back of the net, this time off the stick of Binkley with help from forward Justin DeMartino and defenseman Brandon Anselmini.

Colgate's Tyson Spink made it a 4-3 affair with a pair of goals to begin the third, but the lead was short-lived as freshman Kyle Schempp banged one in on goaltender Charlie Finn with 3:01 elapsed.

Senior forward Garrett Thompson tallied the game-winning goal at 5:49 off a feed from junior forward Justin Buzzeo while on the power-play to give the lead back to the Bulldogs. Just before the midway point of the frame, Thompson returned the favor by setting-up an insurance goal for Buzzeo.

In the final minute of play, sophomore forward Matt Robertson scored on an unassisted empty-netter to secure a 7-4 victory for Ferris State.

The Bulldogs converted on two of four power-play opportunities, while the Big Reds were successful in one of three attempts.

Junior netminder C.J. Motte held a 28-25 advantage in saves over Finn.

Sunday's series finale had far less theatrics, with Colgate forcing the split with a 1-0 decision.

An interference call against Ferris State's Ryan Downey in the second period proved to be the catalyst, as Kyle Baun snuck the puck past sophomore goaltender Charles Williams while on the power-play at 10:28.

Earning helpers on the play were Borkowski and Spink.

Eric Mihalik stopped 25 shots en route to a shutout for Colgate, compared to Williams' 28-save effort.

The Bulldogs (1-1 overall) continue their non-conference schedule next week as they venture to Mercyhurst on Tuesday, October 15, before heading home for a two-game slate against St. Lawrence that Friday and Saturday.

Weekend Scoreboard - 11/25/12

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 21
Bowling Green 1 at Michigan 3

FRIDAY, NOV. 23
Ohio State 4 at Lake Superior State 1
Alaska 3 at Northern Michigan 4 - OT

SATURDAY, NOV. 24
Ohio State 2 at Lake Superior State 3
Alaska 2 at Northern Michigan 2 - NMU wins shootout 2-0
Cornell 5, Michigan 1 (at Madison Square Garden)

Weekend Scoreboard - 11/18/12

THURSDAY, NOV. 15
Notre Dame 3 @ Michigan 1

FRIDAY, NOV. 16 
Ferris State 4 @ Bowling Green 3 (OT)
Michigan State 2 @ Miami 2 (OT) - (Miami wins shootout 2-0) 
Northern Michigan 0 @ Ohio State 2
Western Michigan 1 @ Alaska 6
Notre Dame 4 @ Michigan 1
Michigan Tech 5 @ Bemidji State 4 (OT)
Alabama-Huntsville 2 @ Lake Superior State 1

SATURDAY, NOV. 17
Ferris State 3 @ Bowling Green 1
Michigan State 0 @ Miami 2
Northern Michigan 2 @ Ohio State 4
Western Michigan 3 @ Alaska 2
Michigan Tech 2 @ Bemidji State 1 (OT)
Alabama-Huntsville 0 @ Lake Superior State 4

Michigan State beats, ties AHA's Niagara

Compiled by MiCHO Staff 

The Michigan State Spartans welcomed Atlantic Hockey member Niagara to Munn Arena this past weekend and defeated the Purple Eagles Friday night before settling for a tie in the second game on Saturday night.

In the series finale, the Spartans trailed 2-0 entering the final period, tied the game 3-3 on Brent Darnell's goal off a faceoff with 49.4 seconds left. Darnell also set up Matt DeBlouw's goal that tied the game at 2-2 and scored the only goal in the shootout.

MSU captain Greg Wolfe scored the other goal for the Spartans, who got 31 saves from goalie Will Yanakeff.

Friday night, Michigan State scored three goals in the third period to take a 3-2 win.

Jake Chelios, Lee Reimer and Matt Berry tallied for MSU and Yanakeff stopped 22 shots for the victory.

The Spartans (1-2-1 overall) open CCHA play this weekend with a two-game set on the road at Lake Superior State. 

Bulldogs score big in home opener

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Ferris State rounded out their non-conference schedule with an impressive showing last weekend against Mercyhurst, recording a 7-3 win in the first contest, followed by a 3-3 tie to close out the series.

Friday's home opener saw the Bulldogs raise a pair of banners in a special pre-game ceremony to commemorate winning the 2011-2012 CCHA Regular Season Championship and their appearance in the 2012 National Title Game.

Ferris State got up and running in the first period, recording a  pair of goals just before the midway point of the frame, which came courtesy of forward Andy Huff and Kyle Bonis.

At the 12:05 mark, the Lakers' Nick Jones tallied a short-handed marker to cut the deficit in half.

In the ensuing frame, the Bulldogs exploded with an onslaught of five unanswered goals to grab a 7-1 lead heading into the lockerrooms after 40 minutes of play.

Freshman Kenny Babinski recorded the eventual game-winner at 5:32, which was proceeded by senior Travis Ouellette's first goal of the season a mere 13 seconds later.

After Huff and Bonis added their second lamp-lighters of the evening, sophomore Simon Denis closed out the scoring binge by sliding the puck past Mercyhurst goaltender Max Strang with three seconds left.

Charlie Carkin and Kyle Just each added a goal for the Lakers in the final period.

Brandon Anselmini, Jason Binkley, Denis and Ouellette all finished with two assists apiece.

All three netminders saw playing time for Ferris State, with C.J. Motte (10 saves) guarding the crease for the first two periods, while Rob Grannett (six) and Charles Williams (five) split their time over the final 20 minutes.

Strang's 27 saves on 34 attempts were supplemented by back-up Jordan Tibbett's stopping all 14 shots faced.

In the series finale, the Bulldogs found themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum, playing from behind for the entire contest.

Mercyhurst jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first before Ferris State responded a score by Eric Alexander with less than six minutes remaining.

Huff netted his third goal of the series to make it 2-2 just 48 seconds into the second, but it was short-lived as Grant Blakey restored the Lakers' lead a minute later.

Junior Justin DeMartino scored the game-tying goal with 14:05 elapsed in the final period to help the Bulldogs grab three of four points in the series.

Mercyhurst goalie Jimmy Sarjeant finished with 39 saves, compared the Motte's 22.

The Bulldogs (1-1-2 overall) will look to defend their CCHA Regular Season Championship this weekend when they play host to the Alaska Nanooks.

Bulldogs open season with loss, tie

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

The 2012-2013 season got off to a bit of a rough start for the No. 11 ranked Ferris State Bulldogs over the weekend, as they returned home having earned just one of four points against RPI.

Friday's affair saw the Bulldogs pull ahead early in the opening period on a goal by Dakota Klecha, with assists being credited to forwards Cory Kane and Eric Alexander.

At the 8:01 mark of the frame, the Engineers' Mark McGowan beat sophomore goaltender C.J. Motte to register the game-tying goal.

RPI grabbed the lead for good midway through the second period, when Matt Neal and Guy Leboeuf helped set-up Ryan Haggerty's go-ahead goal.

With 1:31 remaining in the contest, the Engineers made it a 3-1 affair on a Jacob Laliberte goal, which came while on the man-advantage.

RPI netminder Scott Diebold finished with 30 saves, compared to Motte's 19.

The following night, Ferris State was able to avoid the series sweep by recording a 2-2 tie.

Picking-up where he left off from the previous night, Laliberte put the Engineers on the board first with a power-play marker just before the end of the first.

39 seconds into the ensuing frame however, junior forward Garrett Thompson evened-up the score by finishing off a pass from senior Kyle Bonis.

Freshman defenseman Brandon Anselmini lit the lamp at the 9:59 mark of the third to put the Bulldogs ahead, but Laliberte netted the equalizer a mere 24 seconds later.

Bryce Merriam of the Engineers narrowly outbid Motte in the saves department, 22-21.

Ferris State (0-1-1 overall) returns home this weekend for a two-game slate against the Mercyhurst Lakers, with faceoff scheduled for 7:05 pm on both nights. Prior to the start of Friday's game, the Bulldogs will raise their 2011-2012 CCHA regular season championship banner and honor their national championship game appearance at the Frozen Four.

Wolverines to play Madison Square Garden?

Reportedly, the poster above has been distributed to Cornell hockey supporters. While nothing can be confirmed at this point, it sure looks like Michigan will be playing at Madison Square Garden this November.

Western Michigan splits at St. Cloud State

By Bob Miller/Western Michigan Beat Writer

Western Michigan was barely able to eke out a split in their road series at St. Cloud State on Friday with an overtime 2-1 win.

The Broncos fell to St. Cloud 4-2 in Thursday night's series opener.

Chase Balisy was the hero for Western Michigan in the overtime victory, bagging the winner only 41 seconds into extra time.

Matt Tennyson had staked the Broncos to an initial lead midway through the first period, but St. Cloud got the equalizer in the middle period. Both regulation time goals were scored on the power play.

“We're not a pretty team,” Western Michigan head coach Andy Murray told USCHO after the Broncos' win on Friday. “We play pretty hard, though. We should have won last night going away, but we didn't score on our chances.”

Those chances in Thursday's loss referred to by Murray took the form of 31 shots that the Broncos directed toward Ryan Faragher in the St. Cloud net.

Only two of those 31 shots found the back of the net for Western Michigan. J.J. Crew in the first period and Shane Berschbach in the second period provided the firepower for the Broncos, staking them to a 2-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

St. Cloud's Jared Festler solved Frank Slubowski in the Bronco net twice in the third period and the Huskies added an empty-net goal for the 4-2 win.

Western Michigan continues their holiday 'tour de WCHA this coming weekend,' hosting reigning national champion Minnesota-Duluth for a non-conference two-game series.

Michigan skunked by Northeastern, Union

By Bob Miller/Michigan Beat Writer

The discerning Michigan football fan woke up from this holiday weekend with a big smile due to the Wolverines' victory over Ohio State on the gridiron.

The discerning Michigan college hockey fan had anything but that waking response.

Two eastern-based teams visited Yost Arena this weekend and planted three-goal losses on the Wolverines, who continue to struggle at both the offensive and defensive ends of the ice.

Travis Lynch's first period goal proved to be the only Michigan score in Friday night's 4-1 loss to Northeastern. Michigan consistently lost all the little battles for the puck in the game as the Huskies out muscled and out hustled them for most of the 60 minutes.

Union College jumped on the Wolverines early Sunday afternoon and used Michigan defensive lapses to post a 4-0 lead by early in the second period. Evidence for Michigan's defensive sloppiness was shown by the odd occurrence that three of Union's four goals were unassisted, directly related to Wolverine turnovers in their own zone.

Michigan managed to pull back into the picture, 4-2, early in the third period until a Union scoring spurt put the game out of reach. The resulting 6-3 loss left Michigan winless in their last six outings with the next chance at redemption coming this week when they make the long trek to Alaska for a two-game series with the Nanooks.

Head coach Red Berenson summed up the Wolverines' plight best after the Northeastern game.

“We need to play better defensively and we need to play better offensively,” said Berenson. “You can't win games when you score one goal, but you can't win games when you give up six. There is a fine line between offense and defense.”

Michigan will have the perfect chance to way get away from it all, attempting to thaw out both offense and defense 3800 miles away from their Ann Arbor home base in Fairbanks this upcoming weekend.

MSU takes three points from Minnesota

By Matt Mackinder/Michigan State Beat Writer

Michigan State took the ice at Munn Ice Arena this weekend and came up with three non-conference wins in beating and tying always-tough Minnesota.

Friday night, Kevin Walrod netted a pair of goals and the Spartans held on for a 4-3 win.

Brent Darnell and Matt Berry scored the others and Drew Palmisano stopped 40 shots between the pipes.

Minnesota Wild first-rounder Nick Bjugstad scored twice for the Gophers.

Saturday night, Daultan Leveille scored at 8:54 of the third period to give MSU the 4-4 tie.

Mike Merrifield, Matt Crandall and Brock Shelgren also scored for the Spartans and Palmisano made 35 saves in goal.

Greg Wolfe tacked on two assists for MSU, now 8-5-1 on the season.

Minnesota goes to 11-4-1 and was ranked No. 1 in the nation as recently as Nov. 14.

The Spartans host Bowling Green in a two-game CCHA series next weekend.

Bulldogs sweep RPI to remain unbeaten

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Ferris State played their first home series of the season over the weekend with great success, shutting out RPI on consecutive nights to remain undefeated heading into conference play this week.

The Bulldogs got off to a late start on Friday night, as both sides were scoreless until junior Travis Ouellette netted his fourth marker of the campaign with just over a minute remaining in the second period.

An elbowing call against the Engineers would help set-up Ferris State's next goal, with Ouellete knocking home a rebound from teammate Eric Alexander.

Junior Kyle Bonis also netted two goals, including an empty-netter with 2:44 remaining in the game.

Senior goaltender Taylor Nelson shied away 17 shots, compared to Bryce Merriam's 26 saves at the other end of the ice.

The series finale saw freshman Nate Milam earn his first collegiate goal just 55 seconds into the contest, which turned out to be the the game-winner.

In the final minute, RPI's decision to pull Merriam would backfire, as sophomore Garrett Thompson added an unassisted marker to put the game out of reach.

Freshman C.J. Motte had 26 stops to his credit, just two less than Merriam.

Ferris State (4-0 overall) opens-up their CCHA schedule this Friday and Saturday night when they play host to Miami.

NMU sweeps St. Cloud in home opener

By Susannah Nichols/ Northern Michigan Beat Writer

Walt Kyle's decision as to whether Jared Coreau or Reed Ellingson will be Northern Michigan's go-to goalie didn't get any easier this weekend--but Kyle probably isn't complaining. His Wildcats improved their season record to 3-1 with a pair of wins over the visiting St. Cloud State Huskies.

Fourteen different Wildcats earned points in Friday's 5-2 win and Saturday's 3-2 victory.

St. Cloud jumped out to a 1-0 lead in Friday's game, but Northern roared back with four straight goals. Less than a minute after the St. Cloud goal, Mitch Jones and Matt Thurber set up Reed Seckel for his second goal of the year.

Seckel and Thurber then connected to assist Kory Kaunisto's goal, and Andrew Cherniwchan made it a 3-1 game with some help from Stephan Vigier and Wade Epp. Kyle Follmer netted his first goal of the season in the last seconds of the second period; Cherniwchan and Scott Macaulay were credited with assists.

Late in the third, the Huskies pulled their goalie and scored with the extra attacker. But Tyler Gron answered, scoring an unassisted empty-netter to seal the 5-2 score.

In net for the Wildcats, Ellingson stopped 27 shots. The 'Cats and the Huskies were even at 29 shots apiece.

The 'Cats didn't waste any time on Saturday; they jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the middle of the first period. Vigier scored his first goal of the season at the 2:26 mark with some help from Cherniwchan and Jones. Justin Florek capitalized on a 'Cats' power play, assisted by Follmer and Macaulay.

Joey Holka snuck a shot past Coreau in the last seconds of the first period to cut the Cats' lead to one.

In the second period, Macaulay and Jake Johnson connected with Erik Higby for Higby's first tally of the season.

Once again, St. Cloud went with the extra attacker and scored, but Coreau held steady and preserved the 3-2 lead.

The Huskies outshot the 'Cats, 27-23, and Coreau finished with 25 saves.

The Wildcats' first conference test comes next weekend, when they welcome Michigan to the Berry Center. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.

Western Michigan, Union play to two ties

By Bob Miller/Western Michigan Beat Writer

College hockey pollsters just may have more insight into the relative early season strengths of Western Michigan and Union College than many are willing to credit them with given the earliness of the season.

USCHO ranked Union College 11th and Western Michigan 12th heading into their two-game weekend series in Schenectady, N.Y.

The result of that series? Two ties, supporting the poll rankings and proving there really isn't much to chose from between the two combatant teams. Both games saw the Broncos score goals to even the score with the resultant overtimes failing to provide a winner each night.

In Friday night's opener, forward Greg Squires did all the damage for the Broncos as two of his three shots in the game found the back of the net.

Squires evened the score two separate times, first in the opening period and then again at 12:47 on an unassisted rink-long rush in the third period to help preserve the 2-2 tie for Western Michigan.

Nick Pisellini protected the Bronco cage with 30 saves.

Western Michigan twice took the lead in Saturday night's rematch, only to see Union fight back and forge ahead, 3-2. True to Friday night's form, Western Michigan knotted the proceedings on Chase Balisy's third period power play effort at 8:04.

Danny Dekeyser and Shane Berschbach had staked the Broncos to a pair of one-goal first period leads that the Dutchmen managed to overcome before Balisy's third period heroics.

Pisellini chipped in 27 saves Saturday.

The still-undefeated Broncos (2-0-2) open the CCHA portion of their schedule this coming weekend with the long trip to Fairbanks, Ak., for two games with the Nanooks.

U of M still undefeated, wins Thursday

By Bob Miller/Michigan Beat Writer

Luke Glendening's hat trick paced a Michigan offensive explosion Thursday night in the Wolverines' 10-3 shellacking of St. Lawrence at Yost Ice Arena.

Luke Moffatt, A.J. Treais, Greg Pateryn, Lee Moffie, Phil Di Giuseppe, Lindsay Sparks and David Wohlberg all scored single goals for Michigan in the rout.

Shawn Hunwick and Adam Janecyk split the goaltending chores for the Wolverines, making 29 saves on the 32 shots thrown their way in the offense-dominated game.

"No question they are getting some confidence and you are also realizing you can get goals by doing simple things like just going to the net,” said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. “A couple of those goals were not even shots on net, they were just loose pucks in the crease and so on. That just shows you when you get pucks to the net and you get second efforts going to the net.

“I thought Luke Glendening had a great game tonight and he is not a flashy player whether he scores goals or not. He is our best back-checker, our hardest fore-checker and most physical player and our hardest worker. When your captain is playing like that then your team cannot be far behind."

The Wolverine coach was displeased, however, with a string of Michigan penalties and loose play in the second period after his charges had established a solid lead.

"We were not happy,” Berenson said of the second period lapse. “I think the team understood, I understood, and we made it clear we were not happy with some of the penalities and some of the second-period hockey. We got stronger and better and more focused and played a good third period. Regardless of the score, we are not trying to embarrass the opponent, but we are trying to play good, solid hockey and not selfish hockey. We are trying to play team hockey and Michigan hockey."

Michigan gets a little breather after a busy opening to their schedule, preparing to trek northward to Marquette for a pair of games against Northern Michigan on October 21-22.

Bulldogs open season with a pair of wins

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Ferris State made it through their first weekend series of the season relatively unscathed, sweeping St. Lawrence on the road by the scores of 4-2 and 5-1.

The Saints appeared the have the upper hand early on Friday night, grabbing a 1-0 lead with seven minutes remaining in the second period on a Jordan Dewey goal.

Nearly three minutes later, the Bulldogs evened-up the score on a power-play marker from freshman forward T.J. Schlueter. Earning helpers on Schlueter's first collegiate point were junior Eric Alexander and senior Chad Billins.

Junior forward Travis Ouellette finished off a pass from Schluter to give Ferris State their first lead of the game with 3:21 elapsed in the third, which came while on the man-advantage.

Later in the frame, junior Kyle Bonis netted an unassisted marker to extend the Bulldogs' lead to two, but St. Lawrence's Kyle Flanagan quickly responded with a goal of his own.

With the Saints' net empty in the final minute, Ouellette put the game out of reach by netting his second marker of the contest with 12 seconds left.

Senior netminder Taylor Nelson finished with 23 saves, while counterpart Matt Weninger was credited with 17.

On Saturday, Cory Kane and Bonis helped Ferris State jump out to a 2-0 lead before St. Lawrence's Chris Martn cut the score in half with a power-play goal midway through the second period.

Not to be outdone, Ouellette finished off a pass from Alexander with less than six minutes remaining in the frame to tally his third lamp-lighter of the campaign.

The Bulldogs added to their 3-1 lead late in the third period with insurance goals from Bonis and senior Jordie Johnston.

In his first collegiate start, freshman goaltender C.J. Motte stopped 16 shots to earn the decision for the Bulldogs.

At the other end of the ice, Robby Moss had 30 saves for the Saints.

Ferris State (2-0) wraps-up their non-conference schedule this weekend when they play host to RPI. Puck-drop for both contests is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

Michigan gains sweep over Bentley

By Bob Miller/Michigan Beat Writer

Red Berenson's Michigan Wolverines followed a similar script in both games of their first full weekend of regulation action Friday and Saturday at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor.

Friday night's 5-1 victory over Bentley was eerily similar to Saturday's 4-1 besting of the Falcons.

In both games, Michigan dominated play both on the ice and in the "shots taken" department in the first period.

Bentley rallied to even the level of play in the second each night, and then the Wolverines used a flurry of late goals to make the final score of each game look more substantial than the play on the ice. Bentley trailed 2-1 late into the third period both nights and simply were unable to find the offensive spark to even things up on the scoreboard.

In Friday night's opener, Michigan used goals by five different scorers to beat the Falcons, a great sign for a team concerned about where their offense would be generated.

Greg Pateryn, David Wohlberg, Alex Guptill, Luke Glendening and A.J. Treais all scored single markers for the Wolverines.

The play of senior goaltender Shawn Hunwick maintained Michigan's slim 2-1 lead until a three-goal spurt put things out of reach late in the third period.

“Give them marks,” pointed out Berenson of Bentley's play. “They came in here and played a good game. We got better in the third period and we got re-focused.”

Phil Di Giuseppe's two-goal performance led the Wolverine offensive charge on Saturday night. Similar to Friday's pattern, Michigan held a large edge in offensive chances in the first period, followed by an evenly played second period.

Although Michigan again held a 2-1 lead deep into the third period, it was a game-turning sequence of events that put them into that position.

After tying the game, 1-1, midway in the second period, Bentley scored the apparent go-ahead goal, but the score was waved off due to a goaltender interference call.

Michigan converted on Di Giuseppe's second goal of the night just seconds later to swing momentum in their direction.

Luke Moffatt, who set up Di Giuseppe's go-ahead tally said, “That was a really big momentum switch. It boosted up the whole bench.”

Two late third period goals iced the game for the Wolverines.

Berenson's charges next hit the ice Thursday night, hosting St. Lawrence and looking for the same stingy defense that topped Bentley twice.

“When we give up only two goals on the weekend, we have a good chance to win those games,” said Berenson.

Broncos allow one goal in sweeping UAH

By Bob Miller/Western Michigan Beat Writer

Former head coach Jeff Blashill took Western Michigan's program to the CCHA championship game and a berth in the NCAA Regionals in his one-year tenure with the Broncos last season.

New Western Michigan head coach Andy Murray, Blashill's sucessor, took the first step with his Broncos this weekend on topping Blashill's fairy tale lone season at the helm of Western's program.

Western Michigan allowed just one goal in their two-game weekend home set against Alabama-Huntsville, smothering the Chargers, 7-1, Friday night and then whitewashing them 4-0 on Saturday.

Nick Pisellini stopped 11 of the 12 UAH shots Friday for the Broncos and Frank Slubowski turned aside all 10 Chargers shots in the Saturday contest.

Mike Tennyson chipped in a pair of goals from Western Michigan. Dane Walters added a goal and two assists and Chase Balisy had three helpers to pace a balanced Bronco scoresheet in Friday's opener.

Balisy scored Saturday's first Bronco goal and assisted on Shane Berschbach's second to goal to stake Western Michigan to a two-goal first period lead they wouldn't relinquish. Slubowski backstopped the shutout.

“It was exciting for me the first game at home here to see the enthusiasm of the student section.,” said Murray after Friday's win. “I thought our team worked extremely hard, we got pucks to the net. I liked also the fact that in the third period we didn't allow a shot. You know, this is a hard working team from Alabama-Huntsville, we've got a great deal of respect for them. That's why we worked as hard as we did. We saw them play on tape, two games last weekend, two one-goal games against Lake Superior State and we knew that we'd have to be at our best to beat them.”

The Broncos travel to Schenectady, N.Y., for two games with Union College this coming weekend.

Michigan Tech starts season with sweep

By Andy Bourdeau/MTU Beat Writer

Courtesy of TechHockeyGuide.com

Michigan Tech (2-0-0, WCHA 0-0-0) swept the American International College Yellow Jackets this weekend, starting the Mel Pearson era perfect.

Friday Night

Blake Pietila lead the way for the Huskies on the score sheet, netting two goals and an assist for a three-point night. Jordan Baker and Steven Siego each each had a goal and two assists on the night as well.

Special teams were the difference in this one. MTU finished with three goals on four power-play attempts, while AIC went 0-for-4 and could not capitalize on a five-minute major at the end of the first and the beginning of the second.

“Kevin (Genoe) had two that I think he would want back, but he showed a lot staying in there, coming back like he did,” Pearson stated.

Genoe ended the evening making 17 saves on 20 shots.

“We stayed positive in between periods and I am proud of our kids for battling back,” Pearson said.

MTU was down 3-1 going into the third, when they were able to get two power play goals to tie the game.

Down 3-0, Pietila started the scoring for the Huskies, burying a rebound off of a Baker shot on the power play

In the third, Pietila started the scoring again, when he was left all alone in front of the net. Siego added the game-tying goal on the next power play, wit.h a nice one-timer from the point.

Near the end of the game, Baker hustled down and caused a turnover in the offensive zone, then took a pass from captain Brett Olson and stuffed the puck past the goalie for his first of the year and the game-winner.

Saturday Night

Behind the pads of Josh Robinson, the Huskies were able to get the 3-1 victory in Saturday's match up.

“I’m proud of the kids; they are learning how to win,” stated Pearson. “Our power play was not very good tonight, unlike last night. You find out where you are early in the year. We have some things to improve on, but it is important for the team to get the wins.”

Robinson was strong in net, coming up big in the second and third when needed, stopping 32 of 33 shots.

Olson started the scoring, when he came in on a shorthanded breakaway and buried it top shelf on the netminder. Riley Sweeney received the assist on the goal.

AIC lone goal came just after the Olson goal, coming in the same power play as the Olson shorthanded goal.

Jacob Johnstone added a goal in the first and one in the second to end the scoring for the night. Mikael Lickteig assisted on both goals and Carl Nielsen and Patrick McCadden also assisted on Johnstone’s two goals.

Michigan Tech stays in Houghton next weekend as Wisconsin comes to town in the first WCHA action for the team.