It might not seem like a team who just snapped a seven-game losing streak would be exuding confidence.
But Ferris State’s recent win over CCHA-leading Bemidji State was an important one for Bob Daniels.
“I think we’re in a good place right now,” Daniels said in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon. “We feel like when we’re on our game we’re a pretty good team. I think Saturday when we beat Bemidji, we felt like we won that game… we felt like we were in control of that game. So for a team that’s at the bottom of the standings, we have a lot more confidence than what you might expect.”
It had been a long time since the Bulldogs (6-14-1) could celebrate after a game. Since beating St. Thomas 5-2 way back on Dec. 1, there’d been a string of seven losses. For the most part, the defense had been there, but the offense had not — only once did they manage to score more than twice in a game.
“Sometimes if you develop a habit, it’s hard to break that habit,” Daniels said. “We had a habit of playing well but well enough not to win. So hopefully with this win [against Bemidji] we can get some confidence and continue to play well. I’m seeing signs of improvement so I’m very optimistic about the rest of the year.”
One big positive Daniels took from Saturday’s 5-3 win against the Beavers: spread out scoring. Five different players scored for Ferris, including two defensemen (Nick Hale and Jack Mesic) and a freshman (Luigi Benincasa; Daniels said freshman defenseman Trevor Taulien was originally credited with the goal but Benincasa tipped it in).
“It really felt like a team win,” Daniels said.
Still, one player was involved in four goals on the weekend: Antonio Venuto. The senior winger scored against the Beavers in Friday’s 4-1 loss to snap his personal five-game goal drought, then had three assists in the win. He’s currently got a team-leading 20 points, including 12 goals, and is on a good pace to be the first Ferris skater to reach the 30-point mark since Gerald Mayhew hit 35 in 2016-17.
“Venuto, what I like about him is, he’s improved each and every year here,” Daniels said. “It’s not like he came here and set the world on fire. He just works hard and he’s one of those kids who, you’re really excited when the good stuff starts happening to him.”
Daniels said Venuto, who had six goals and 15 points in 35 games last season, really improved on his skating over the offseason.
“It’s one of those things where, you have a year-end meeting where you tell a guy what he needs to work on, and he does it,” Venuto said. “The proof’s in his scoring. He’s pretty confident in himself. He’s earned that confidence, and he has that confidence.”
Venuto and Benincasa have been playing together frequently this season. Benincasa, who Daniels calls a “dog” on the puck, has 13 assists on the year.
“He really sees the ice well. He’s extremely smart, and what’s really helped him make the transition to college hockey is that he’s got such a high hockey IQ,” Daniels said.
The Bulldogs’ next test will be a big one: A series against Minnesota State in Mankato, Minn. Although Ferris lost twice to the Mavericks when the teams played in Big Rapids earlier this season, the Bulldogs did beat MSU twice in Mankato last season. It’s reasonable to think that the last-place Bulldogs could give the Mavericks fits this weekend.
“We’ve played everyone in our league and there’s no one that I feel we can’t beat. I also don’t think there’s a team out there that can’t beat us. It’s so close,” Daniels said. “Obviously you want to position yourself in the playoffs for the best seed you can get, but also you want to make sure you keep improving and peaking at playoff time, because that’s the only vehicle any of us are going to have to make the NCAA tournament.”
