BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – Darien Craighead said he hadn’t scored a game-winner quite like that since he was in juniors.
The Northern Michigan sophomore scored with less than one second remaining to push the Wildcats past host Ferris State 1-0 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play Saturday at Ewigleben Ice Arena.
The play saw Ferris attempt to clear the zone and kill off the remaining eight seconds in regulation. However, NMU left defenseman James Vermeulen made an athletic leap to bat down the puck and keep it in the Bulldogs’ zone. Then Vermeulen played the puck forward toward right defenseman Philip Beaulieu, who saw a gang of Bulldogs race to stop what they thought would be a last-second shot from the sophomore.
Instead, Beaulieu slipped a pass across the zone to Craighead, who blasted in the winning goal and ensured the Wildcats (3-1,0, 2-0-0 WCHA) swept the Bulldogs (1-3-0, 0-2-0) in the weekend series.
“I just saw it go to the point, and it went over to Phil,” Craighead said. “I saw him looking to shoot, and everyone kind of jumped over to him. I figured I was in a spot to get open. I didn’t even see the net. I just shot it on net, and it was fortunate enough to go in.”
Vermeulen couldn’t recall which Ferris player attempted to clear the puck. He just knew he needed to act quickly to get his team one final shot.
“I just got on the ice, and I just tried to get into the zone and keep my gap,” he said. “I don’t know who flicked it, but I just tried to bat it down. I saw their forward was coming up to me, so I pushed it over to Phil, and Phil did most of the work, giving it up to Craighead, and he managed to put it in.”
The late pressure didn’t get to the any of the Wildcats, who each said they were fatigued during that final shift.
“You just got to be calm in those situations,” Vermeulen continued. “It doesn’t do you any good panicking. You got to trust your practice and trust all the work you put in during the season. Obviously, that paid off tonight.
“In all my years of hockey, though, I don’t think I’ve played in a game like that – with .5 seconds left. That was exciting. That was very exciting and something new for me, definitely.”
The score all but erased a nearly perfect game for Ferris goaltender Justin Kapelmaster. The sophomore stopped 25 shots, including eight in the third period.
“You can’t fault him,” Ferris coach Bob Daniels said. “It was a good play on a one-time shot.
“I thought he was outstanding tonight. I thought he was as good as I’ve seen him. Playing the puck, I thought he did a superb job playing it.”
Kapelmaster bailed out the Bulldogs several times, even stopping breakaways and odd-man rushes without flinching throughout the night.
“I thought he was really good, Johnny on the spot covering up pucks,” Daniels said. “I liked his reads of when to keep the puck in play and when to get a whistle. In his short time here, it was probably one of his best performances.”
The Bulldogs were 0-for-6 on the power play, despite attempting nine shots with the man-advantage.
Daniels, who has coached at Ferris for 26 years, said the loss felt similar to an overtime letdown.
“The feeling of that is the same as if you lose in sudden death,” he said. “It was the same feeling – when you got less than a second on the clock, for all intents and purposes. You are in sudden death in that moment. It’s not much different than that feeling. It’s not a good feeling, but I’ve had it a few times.”
NMU goalie Atte Tolvanen made 35 saves for a Wildcats squad that visits Wisconsin for a pair of nonconference games Friday and Saturday.
If they’ll need any late-game magic against the No. 10 Badgers, they now know what they’re capable of accomplishing.
“It’s probably up there, top two or top three,” said Craighead, ranking where his last-second goal stands among the other goals in his career. “I haven’t had a goal like that in a long time – maybe like in minor hockey or when I was younger – but this is definitely the first one in a long time.”
