ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With the scored tied 2-2 in overtime and a little over a minute after Michigan saw an OT goal waved off, Ferris State’s Ryker Killins scored his second of the season and just the fifth of his career to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 win over the Wolverines, the first Ferris State win in Yost Ice Arena since 2006.
The win gives the Bulldogs a split with the Wolverines for the weekend after Michigan beat Ferris State 7-2 Thursday night. In that contest, the Bulldogs pulled to within one to keep it close through two periods, but the Wolverines scored four unanswered in the third. Ferris State coach Bob Daniels said that he’s really pleased with the way his team came back after last night’s loss.
“It was a good bounce back for our team,” said Daniels. “Quite honestly, last night’s game, even though it finished seven-two, it never felt like it was a seven-two game. I thought once we were in the second, we actually carried the play last night.
“Tonight, we just went in and said, ‘Look, I think tonight we’ll be within a goal or tied going into the third, and what’s our identity as a team going to be now?’ And sure enough, it’s tied going into the third, they scored and I was really happy with our totally different response tonight. We kept playing. We didn’t buckle. Probably a good win for our confidence.”
The Wolverines outshot the Bulldogs 44-23, but the teams exchanged goals and Michigan found the net only on the power play, goals by Cooper Marody early in the first and Dexter Dancs at seven-minute mark in the third.
“Give Ferris credit,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “They played a great road game. They got great goaltending. They scored when they needed to and then we couldn’t convert on our chances. We had a number of grade-A opportunities. When we look back, we’re going to like a lot of things about our team in the game, the offensive chances we created. You have to finish. You have to put a team away. We did that last night and we couldn’t do that tonight.”
Marody put Michigan on the scoreboard at 2:52 in the first, backhanding in the rebound of Sam Piazza’s initial shot. The Bulldogs answered at 8:39, when Coale Norris put the puck through in the sliver of space that Michigan goaltender Hayden Lavigne allowed between himself and the left post.
The score remained tied 1-1 until Dancs scored at 7:00 in the third, redirecting a beautiful cross-crease feed from Marody, who’d drawn Kapelmaster to the side of the net to defend, giving Dancs an open net.
The Bulldogs responded again at 11:56 to tie it 2-2, with Mitch Maloney’s rocket from the bottom of the right circle to beat Lavigne long.
At 1:51 in overtime, Tony Calderone appeared to have won it for Michigan on his shot from the left circle that got past a Ferris State defender and Michigan forward Jake Slaker, who were tangled up in the crease, but the goal was waved off for goalie contact after a review – and after the Michigan team had swarmed Lavigne to celebrate the apparent win.
“It’s hard after you all go out on the ice and you celebrate,” said Pearson, “and now you’ve got to come down off that emotional roller coaster and play, but we talk about that all the time, just to stay in the moment. Regardless of what the call is, we’ve got to continue to play.”
Killins’ shot from the left circle threaded a lot of traffic to beat Lavigne cleanly, giving the Bulldogs their first win in Ann Arbor in 14 games. “I thought, ‘Okay guys, let’s get down to their end now,'” said Daniels. “We weren’t trying to eke out a tie. It was a great shot. There was no way that goalie ever saw that puck.”
Ferris State (3-6-1) returns to Big Rapids and to WCHA play against Alaska for two games next weekend. Michigan (5-3-0) hosts Minnesota in Big Ten action next weekend.
WCHA Roundup
Bowling Green 2, No. 20 Michigan Tech 1
Bowling Green junior John Schilling’s first two goals of the season, both on the power play, put the Falcons ahead of No. 20 Michigan Tech, 2-1, in Marquette. Michigan Tech opened the scoring on Thomas Beretta’s second goal of the season at 6:04 in the first, also a power-play goal, and Schilling answered at 12:46 to tie the game, 1-1 after the first period. Schilling’s game-winning goal came at 17:49 in the second period. Freshman Eric Dop made 21 saves in his third win of the season. For the Huskies, senior Devin Kero stopped 26-of-28.
No. 9 Minnesota State 3, Northern Michigan 0
Three different Mavericks scored in No. 9 Minnesota State’s 3-0 road win over Northern Michigan. Sophomore defenseman Ian Scheid’s goal at 10:16 in the first period held up to be the game winner. Max Coatta and Brad McClure each added goals in the third period. Coatta’s goal at 8:09 was his first of the season; Mclure scored at 16:19 on the power play. Junior Jason Pawloski stopped 26 shots in his second shutout of the season, the fifth of his career. Atte Tolvanen made 24 saves on 27 shots in the loss. The Mavericks extend their win streak to four games, while the Wildcats are winless in their last three.
Lake Superior State 3, Alaska Anchorage 2
Sophomore forward Max Humitz scored his fifth goal of the season at 3:38 in overtime, lifting Lake Superior State over Alaska Anchorage, 3-2, and snapping the Lakers’ seven-game (0-5-2) winless streak. The Seawolves took a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the second period when Nicolas Erb-Ekholm scored on the power play, but the Lakers tied it at 16:56 on Anthony Nellis’s fourth goal of the season. Both teams scored on the power play in the third, William Riedell for Anchorage at 2:26 and Cameron Trott tying it for the Lakers at 13:41. The Lakers outshot the Seawolves 34-26. Olivier Mantha made 31 saves in the loss, while freshman Mareks Mitens stopped 24 in his first collegiate win. The Seawolves remain winless on the season (0-7-1).
Arizona State 3, Alabama Huntsville 2
Two goals by junior defenseman Jakob Stridsberg led Arizona State to a 3-2 home win over Alabama Huntsville. Senior Dylan Hollman had the game-winning goal early in the third period. Stridsberg opened the scoring for the Sun Devils at 7:40 in the first with his four-on-three power-play goal, giving Arizona State a 1-0 lead after one. Stridsberg put the Sun Devils ahead again at 5:40 in the second, four minutes after Alabama Huntsville’s Brennan Saulnier tied the game with his unassisted goal. Hollman scored at 5:13 in the third and the Chargers brought the game to within one at 18:42 when Kurt Gosselin scored with the goaltender Mark Sinclair pulled for the extra attacker. Sinclair finished the night with 19 saves on 22 shots. Arizona State’s Joey Daccord picked up his second win of the season, stopping 20-of-22.
Alaska 4, Bemidji State 3 (OT)
Junior Chad Staley’s first goal of the season at 1:24 in overtime gave Alaska a 4-3 win over visiting Bemidji State. Each team scored a single goal in each period, and in the first and second periods, the teams exchanged goals quickly late in the stanzas. It was 1-1 after one on Austin Vieth’s goal for Alaska at 17:52 and Justin Baudry’s for Bemidji State at 18:32. Justin Woods put the Nanooks ahead again at 14:04 in the second, but Jay Dickman answered on the Beaver power play at 15:51 to knot it 2-2. Kyle Bauman scored again on the BSU power play at 5:57 in the third, giving the Beavers their only lead of the night, but Zach Frye scored at 15:19 to tie the game at 3-3 and force overtime. Alaska sophomore Anton Martinsson stopped 28 shots in his second win of the season. Bemidji State’s Michael Bitzer made 23 saves in the loss.
