{"id":144340,"date":"2024-01-10T10:00:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T16:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=144340"},"modified":"2024-01-09T21:07:41","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T03:07:41","slug":"this-week-in-ccha-hockey-coming-off-split-with-bemidji-state-ferris-state-in-a-good-place-right-now-heading-to-mankato-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2024\/01\/10\/this-week-in-ccha-hockey-coming-off-split-with-bemidji-state-ferris-state-in-a-good-place-right-now-heading-to-mankato-this-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in CCHA Hockey: Coming off split with Bemidji State, Ferris State ‘in a good place right now’ heading to Mankato this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Antonio Venuto was a key player last weekend for Ferris State as the Bulldogs split with Bemidji State (photo: Paige Williams).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It might not seem like a team who just snapped a seven-game losing streak would be exuding confidence.<\/p>\n

But Ferris State\u2019s recent win over CCHA-leading Bemidji State was an important one for Bob Daniels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re in a good place right now,\u201d Daniels said in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon. \u201cWe feel like when we\u2019re on our game we\u2019re a pretty good team. I think Saturday when we beat Bemidji, we felt like we won that game\u2026 we felt like we were in control of that game. So for a team that\u2019s at the bottom of the standings, we have a lot more confidence than what you might expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes if you develop a habit, it\u2019s hard to break that habit,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cWe 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\u2019m seeing signs of improvement so I’m very optimistic about the rest of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

One big positive Daniels took from Saturday\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really felt like a team win,\u201d Daniels said.<\/p>\n

Still, one player was involved in four goals on the weekend: Antonio Venuto. The senior winger scored against the Beavers in Friday\u2019s 4-1 loss to snap his personal five-game goal drought, then had three assists in the win. He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cVenuto, what I like about him is, he\u2019s improved each and every year here,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like he came here and set the world on fire. He just works hard and he\u2019s one of those kids who, you\u2019re really excited when the good stuff starts happening to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniels said Venuto, who had six goals and 15 points in 35 games last season, really improved on his skating over the offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d Venuto said. \u201cThe proof\u2019s in his scoring. He\u2019s pretty confident in himself. He\u2019s earned that confidence, and he has that confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Venuto and Benincasa have been playing together frequently this season. Benincasa, who Daniels calls a \u201cdog\u201d on the puck, has 13 assists on the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really sees the ice well. He\u2019s extremely smart, and what\u2019s really helped him make the transition to college hockey is that he\u2019s got such a high hockey IQ,\u201d Daniels said.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs\u2019 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\u2019s reasonable to think that the last-place Bulldogs could give the Mavericks fits this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve played everyone in our league and there\u2019s no one that I feel we can\u2019t beat. I also don\u2019t think there\u2019s a team out there that can\u2019t beat us. It\u2019s so close,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cObviously 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\u2019s the only vehicle any of us are going to have to make the NCAA tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It might not seem like a team who just snapped a seven-game losing streak would be exuding confidence. But Ferris State\u2019s recent win over CCHA-leading Bemidji State was an important one for Bob Daniels. \u201cI think we\u2019re in a good place right now,\u201d Daniels said in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon. \u201cWe feel like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":144341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[854],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in CCHA Hockey: Coming off split with Bemidji State, Ferris State 'in a good place right now' heading to Mankato this weekend - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It might not seem like a team who just snapped a seven-game losing streak would be exuding confidence. 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