FSU Earns Split With Saturday Win In Alaska
Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally sixth-ranked Ferris State University men's ice hockey team earned a split in its Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) road series with a 3-2 triumph over the Alaska Nanooks in the weekend finale on Saturday (Nov. 19) night in Fairbanks, Alaska.
The Bulldogs, who suffered a 2-0 loss in the opening game of the series on Friday, received a pair of goals from sophomore right wing Andy Huff (Howell) in picking up the win.
Huff's second goal came at 15:30 of the third period off an assist by freshman Dominic Panetta (Baldwin, Mich.) and proved to be the game winner.
The Bulldogs jumped on the board first on Huff's first goal of the year at 12:28 of the first period in unassisted fashion.
The Nanooks answered back quickly less than 25 seconds later as Alaska's Andy Taranto scored his fourth goal of the year at 12:51 with assists going to Colton Beck and Scott Enders.
FSU took a 2-1 lead after one period, however, as the Bulldogs added a goal by senior wing Aaron Schmit (Grafton, Wis.) his second of the season, at 17:44 of the opening frame. Bulldog junior forward Travis Ouellette (Windsor, Ontario) was credited with his sixth assist of the year.
Alaska was able to tie it back up 2-2 at 10:31 of the second frame when Jarret Granberg notched his fourth goal of the campaign off a feed by Nik Yaremchuk and Carlon Finucci. That score stoood up until Huff's second goal of the game came at 15:30 of the final period.
A crowd of 2,937 fans was on hand as the Bulldogs improved to 10-3-1 overall and 6-3-1 in the CCHA standings. Meanwhile, the Nanooks dropped to 4-8-2 on the year and are now 1-7-2 in league play.
Freshman CJ Motte earned the victory for the Bulldogs as he stopped 31 Alaska shots and gave up just two goals in 60 minutes of action. He had 12 saves in the first period followed by 13 in the second and six in the final period of the game.
Alaska's Scott Greenham could not duplicate his victory in Friday's opener as he played 58:21 in net on Saturday and surrendered three goals with 17 saves on the night. He had both five saves in the first and second periods before producing seven saves in the last one.
Alaska outshot the Bulldogs 33-22 for the night.
Both teams were charged with two penalties for four minutes on the Olympic-sized sheet of ice and FSU converted one-of-two power play chances. The Nanooks went 0-of-2 on the extra-skater advantage.
Motte's win was the fourth of the year (4-1) for the Bulldog rookie goaltender and allowed him to receive the game's second star. First star honors went to Huff for his two goals while Alaska's Finucci was the third star winner.
Ferris State will receive an extended holiday break as the Bulldogs return home to Big Rapids and are idle until Friday, Dec. 2, when they host the Western Michigan Broncos in the opening-game of a home-and-home league series at the Ewigleben Ice Arena. Opening faceoff is at 7:05 p.m. (ET) and tickets can be purchased in advance by calling (231) 591-2888 or visit www.FerrisStateBulldogs.com for more information.