FSU Wraps Up Weekend With Overtime Tie Against Mercyhurst

Highlights 
Post Game: Daniels   |   Demartino 

Big Rapids Mich. - The nationally 16th-ranked Ferris State University men's hockey team finished its non-league series against Mercyhurst with a 3-3 overtime tie against the Lakers before a crowd of 1,656 fans on Saturday (Oct. 20) night inside the Ewigleben Ice Arena.

Following the five-minute overtime session, the two teams went to a shootout with Mercyhurst emerging on top as a single skater managed to find the back of the net.

The Lakers scored the first goal of the evening on a power-play at 9:36 of the opening period when Ryan Misiak put Mercyhurst on the scoreboard first with Paul Chiasson and Grant Blakey earning the assists.

Then, nearly two minutes later at 11:21, Chiasson recorded the Lakers' second power-play goal of the period off a feed from Daniel Bahntge and Misiak.  

Ferris State pulled to within a goal at the end of one period as senior wing Eric Alexander scored his first goal of the season with sophomore wings Justin Buzzeo and Nate Milam picking up assists at 14:28 of the opening stanza.

The Bulldogs tied up the contest only 48 seconds into the second period when junior wing Andy Huff notched his third goal of the season when he slid the puck by Mercyhurst goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant on a power-play opportunity. Junior center Cory Kane earned the assist.

Mercyhurst took the lead again at 3-2 lead only a minute later as Blakey found the back of the net off a pass coming from Grant Gettinger at 1:53 of the frame.

However, Bulldog junior wing Justin DeMartino tallied his first goal of the season at 14:08 of the third period to tie up the contest again as assists were credited to sophomore defenseman Travis White along with Huff.

Neither team was able to score in the five-minute overtime period.

The game progressed to a shootout where the only score came from the first skater in Mercyhurst's Nardo Nagtzaam.

Ferris Sate sophomore goaltender CJ Motte saved a total of 22 shots  in the contest while Sarjeant saved 39 shots at the opposite end of the ice.  Overall, FSU held a 42-25 advantage in total shots, which included 16 in the second period between 13 apiece in both the first and third frames.  Mercyhurst had the only three shots of the overtime session.

The Bullldogs finished one-of-three with the man advantage while Mercyhurst was two-of-eight on the power play as FSU finished with 10 penalties for 31 minutes in the box.  The Lakers had four penalties called for eight total minutes.

With the tie, the Bulldogs are currently 1-1-2 overall this season and Mercyhurst now owns a 0-2-1 overall record after Saturday's tie combined with a 7-3 loss to the Bulldogs in Big Rapids on Friday night in the series' opener.

Ferris State will be back in action at home again next weekend (Oct. 26-27) as the Bulldogs open defense of their Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Regular-Season Championship against the Alaska Nanooks at the Ewigleben Ice Arena.  Puck drop for both Friday and Saturday nights is set for 7:05 p.m.

Tickets for next weekend's series can be purchased in advance by calling the FSU Athletics Ticket Office at (231) 591-2888 or visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com for more information.  Tickets can also be purchased via Star Tickets online at StarTickets.com.  Fans can save money by purchasing prior to gameday.