Bulldogs Suffer Road Setback At MSU In Televised Contest

Bulldogs Suffer Road Setback At MSU In Televised Contest

East Lansing, Mich. - The nationally 19th-ranked Ferris State University men's ice hockey team suffered a 3-1 loss to the Michigan State Spartans in Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) action on Saturday (Dec. 15) night at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich.

The contest featured an early 5:05 p.m. (ET) start and was televised live by Comcast across various parts of Michigan and northern Indiana.

Following a scoreless first period and nearly equal scoring opportunities between FSU and MSU in the second, the Spartans' Matt DeBlouw skated up the right wing and slid the puck past Bulldog goaltender CJ Motte's left skate to put the Spartans on the scoreboard first at 6:52 of the second period on an even-strength goal. Brent Darnell and Matt Grassi picked up the helpers.

However, Bulldog defenseman Jason Binkley tied the game up 1-1 late in the second period at the 15:49 mark when he notched his second goal of the season from the top of the right circle near the blue line at even-strength on a pass from junior center Cory Kane and sophomore wing TJ Schlueter.

The Spartans surged ahead again just 1:32 into the third period when Chris Forfar shot the puck around Motte's right knee from the circle after receiving the pass from RJ Boyd and Greg Wolfe.   

Then, with 8:36 remaining in the contest, Tanner Sorenson notched the third and final goal of the evening from the left circle over Motte's right shoulder to give the Spartans a 3-1 lead with Boyd getting his second assist of the evening.

Motte made a total of 19 saves in the setback for FSU while Jake Hildebrand had 23 saves on the night for Michigan State. The Bulldogs led the shots by a count of 24-22 overall.

The Bulldogs had two penalties for four minutes while the Spartans had five penalties for 10 minutes. Neither team could convert on power-play opportunities.

With the setback, the Bulldogs dropped to an overall record of 7-7-3 along with a 6-6-1 mark in the CCHA. Meanwhile, the Spartans improved to 5-10-2 overall with a 4-8-1 record in the CCHA.

The contest marked the Bulldogs' final outing prior to a brief holiday break.  It was also the first of four matchups between the two teams this campaign.

The Bulldogs will be back in action at the Florida College Hockey Classic on Dec. 28-29 in Estero, Fla. FSU takes on Cornell in the opening game on Dec. 28 at 4:05 p.m. (ET) with the consolation and championship games set for the following day (Dec. 29).  The FSU-Cornell matchup will be a rematch of the 2012 NCAA Midwest Regional Championship game won by the Bulldogs in Green Bay.

Ferris State will resume CCHA play on Jan. 5 at home against Michigan State in a 5:05 p.m. (ET) contest at the Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids.  Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased thru the FSU Athletics Ticket Office or StarTickets.com.  Call (231) 591-2888 for more information or visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com.