Spartans Salvage Weekend Split With #14 Bulldogs In Series' Finale

Highlights

Big Rapids, Mich. - A pair of late first period goals lifted the Michigan State Spartans past nationally 14th-ranked Ferris State in non-conference men's hockey action on Saturday (Nov. 1) night at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.

The Spartans salvaged a weeked split against the Bulldogs, who had beat MSU for the 10th time in the previous 12 series' meetings with a 1-0 victory in the opener on Friday (Oct. 31) night. Saturday night's Michigan State win also snapped a five-game winning streak for FSU against the Spartans.

Michigan State notched the game's initial goal at 16:50 of the first period when Travis Walsh found the back of the net at even-strength off assists from Villiam Haag and JT Stenglein.

Then, only 1:18 later, at 18:08 of the opening frame, Michigan State grabbed a 2-0 lead when Mackenzi MacEachern tallied his second goal of the year with assists credited to both Brent Darnell and Thomas Ebbing.

The 2-0 MSU advantage stood up until 5:50 into the second period when Haag produced his second point of the night on his first goal of the campaign to give Michigan State a three-goal lead. Both Stenglein and Ebbing also tallied assists for their second points of the evening.

Ferris State finally got on the board 4:17 into the final period when senior wing Justin Buzzeo recorded his first goal of the year for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Gerald Mayhew and freshman Andrew Dorantes received the helpers on the even-strength marker.

However, the Spartans added the final goal of the night at 13:20 of the final period when Matt Berry scored on the power-play to make it a 4-1 contest in favor of Michigan State. Josh Jacobs and MacEachern produced the assists.

MSU goaltender Jake Hildebrand received the win in net to earn the weekend split by making 19 saves in 60 minutes of action. His totals included eight saves in the opening period followed by seven in the middle frame and four to round out the contest in the third.

For Ferris State, senior goaltender CJ Motte finished with 31 saves, including 14 in the opening 20 minutes of action followed by 10 in the second and seven in the third. He also played all 60 minutes in net for the Bulldogs.

FSU was outshot 35-20 for the night and was held scoreless on four power-play tries. MSU finished one-of-four with the man-advantage in a game that saw the Bulldogs called for four penalties totaling eight minutes and the Spartans netting six infractions for 12 minutes in the box.

Sophomore forward Kyle Schempp finished with a team-high four shots on goal for FSU with Mayhew adding three among others. Michael Ferrantino netted a contest-best five total shots for the Spartans, who moved to 2-4 on the year.

Ferris State dropped to 3-4 overall with the setback before a crowd of 4,716 fans.

FSU and Michigan State will square off against each other later this year on Dec. 28 at the 50th anniversary of the Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) at historic Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The two teams will meet in day one action with Michigan and Michigan Tech meeting in the other opening-day tilt.

The Bulldogs will next resume Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) competition on the road at Northern Michigan next weekend (Nov. 7-8).

FSU then returns home to host Alaska-Anchorage in league play on Nov. 13-14 at the Ewigleben Ice Arena. Tickets are on sale now for all home contests and can be purchased online at StarTickets.com or by calling (800) 585-3737. Visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com for more information.