Bulldogs Best Beavers To Finish With Split In Weekend Home Series

Postgame Highlights 
Postgame Press Conference 

Big Rapids, Mich. – The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team picked up a hard-earned victory as a late rally gave the Bulldogs a win over visiting Bemidji State on Saturday (Dec. 40 night inside FSU's Ewigleben Ice Arena.         

For the second straight night, the Beavers that got on the board first when Jordan Heller scored his first goal of the season from T.J. Roo and Phillip Marinaccio at 7:52 of the first period. The goal was the only marker of the opening stanza.            

The Bulldog power play, though, came up big as junior forward Gerald Mayhew tallied his fourth lamplighter of the season to even the score.            

Junior forward Jared VanWormer fed the puck from out of the corner to a driving Mayhew, who ripped it past Beaver goaltender Michael Bitzer to tie the game at 1-1 at 12:12 of the second period.            

The goal triggered a storm of teddy bears onto the ice as Ferris State hosted "Teddy Bear Toss" night in the Ewigleben Ice Arena.            

VanWormer marked his sixth assist of the season and senior defenseman Brandon Anselmini tallied his third on Mayhew's game-tying goal.           

It took until 14:28 of the third period for the tie to be broken, and it took a beautiful play by sophomore forward Andrew Dorantes to do it.            

Dorantes finessed his way through a defender and made his way to the net front before dishing it back to freshman forward Corey Mackin, who scored his sixth goal of the season to give the Bulldogs a late 2-1 lead.            

The assist was Dorantes' sixth, and freshman defenseman Zac Tierney received his fourth assist of the year on Mackin's game-winning goal.            

Despite a late flurry by the Beavers, it was Ferris State junior goaltender Charles Williams who spurned Bemidji State's chances time after time in his return to action.                      

Williams turned in his finest effort of the year with 30 saves on 31 shots and received the victory, besting Bitzer.             

Bitzer made 36 saves on 38 shots and took the loss, falling to 2-7-2 on the year, while Williams moved to 2-4-1.           

Ferris State finished 1-of-6 on the power play while Bemidji State finished 0-3 for the night.

The Bulldogs outshot BSU 38-31 for the evening, which included a game-high 17 shots in the third and final period to 11 for the Beavers.           

With the win, Ferris State improved to 7-7-4 overall as the Bulldogs earned a split in their final home series of the 2015 calendar year.

The Bulldogs will next take on the Northern Michigan Wildcats on the road in the last series' of the 2015 calendar year on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 11-12, at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. Both games are set for a 7:07 p.m. (ET) puck drop.