PREVIEW: Ferris State Hockey Squares Off With League Leader Bemidji State This Week

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team hits the road this week to face the Bemidji State Beavers in action on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20-21, nights in Bemidji, Minn.

The puck will drop both nights at 8:07 p.m. (ET) for the two WCHA tilts. Both games will be available on a pay-per-view basis via WCHA.TV. In addition, the Bulldog Sports Network and flagship station Sunny 97.3 FM will carry both games live on local radio and online with Harrison Watt on the call starting with the Johnson Automotive Pregame Show a half-hour prior to puck drop each day.

Bulldogs Suffer 2-1 Overtime Loss at Home
The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team battled the Alaska Nanooks to overtime for the second consecutive night, but came up short in a 2-1 setback as the two teams squared off inside FSU's Ewigleben Ice Arena in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) action. The Bulldogs and the Nanooks wrapped up the weekend series before a crowd of more than 2,000 fans inside the Ewigleben Ice Arena. FSU jumped in front early, however Alaska earned the game-winner early in the extra stanza to come away with the victory. Senior forward Gerald Mayhew scored his second goal in as many games, but it stood as the only goal of the evening for Ferris State.

Seniors Show Off in 3-3 Tie to Alaska
The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team skated to a 3-3 tie with the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks on Friday (Jan. 13) at FSU's Ewigleben Ice Arena before falling in the three-on-three overtime period in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play. Senior forwards Gerald Mayhew and Chad McDonald each had a goal and an assist for two points apiece while freshman goaltender Justin Kapelmaster made 47 saves. Seniors Ryan Lowney and Jared VanWormer also earned assists in the game, meaning all four seniors registered at least a point in the game and combined for six of them.

Bulldogs Bounce Seawolves in Shootout, Following 2-2 Tie
A total of 65 minutes of hockey wasn't enough to decide the FerrisState University men's ice hockey squad's deadlock against theUniversity of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Saturday (Jan. 7) asthe two teams battled to a 2-2 overtime tie before the Bulldogs wonthe shootout to gain two points in the Western Collegiate HockeyAssociation (WCHA) standings. Ferris State freshman defensemanCameron Clarke scored his first collegiate goal to open the scoringfor Ferris State. Sophomore forward Corey Mackin also found thenet, for his 8th of the year.

Mayhew Pacing Towards Career Numbers
Following a short quiet spell, goals in back-to-back games have theBulldogs senior within reach of a career high in goals in a season(16), as he currently sits with 12. Mayhew needs three goals to getto 50 in his NCAA career with 10 regular season games to play, andlast year was better than a point per game over his last 20 contests.Mayhew has had some career success against the Beavers witheight points over 14 games in his collegiate career, including hisfirst collegiate goal back on Nov. 9, 2013 in Big Rapids during a 5-4overtime win in the midst of Ferris State's 16 game unbeaten streak.Mayhew would need eight goals to become the first Bulldog sinceJordie Johnston (2011-12) to top the 20 goal mark.

Bulldogs Looking to Crack Bitzer
While Ferris State has had some success against Bemidji State sincejoining the WCHA, Michael Bitzer has been one of the stingiestgoaltenders that Ferris State has faced. Bitzer has a long trackrecord of success against the Bulldogs, and has above a .900 savepercentage in seven of his eight career starts vs. Ferris State. In eightstarts Bitzer has compiled a .946 save percentage and made 249saves against the Bulldogs. Despite the guady numbers, Ferris Statehas racked up a 4-2-2 record against Michael Bitzer, as the Bulldogshave too, been defensively stout against the Beavers.

Smith, Kapelmaster pace WCHA Goaltending Over Last Month
Dating back to December 2, 2016, Ferris State has the two bestgoaltenders in the WCHA. Over ten games, they have combinedfor a .942 save percentage and allowed just a goal per game onaverage. Smith leads the pack at a .945 save percentage, with a 1.68goals against average in just over 356 minutes. Kapelmaster hasmade four starts and owns a .939 save percentage and a 2.37 goalsagainst avarage. Smith has the lone shutout between the two, butKapelmaster has a 47 and 58 save performance to his name over thelast three weeks alone.

VanWormer Rounds into Career Form
While linemate and close friend Gerald Mayhew puts up some of hisbest numbers, VanWormer has quietly done the same. As a junior,VanWormer finished with 18 points over 39 games, and alreadystands at 13. VanWormer is on pace to break career highs in goals (7)and assists (11) as he sits at five goals and eight assists through 23games played, finding a niche in Ferris State's top six forwards as atough customer. The captain just notched his 50th collegiate pointvs. Alaska last weekend.

Scouting The Beavers
The Bemidji State University Beavers have run away with theWCHA points lead, but of late have struggled to score and as aresult, win. The Beavers are 2-3-1 over their last six games, thoughone loss and one tie came in a weekend home and home withthen nationally no. 1 ranked Minnesota Duluth. The Beavershaven't topped two goals since Dec. 10 in a 3-2 win vs. LakeSuperior State, and have been held to one goal in four of theirlast six games. The Beavers far and away own the nation's bestscoring defense at 1.69 goals allowed per game and also have thebest penalty kill at 90.3 percent. One of the reasons the Beaverpenalty kills remains strong is their discipline, the Beavers average10.4 penalty minutes per game, which is the third least in thenation. Goaltender Michael Bitzer has been one of the best in thecountry and has played 1,508 minutes in 25 games played (theBeavers have played 26) and owns a .937 save percentage (4th inthe nation) and a 1.51 goals against average (2nd in the nation).Bitzer is also tied for the national lead in shutouts with four. Inconference play, Bitzer has a 1.19 goals against average (No, thatis not a typo). Phillip Marinaccio is enjoying a breakout year, as thespeedster leads the Beavers in goals, assists and points (8-11-19).Brendan Harms is the active leading scorer for the Beavers at 83points in 128 career games played. Of the Beavers top ten scorers,eight are upper classmen, and four are seniors.

All-Time History vs. Bemidji State
Ferris State owns a 14-7-2 all-time record in 23 prior meetingswith the Beavers. The Bulldogs met the Beavers in back-to-backseasons in the WCHA playoff first round, and saw eachother morethan any other two WCHA teams between Oct. 2013 and March2015 (10 meetings, Ferris State went 7-2-1). The Bulldogs sweptthe Beavers out of the WCHA's first round in both March 2014 and2015. In the 2014 playoff series, Ferris State won the first game8-0, but the Beavers battled hard the next night as they draggedthe game into a double overtime thriller that the Bulldogs wouldwin on the strength of Scott Czarnowczan goal in Big Rapids. Thenext season the two met in Bemidji at the Sanford Center, and theBulldogs controlled the first game, winning 4-1. Ferris State led 2-1in the third, but Brendan Harms goal at 11:23 of the third period tiedthe game and forced overtime. Like the year prior, the game wentmultiple overtimes, ended finially at 6:40 of the third sudden deathsession by Kyle Schempp, who deflected Ferris State's 44th shot ofthe night past Michael Bitzer. The Bulldogs owned a 2-1-1 edge inthe 2015-16 regular season series.

ASN To Broadcast Ferris State vs. Bowling Green State
Ferris State will host Bowling Green State next weekend, and Fridaynight's contest will be nationally televised on the American SportsNetwork. Due to the broadcast, puck drop will be moved back to8:37 pm EST, 90 minutes after a normal home puck drop for FerrisState hockey. The Bulldogs and Falcons split the weekend series onNov. 4-5 in Bowling Green, Ohio, winning 3-1 on Nov. 5. The Bulldogshave four home games remaining, and will return to regularlyscheduled 7:07 pm ET puck drops for their last three on Jan. 28, Feb.17-18.