Ferris State Hockey Knocks Off Minnesota To Earn Victory In Weekend Road Finale

Game Highlights 

Minneapolis, Minn. - The Ferris State University men's ice hockey defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers 3-2 in a nationally-televised contest at 3M Arena at Mariucci on Saturday (Dec. 29) in non-conference action as the two squads wrapped up a weekend series.

For Ferris State, senior captain Corey Mackin scored twice, including the game-winner, while freshman netminder Roni Salmenkangas made 44 saves in a stalwart effort between the pipes against the Big Ten Conference foe.

The Gophers jumped in front at 5:22 of the first period on the power play when Brent Gates Jr. Scored on the man-advantage to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs evened the score at 13:13 of the second period when Mackin punched in his first goal of the game on the power play for his sixth of the season, jarring in a loose puck at the top of the crease. Junior forward Jason Tackett earned his seventh assist of the year while redshirt junior forward Craig Pefley notched his seventh to knot the game up.

Minnesota responded at 15:09 of the second on the power play when Nathan Burke scored on a breakaway to push the Gophers back in front 2-1.

However, at the expiration of a Bulldog power play, Ferris State tied the game at 2-2 at 1:47 of the third period when sophomore forward Coale Norris drove the net front and tipped in a pass from sophomore forward Lucas Finner (1). Sophomore forward Frankie Melton also earned his fifth assist of the season.

Ferris State took the lead with the game-winning goal on the power play at 11:20 of the third when Mackin scored his seventh of the season and 40th career collegiate goal for the Bulldogs. Pefley (8) and junior defenseman Nate Kallen (14) earned assists on the game-winning goal.

For the Bulldogs, Pefley picked up his fifth assist of the weekend, as the redshirt junior assisted on five of Ferris State's six goals.

In goal, Salmenkangas picked up the win with 44 saves, a career-high for the Finland native and freshman, while Minnesota's Eric Schierhorn took the loss for the Gophers.

Both teams finished 2-4 on the man-advantage while the Gophers had a 46-33 advantage in shots on goal.

Ferris State hits the road again to take on the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 4-5) at the Von Braun Center with both puck drops set for 8:07 p.m. (ET) in Huntsville, Ala.

FSU will then return home for its first home action of 2019 on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 11-12, against Minnesota State. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased in advance, call 231-591-2888 for additional information or visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com.