Ferris State Falls In Overtime To Alabama-Huntsville In Weekend Road Finale

Huntsville, Al. - The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team fell 4-3 in overtime to the Alabama Huntsville Chargers on Saturday (Jan. 5) at the Von Braun Center in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play.

For the Bulldogs, freshman defenseman Cooper Zech scored twice while freshman forward Justin Michaelian earned a pair of assists in the game.

Ferris State opened the scoring when Zech drilled in his fifth of the season from the bottom of the left wing circle off of UAH goaltender Jake Theut for a 1-0 Bulldog lead at 17:17 of the first. Junior defenseman Nate Kallen (15) and Michaelian (3) picked up assists on the play.

The Chargers tied the score on the power play at 18:23 of the first when Kurt Gosselin scored his first of the season for UAH.

The Bulldogs returned fire with a pair of goals, first at 5:03 of the second period when senior forward Trevor Recktenwald scored his first of the season from sophomore forwards Lucas Finner (3) and Coale Norris (5) for a 2-1 lead. Then, at 11:17, Zech scored his second of the game and sixth of the year from freshmen forwards Hunter Wendt (2) and Michaelian (4) to make it a 3-1 Bulldog advantage.

Alabama Huntsville went on to score two-straight to tie the game, at 16:35 when Austin Beaulieau cut the FSU lead to one and later at 19:49 when Brandon Salerno evened the score.

In overtime, Beaulieau tipped in a point shot on the power play for the game-winning goal.

For the Bulldogs, freshman netminder Roni Salmenkangas took the loss on 30 saves while Jake Theut picked up the win on 33 saves for the Chargers.

Ferris State returns home to take on the Minnesota State Mavericks on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 11-12) at the Ewigleben Ice Arena with both puck drops set for 7:07 pm EST. Tickets are on sale now and additional information can be found online at FerrisStateBulldogs.com or by calling (231) 591-2888.