Bulldogs Power Back From Three-Goal Deficit To Earn Tie In Anchorage

Anchorage, Ak. - The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team trailed 4-1 in the second period, but roared back to even the game at 4-4, eventually settling for a 4-4 tie with the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Saturday (Nov. 30) at the Seawolf Sports Complex in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play.

The Seawolves picked up the extra WCHA point by virtue of winning the shootout 1-0, as Ferris State picked up one point to finish their 12-day Alaskan excursion with seven of a possible 12 points and a 2-1-1 record.

UAA opened the scoring at 9:31 of the first period when Tanner Schachle scored off a faceoff, beating Ferris State freshman goaltender Carter McPhail inside the right goal post for a 1-0 Seawolf lead.

Ferris State evened the score when sophomore forward Justin Michaelian batted in a backhander at 19:11 of the opening frame for his third goal of the season and second in as many games. Sophomore forward Liam MacDougall (5) and freshman defenseman Connor Fedorek (4) earned assists as Ferris State tied the score at 1-1.

The Seawolves responded with three straight second period goals. Eric Sinclair netted a power play tally at 3:24 of the middle frame, followed by Rylee St. Onge at 6:31, and Corey Renwick at 11:35 as Alaska Anchorage took a 4-1 lead.

At 13:38 of the second period, UAA's David Trinkberger took a five-minute major penalty while the Bulldogs were already on a power play, giving Ferris State an extended five-on-three power play opportunity.

The Bulldogs began their come back at 14:42 of the second period when freshman defenseman Jake Willets blasted a shot through traffic, that hit redshirt senior defenseman Zach Yoder's pants and deflected past UAA goaltender Kris Carlson to cut the Seawolf lead to 4-2 on the man advantage. Willets (12) and freshman defenseman Blake Evennou (6) picked up assists on Yoder's second goal of the season.

Still on the major power play, Ferris State again cashed in to cut their deficit to 4-3 when senior defenseman Nate Kallen buried a shot from the bottom of the left wing circle for his fifth goal of the season at 16:47 of the middle period. Willets (13) and Evennou (7) picked up their second assists of the game on Kallen's goal.

At 12:22 of the third period, Ferris State evened the score at 4-4 when senior defenseman Joe Rutkowski slid a centering feed to the inside of the left wing circle that sophomore forward Hunter Wendt tapped in for his first goal of the season. Rutkowski (9) and Yoder (5) earned assists on the eventual game-tying goal.

Ferris State had late power plays in both the first and second overtimes but were unable to crack Carlson a fifth time, and settled for one point in the tie after falling in the shootout.

The Bulldogs had a 40-33 advantage in shots on goal for the game, including 17-11 and 12-11 edges in the first and third periods respectively. McPhail made 29 saves officially in the tie for FSU, while Carlson made 36 for UAA. Ferris State finished 2-7 on the man advantage, while Alaska Anchorage went 1-4.

After the long voyage home, the Bulldogs will have a weekend off before battling the Alabama Huntsville Chargers in Big Rapids on Friday and Saturday (Dec. 13-14) at Ewigleben Ice Arena at 7:07 and 6:07 pm ET.