Bulldog Hockey Falls in Overtime to Bemidji in Game 1 of CCHA Mason Cup Quarterfinals

Bemidji, Minn. – The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team suffered a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime loss against the Bemidji State Beavers in Game 1 of the CCHA Mason Cup Quarterfinals Friday (March 8) in the Sanford Center.

The Bulldogs scored the first two goals of the game and got a terrific 46-save performance from Noah Giesbrecht, but the Beavers forced overtime and emerged victorious to take a 1-0 series lead into Saturday (March 9).

Austin McCarthy scored the first two goals of the game, the first being a power play strike at 8:58. Kaleb Ergang fired a shot through traffic that McCarthy tipped past Mattias Sholl in net for the Beavers and put the Bulldogs up 1-0. Nick Hale also had an assist.

McCarthy scored again just 58 seconds later with a nice move that beat Sholl to the lower right corner. His third goal of the year gave Ferris State a 2-0 lead and came from Trevor Taulien and Nick Nardecchia.

The Beavers scored their first goal at 15:08 from Eric Martin on a rebound chance. Lleyton Roed and Mitch Wolfe assisted on Martin's goal that sent the Beavers into the first intermission down 2-1.

BSU tied the game at 6:04 in period two with a goal from Donte Lawson. Jere Vaisanen and Eric Pohlkamp assisted. After the goal, Nardecchia was sent to the box and the Bulldogs had to kill a penalty.

FSU killed Nardecchia's penalty and then quickly reclaimed a lead. Emerson Goode scored his seventh goal of the year, putting Ferris State up 3-2 with 8:32 left in the second period. Tyler Schleppe took a pass from Zach Faremouth and looked set to fire a shot, but instead passed to Goode crashing backdoor for the score. Schleppe and Faremouth assisted.

Andrew Noel scored his first goal of the year at 15:14 and gave Ferris State a 4-2 lead. Stepan Pokorny and Taulien assisted.

Pokorny took a penalty late in the second period, sending the Beavers to the power play. Kasper Magnussen converted, pulling the Beavers within a goal before the second intermission. Adam Flammang and Carter Jones assisted.

After a combined seven goals were scored in the first 40 minutes of play, only one goal was scored in the third period. It was an extra attacker goal by Martin at 19:21, another rebound chance that he finished. Kyle Looft and Pohlkamp had the helpers.

Just 37 seconds into overtime, the Beavers ended the game with a goal by Pohlkamp. He tipped a puck that was shot by Looft into the back of the net, sending the Beavers out with a 1-0 series advantage. Austin Jouppi also assisted.

For the game, McCarthy (two goals) and Taulien (two assists) each had multi-point performances. Giesbrecht was 46-51, setting a new single-game season-high save total for the Bulldogs, topping Logan Stein's 43-save performance against Michigan Tech.

The Bulldogs had 27 shots on goal, converted their lone power play opportunity, killed 3-4 penalties and won 34 faceoffs. The Beavers had 51 shots on goal, went 1-4 on power play tries, failed to kill their only penalty and won 38 faceoffs. Ferris State had 22 blocked shots, five of which came from Jack Mesic. Hale contributed three.

Ferris State will face elimination Saturday (March 8) for Game 2 of the Mason Cup Quarterfinals against Bemidji State. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. (ET) and pregame coverage will begin on Sunny 97.3 FM following the conclusion of Ferris State women's basketball.