Bulldogs Keep Momentum Going As Early Start Leads To Road Victory In Huntsville

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Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's ice hockey squad kept its momentum going as the Bulldogs came out with a strong start en route to a 2-1 road victory over Alabama Huntsville in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play on Friday (Feb. 20) night at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala.

On a snowy and ice night in the South, the Bulldogs built a 2-0 lead in the first period with a pair of goals in the series' opener. From there, FSU pitched a near shutout as the Bulldogs held off the Chargers to pull out their second consecutive win.

The victory came on the heels of a thrilling 3-2 overtime win versus nationally eighth-ranked Bowling Green last Saturday (Feb. 14) evening before a sellout crowd inside FSU's Ewigleben Ice Arena. It also opened a final six-game stretch for the Bulldogs, who are still in contention for a potential home ice spot in the opening round of the WCHA Playoffs slated to start in mid-March.

Ferris State jumped on the board quickly as senior forward Dom Panetta notched his second goal of the year in unassisted fashion with a short-handed tally only 4:33 into the game, giving FSU an early 1-0 advantage.

The Bulldogs made it a 2-0 game at the end of the opening frame as sophomore forward Chad McDonald netted his team-leading ninth goal of the year at 19:03 of the first period off an assist from freshman forward Tyler Andrew, who picked up his fourth helper of the year.

That would be all the scoring the Bulldogs would need as FSU posted a 34-19 edge in total shots and received 18 saves from senior goaltender CJ Motte. With the victory, Motte tallied his 61st career win and is now only two victories away from matching school record holder Mike Brown's all-time total of 63 wins by a Bulldog netminder.

Alabama Huntsville capitalized on a Bulldog penalty early in the third period by scoring a power-play goal off the stick of Cody Champagne only 1:17 in the final frame. His second goal of the year was aided by Alex Carpenter and Brandon Carlson, who both received their fourth helpers of the campaign. However, the Chargers were not able to get the equalizer down the stretch as FSU preserved the win.

The Bulldogs held a decisive 11-1 edge in shots in the opening period and also owned an advantage over each of the final two frames of action with a 12-9 margin in the middle frame followed by an 11-9 total in the final 20 minutes of play.

Overall, Alabama Huntsville was called for nine penalties totaling 18 minutes in the box with FSU whistled eight times for 16 minutes. The Chargers went one-of-four on the power play while the Bulldogs were unable to convert five times with the man advantage.

On the losing end, Carmine Guerriero suffered the setback in net for UAH despite making 32 saves, including nine in the opening period, 12 in the second and 11 in the third. Motte made a single save in the first frame for the Bulldogs before stopping nine shots in the second and eight in the final period of action.

With the victory, Ferris State improved to 13-18-1 on the year and the Bulldogs are now 10-13-0 in WCHA play. UAH fell to 8-19-4 overall and 7-15-1 in league play with its second-straight setback in three matchups to date against the Bulldogs this season.

The two teams will square off again in the series' finale on Saturday (Feb. 21) night with the puck drop set for 8:07 p.m. (ET) in Huntsville. The contest can be heard live on Sunny 97.3 FM and the Bulldog Sports Network at FerrisStateBulldogs.com with pregame coverage beginning a half-hour prior to faceoff.

Following the trip to Huntsville, the Bulldogs return home to host Bemidji State in their final WCHA regular-season home series next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28, at the Ewigleben Ice Arena. Tickets are on sale now at StarTickets.com or call 1-800-585-3737. The Saturday finale will serve as FSU's annual "Senior Night" with this year's fourth-year class slated to be honored prior to the contest.

The top four teams at the end of the regular-season will host a first-round best-of-three series in the WCHA Playoffs on March 13-15. FSU entered the weekend only two points behind both Bemidji State and Northern Michigan for the final home ice spot. In addition to hosting the Beavers next week, FSU then closes out the regular-season at Lake Superior State on March 6-7.