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Bulldogs Fall To Chargers In 2016-17 Season-Opener

Bulldogs Fall To Chargers In 2016-17 Season-Opener

Postgame Highlights
Postgame Press Conference 

Big Rapids, Mich. -- The No. 20 Ferris State men's ice hockey (0-1-0) team suffered a season-opening setback at the hands of Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) foe Alabama Huntsville (1-0-0), losing 2-1 at Ewigleben Ice Arena on Saturday (Oct. 1).

Despite outshooting the Chargers 38-26, the Bulldogs only found the scoreboard once, as UAH goaltender Matt Larose tallied 37 saves in a winning effort.

Alabama Huntsville struck first when Max McHugh benefitted from a Ferris State turnover and beat FSU sophomore goaltender Darren Smith to take a 1-0 lead at 5:21 of the opening period. Josh Kestner and Brennan Saulnier earned assists on McHugh's first goal of the season.

Ferris State evened the contest less than four minutes later at 9:00 of the first period when UAH defenseman Cam Knight poked a puck into his own net. Junior forward Mitch Maloney had initially charged the puck towards the crease where Knight misplayed it into his own net.

Redshirt freshman forward Craig Pefley and freshman defenseman Joe Rutkowski were credited with assists on Maloney's goal. For both skaters, the assist was the first collegiate point in their respective careers and helped even the score at 1-1.

The Chargers found the game-winning goal at 9:19 of the second period when Hans Gorowsky scored on the breakaway with an assist from Kurt Gosselin.

Despite outshooting the Chargers 20-8 in the final period of regulation, the Bulldogs were unable to beat Larose a second time.

On the powerplay, Ferris State struggled to generate clean looks and finished 0-3 with two shots on goal. Ferris State was only penalized once in the contest and killed their only penalty of the evening.

In net, Smith made 26 save for FSU on 28 shots, but fell to 0-1-0, while Larose is now 1-0-0 for UAH.

The Bulldogs owned the faceoff circles, winning 45 draws while losing just 25.

Ferris State has a chance to even the series on Sunday (Oct. 2) afternoon. The puck drops at 3:07 pm ET for the series finale with UAH.