Ferris State Hockey Battles LSSU To Draw; Bulldogs To Visit Bowling Green For WCHA Playoffs

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team battled Lake Superior State to a 1-1 overtime draw on Saturday (Feb. 25) night as the two teams wrapped up regular-season action in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Lakers eventually won the shootout following the double overtime deadlock in the final night of regular-season action in the WCHA.

With the draw, Ferris State will be the #5 seed for the WCHA Tournament and the defending Broadmoor Trophy champions will open postseason play on the road in the first round at fourth-seeded Bowling Green next weekend (March 3-5) with all three first-round games in the best-of-three playoffs set for 7:07 p.m. (ET) starts.

In Saturday's regular-season finale, the Lakers struck first at 19:38 of the opening period when Mitch Hults notched the game's first goal off an assist from Diego Cuglietta.

However, Ferris State responded early in the second frame when Mitch Maloney scored the equalizer off assists from Gerald Mayhew and Jacob Hetz only 2:02 into the frame.

Neither team find the back of the net from that point forward as the two teams played thru regulation and a pair of overtime periods deadlocked.

Overall, Ferris State outshot LSSU 44-28 for the night, which included a decided 24-5 margin in the second period alone. FSU also had the lone shot in overtime.

The Bulldogs went 0-of-5 on the power play with the Lakers finishing 0-of-4 for the evening 

Lake Superior State's Gordon Defiel made 43 saves on the Lake Superior State end in net while FSU's Darren Smith had 27 saves for the Bulldogs 

Next weekend's playoff action will be carried live via WCHA.TV and local flagship station Sunny 97.3 FM with online coverage on the Bulldog Sports Network at FerrisStateBulldogs.com.

The winner of the first-round series will advance to the new best-of-three semifinals the following weekend.