Ferris State Earns WCHA Overtime Victory On Goal From Lutz At Alabama-Huntsville

Huntsville, Al. - The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team rallied from a third period one-goal deficit to pick up a 6-5 overtime victory over the Alabama Huntsville Chargers in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play on Friday (Jan. 4) at the Von Braun Center.

Bulldog junior forward Dominic Lutz fired in the overtime winner and scored twice, adding an assist for a three-point performance in the victory, while redshirt junior forward Oskar Andren picked up a pair of assists as well.

Ferris State struck first at 14:45 of the first when Jacob Hetz tapped in a one-time feed from Lutz for Hetz's second goal of the season on a two-on-one rush. The assist was Lutz's second of the year, while Andren picked up his seventh on the goal.

The Chargers evened the score at 1-1 at 4:43 of the second when Hans Gorowsky slid in his second goal of the season.

Then, at 7:42 of the middle frame the Bulldogs replied when junior defenseman Nate Kallen slipped down the right wing wall and fired a shot that deflected through the legs of UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair for a 2-1 Bulldog lead. The goal was Kallen's fourth of the season, while sophomore forward Frankie Melton earned his sixth assist of the year, and freshman defenseman Cooper Zech his 15th.

UAH again evened the contest at 2-2 when Bauer Neudecker scored his fourth goal of the season 10:38 into the middle period.

It took 16 seconds for Ferris State to retake the lead as sophomore forward Coale Norris pick-pocketed UAH defenseman Bailey Newton and broke away, ripping a low shot past Sinclair for a 3-2 Bulldog lead, unassisted.

Later, at 14:32 of the second, the Chargers again struck back when Adam Wilcox deflected in a long shot from the point to knot the game up at 3-3 overall.

Near the end of the second with Lutz lurking in between the face off circles, Andren hit Lutz with a pass and the junior roofed a hard shot past Sinclair, giving FSU a 4-3 lead on Lutz's second goal of the season. Andren earned his second assist of the game and eighth of the year while Hetz picked up his second point of the game on his second assist of the season.

In the third, the Chargers struck twice less than a minute apart at 5:39 when Brandon Salerno tied the game at 4-4, followed by an Austin Beaulieu goal at 6:15 for a 5-4 UAH edge.

However, at 11:08, the Bulldogs tied the game at 5-5 when freshman forward Jake Transit ransacked a Charger defender and laced a wrist shot inside the right goal post for his second goal of the season unassisted.

It took the Bulldogs only 56 seconds to win the contest in the extra frame as Lutz crashed the goal and backhanded a shot over Sinclair for the win. The goal was Lutz's third of the year. Sophomore forward Lucas Finner picked up his second assist of the season while junior defenseman Cameron Clarke notched his seventh.

In goal, Ferris State freshman netminder Roni Salmenkangas made 25 stops for the Bulldogs and earned the win while Sinclair took the loss on 29 saves. Both teams finished without a power play goal, the Bulldogs went 0-2 and the Chargers 0-3 while Ferris State finished with a 35-30 shots on goal advantage.

The win, Ferris State's second in a row, allows the Bulldogs a chance at a WCHA weekend sweep on the road when they take on the Chargers again on Saturday (Jan. 5) at 8:07 pm EST inside the Von Braun Center.

Following Saturday's road finale, FSU returns home to host Minnesota State in its first home action of 2019 on Jan. 11-12 at the Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids. Tickets are on sale now and additional information can be found online at FerrisStateBulldogs.com or by calling (231) 591-2888.