Ferris State Finishes Campaign With WCHA Road Victory Over #19 Lake Superior State

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team bested the nationally #19 ranked Lake Superior State Lakers 3-2 to wrap p the 2018-19 season in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play on Saturday (March 2) night in Sault Ste. Marie.

Ferris State senior forward Corey Mackin finished his Bulldog career by scoring twice including notching his 100th career collegiate point on the first goal, becoming the first Bulldog since Gerald Mayhew (2016) to pass the mark. Mackin also scored his 10th goal of the year, joining a club of Bulldogs to score 10 or more times in each of his four seasons at Ferris State.

In goal, freshman goaltender Roni Salmenkangas made 34 stops in a masterful performance. Over the final six games of the season, Salmenkangas logged a stifling .939 save percentage for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs leapt ahead when Mackin sniped in his first of the game and ninth of the year for collegiate point 100 at 5:01 of the first for a 1-0 Bulldog lead. Senior forward Craig Pefley notched his ninth assist on the play while junior defenseman Nate Kallen picked up his 17th.

In the second, a pair of underclassmen gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 edge. Sophomore forward Liam MacDougall wrapped around the goal and fired a backhand pass backdoor that freshman forward Jake Transit snagged and out waited diving LSSU netminder Nick Kossoff before roofing it for his fifth of the year at 2:34 of the second frame. MacDougall earned his fourth assist of the year on the goal.

The Lakers pulled back within one when Diego Cuglietta scored on the breakaway to cut the game to 2-1 at 13:18 of the middle frame.

Ferris State returned fire with a buzzer beater, and Mackin's second goal of the night and 10th of the season with 4.1 seconds remaining in the second period. Pefley (10) picked up his second assist of the game while senior defenseman Zac Tierney earned his fourth.

Lake Superior State did not go quietly, pulling back within one on an extra attacker goal at 17:39 of the third when Bryan Basilico scored to make it 3-2.

As the game wound to a close, Salmenkangas made a few strong late stops to keep the game out of reach of the Lakers.

Ferris State held the Lakers 0-6 on the power play and 0-11 for the weekend, though the Lakers won the shots on goal battle 36-22 for the game. Nick Kossoff took the loss for the Lakers while Salmenkangas picked up his ninth win of the season for the Bulldogs.

Six FSU seniors concluded their Bulldogs careers with the victory on Saturday evening and FSU finished the year by winning two of its final three outings.