Bulldogs Fall In Barn-Burner At St. Thomas
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ferris State (7-8-2, 5-5-1) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
|
St. Thomas (Minn.) (5-13-1, 4-8-1) | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
Mendota Heights, Mn. - In a high scoring affair, the Ferris State University men's ice hockey team battled from behind but could not complete the comeback, falling 7-4 to the St. Thomas Tommies in Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) play on Friday (Dec. 16) at St. Thomas Arena.
10 different Bulldogs registered a point in the game as Ferris State came from behind three times and outshot the Tommies 17-5 in the third period.
The Bulldogs got on the board first at 4:58 of the first period when senior forward Cade Kowalski scored his third goal of the year on a redirected shot by senior defenseman Brenden MacLaren who earned his sixth assist of the year.
St. Thomas answered with back-to-back goals at 9:41 on the power play when Mack Byers scored, followed by Josh Eernissee at 10:32 for a 2-1 UST lead.
It took Ferris State just 10 seconds into the second period to tie the game at 2-2 when junior forward Stepan Pokorny scored his fifth of the year on the rush, set up by senior forward Jason Brancheau (6).
St. Thomas again scored back-to-back to go up 4-2 when Luke Manning scored at 3:19, followed by Jake Braccini at 5:50 of the second period.
Ferris State got one back when freshman forward Tyler Schleppe scored his fifth of the year from the outside of the left wing circle at 7:52 to make it 4-3 UST.
For the third time, the Tommies answered with back-to-back goals when Manning and Byers scored at 12:51 and 14:01 of the middle frame respectively.
The Bulldogs got back within two when sophomore forward Brad Marek laced in his fourth goal of the year at 15:54 of the second period to make it 6-4. Sophomore forwards Kaleb Ergang (1) and Nick Nardecchia (5) added helpers on the goal.
While the Bulldogs came hard at the Tommies with 17 third period shots, UST goaltender Aaron Trotter turned them all aside and the Tommies scored into the empty net at 19:25 when Eernissee scored his second for the 7-4 final.
Both teams finished with 37 shots on goal. Ferris State finished 0-6 on the power play while St. Thomas went 2-5.
In goal, FSU sophomore goalkeeper Noah Giesbrecht made 30 saves, while Trotter made 33 for the Tommies in the win.
Ferris State aims for the weekend split on Saturday (Dec. 17) at 6:07 pm CT in Mendota Heights.