Brancheau's Bullet Eliminates Bowling Green In Overtime, Bulldogs Advance to CCHA Semifinals

Postgame Highlights 

Bowling Green, Ohio - A seemingly innocuous rush turned into a picture perfect moment for Ferris State Hockey senior forward Jason Brancheau, as the Bulldogs swept the Bowling Green Falcons 2-0 in the best-of-three Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Quarterfinals by the final of 2-1 in overtime at the Slater Family Ice Arena on Saturday (March 4).

Both games required overtime after the Falcons found late equalizers with the extra attacker, but shining bright for the Bulldogs again was sophomore goaltender Noah Giesbrecht, who made 32 stops on 33 shots faced to help eliminate the Falcons.

The game had an auspicious beginning, as Ferris State marched to the penalty box just 20 seconds into the contest, and twice more in the game. Ferris State only had 29 seconds of a power play on the night, while killing off five Falcon penalties.

Despite the early scares, Ferris State navigated its way into the third period tied scoreless with the Falcons.

Ferris State co-captain Brenden MacLaren put the Bulldogs on the board at 7:13 of the third period, rushing wide right around a Falcon defender who blew a tire on the rush. MacLaren zipped a shot past BGSU goaltender Christian Stoever for his fourth goal of the season and a 1-0 Bulldog lead. Ferris State junior forward Jacob Dirks (5) and senior defenseman Matt Slick (5) each earned assists on the go-ahead goal.

With the clock ticking down into the furious final moments of regulation, Chase Gresock laced a shot from the left circle through traffic that redirected past Giesbrecht for Bowling Green's only goal of the night, coming at 18:43 with the extra attacker on.

In overtime, Brancheau sped up the left wing wall, beating Bowling Green defenseman Hunter Lellig out wide. Brancheau let loose a bomb off the underside of the cross bar, over the glove hand of Stoever for the series victory in sudden death overtime at 4:04, with his team-leading 13th goal of the year. Ferris State junior forward Antonio Venuto registered his ninth assist of the season on the play for the 2-1 final score.

Ferris State was narrowly out-shot 33-30 in the game, and had a 12-7 margin in shots in the second period. The Bulldogs went 0-1 on a power play that lasted 29 seconds, while the Falcons went 0-5 as the Bulldogs held the Falcons 1-10 on the weekend.

In goal, Giesbrecht picked up his second playoff win on 32 stops, running his career playoff save percentage to .946. All three of Giesbrecht's career playoff starts have ended in overtime. Stoever made 28 saves in defeat for the Falcons.

The Bulldogs are in the CCHA Semifinals for the first time since the reformation of the CCHA. This is Ferris State's first conference semi's trip under the new playoff format, and their first appearance in the league's second round since upsetting top seed Michigan Tech in 2016. The Bulldogs went on to defeat the conference co-champion Minnesota State Mavericks the same season, and finished in the Elite Eight after earning the NCAA Tournament's automatic bid as a conference tournament champion.

With the victory, Ferris State became the only lower seed in the CCHA to upset a host in the quarterfinals. Ferris State will meet Minnesota State University in the semifinals on Saturday (March 11) at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato.

Media, ticket, and game information is forthcoming over the next few days. Stay tuned to FerrisStateBulldogs.com for more information!