Bulldog Hockey Sweeps Northern Michigan with 2-1 Victory Saturday

Marquette, Mich. – The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team completed the sweep of Northern Michigan with a 2-1 win Saturday (Dec. 7) at the Berry Events Center in Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) play.

After a 3-1 win over the Wildcats Friday (Dec. 6), the Bulldogs (6-10-2, 5-7 CCHA) earned their first sweep this season with Saturday's win. Noah West started both games between the pipes for FSU, stopping 22-23 shots Saturday and 57-59 in total across both games.

With their sweep of NMU, the Bulldogs have now collected .417 of the points available in conference play, good for seventh place in the CCHA standings as Ferris State heads into the holiday break. FSU has also won four of their previous five games.

In Saturday's win, Caiden Gault scored the first goal at 17:29 in the first period. His CCHA-leading eighth goal came on the power play and was his second power play goal of the weekend. Gavin Best recorded an assist, giving him eight points this season with four assists.

Holden Doell scored the game-winning goal at 15:30 in the second period. Conner Brown broke out of the Bulldog zone with a pass to Nick Nardecchia, who worked towards the net and took a shot that was saved by NMU netminder Ryan Oullette. Doell was there to tap in the rebound, giving FSU a 2-0 lead with his second goal this year. Nardecchia collected his fourth assist and Brown earned his first collegiate point with a helper.

NMU scored at 19:24, cutting Ferris State's lead in half. Matthew Romer scored his third collegiate goal with Jakub Lewandowski and Danny Ciccarello getting assists.

Neither team scored in the third period and FSU sealed their victory. The Bulldogs were perfect on the penalty kill all weekend, going 8-8 across both games, including 5-5 Saturday. Cole Burtch took a cross-checking penalty at 15:51 in the third that the Bulldogs killed off.

Oullette was pulled at 18:48 for the extra attacker, and Northern Michigan attempted two shots. West made a save and Doell blocked the other attempt. For the game, FSU blocked 13 shots with three coming from Nico DeVita and two each for Xavier Jean-Louis, Andrew Noel and Best.

As a team, FSU had 30 shots on goal, won 28 faceoffs, went 5-5 on the penalty kill and 1-4 on the power play. Jean-Louis led the squad with four shots on goal.

For the weekend, Ferris State was 3-7 on the power play and a perfect 8-8 on the kill. Gault finished with a goal in each game and Best had two points with a goal Friday and an assist Saturday. West earned his fifth and sixth wins of the year in the sweep.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Dec. 28 and 29 for the Kwik Trip Holiday Faceoff at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisc. FSU will open the tournament against Wisconsin before playing either Alaska or UConn Day 2, depending upon the results of Day 1. FSU's game against Wisconsin is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. (ET) puck drop with pregame coverage beginning on Sunny 97.3 FM at 5:30 p.m. (ET).