Ewigleben Ice Arena wasn’t quite at capacity, nor was it at it’s loudest, but Ferris State hockey managed to take advantage of their own ice on March 7.
The nationally ranked No. 7 Bulldogs defeated the Lake Superior State Lakers 2-1 on senior weekend in Big Rapids, rebounding from their back-to-back losses to Alaska-Fairbanks.
Nationally ranked No. 17 Minnesota State scored three goals in the final four minutes of play to bury Michigan Tech 3-0 in Mankato, Minnesota. Ferris can still win the conference title outright if they score one more point than the Mavericks in the standings on March 8.
Senior forward Cory Kane opened the scoring on a 5-on-3 powerplay in the first period. Standing in the far corner, Kane walked in on the net, studder-stepped around Laker’s goaltender Kevin Kapalka, and slammed hit past him at 14:25 in the first.
The Bulldogs came out and took a 2-0 lead at 9:47 in the second, when freshmen forward Kyle Schempp broke his goal-less streak by pounding home a Dakota Klecha rebound.
Colin Campbell cut the Bulldog’s lead in half at 12:08 in the second when he beat CJ Motte through the five-hole from between the circles.
The Bulldogs engaged physically, and closed out the Lakers by firing three shots at the empty net in the third, though they were unable to convert.
Senior Garrett Thompson put 11 shots on net, but failed to score. Though Thompson was unable to net anything, he was able to dish out some physical punishment.
Early in the first, Zach Loesch came into Thompson’s air-space, and Thompson lowered the boom and leveled Loesch. Moments later, he leveled Campbell and was taken to the box.
Motte made 32 saves on the night, and earned 2nd Star of the game honors.
The Bulldog’s wrap up the final series of the 2013-14 regular season on March 8 at 7:07 p.m. The will honor their five seniors; Captain Scott Czarnowczan, Justin DeMartino, and Andy Huff, as well as Kane and Thompson.