Bulldog hockey was swept in the Great Lakes Invitational with losses to the Michigan State Spartans and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks on Thursday, Dec. 28 and Friday, Dec. 29 at Van Andel Arena.
The losses put the Bulldogs (5-13-1, 3-8 in CCHA) at an all-time GLI record of 1-6 while extending their overall loss streak to six consecutive games. The team’s last win came against the St. Thomas Tommies on Dec. 1.
Ferris’ 4-1 loss to the seventh-ranked Spartans (13-4-3, 7-1-2 in BIG10) comes as a measure of revenge for Michigan State, as they fell to the Bulldogs 4-2 in last year’s GLI semifinal.
With the defeat, head coach Bob Daniels had mixed feelings of pride in his team’s play but believes the team was ultimately unhappy with the outcome.
I appreciate the guys’ efforts tonight, I thought they played hard,” Daniels said. “I thought early in the first, we had some opportunities where we needed to cash in. When we fell behind, take the fourth goal, that was painful. But, to give our guys a lot of credit, we kept competing and we scored to make up for one. We competed hard in the third to the horn … all in all, we’re disappointed. We came here to win this game, so we are disappointed. But, I’m not disappointed in the effort.”
Even though the Bulldogs were down 4-0 at one point, Daniels didn’t believe that the team fell apart, saying that he “never really felt like [the game] unraveled.”
The Spartans got on the board first and kept adding to their lead with four unanswered goals between the first and second frames. Sophomore defenseman Travis Shoudy broke the Bulldog scoring drought with a goal roughly 16 minutes into the second period. Following the Bulldog goal, the scoring went silent and ended in a 4-1 Spartan victory.
Shoudy’s lone goal seems to be bittersweet with the loss, as his tally came against a Spartans team that features his brother Tiernan.
“It was pretty cool to score against them,” Shoudy said. “I just wish we could have capitalized on other chances.”
With the Bulldogs eliminated from the GLI Finals, the team turned their attention to the third-place game against the Alaska Nanooks (10-7-1, no conference) where they fell 3-2.
The loss to the Nanooks marked six straight losses for the Bulldogs, three of which have been decided by a single goal. Senior forward Stepan Pokorny believes the Bulldogs need to find the missing piece to win the contests decided by a goal.
“It’s frustrating, obviously,” Pokorny said. “Maybe we just need a little extra and we’re just missing little stuff. We’re working hard and eventually, it should turn us around if we put in the work.”
The Bulldogs opened scoring in the first period when freshman forward Luigi Benincasa finished a two-man breakaway with a goal. The Nanooks then scored twice to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Following a scoreless middle frame, the Bulldogs found their equalizer with a power-play tally from Pokorny. Six minutes after Ferris tied the game, Alaska scored its game-winning goal, as the Bulldogs could not find twine to tie the game again. The Bulldogs were outshot in every period. In total, the Bulldogs were outshot by the Nanooks 41-17.
With a return to CCHA play on the horizon, Daniels believes the team has a handful of things to fix but wanted to take some positives away from the weekend.
“There’s a lot, truthfully,” Daniels said. “I like what Pokorny said, you take away the positives. We didn’t give up a shorthanded goal all weekend … that’s a step in the right direction. I thought both goaltenders played well. But, we do have a lot to work out. We’ve got to find a way to exit our zone quicker. We absolutely cannot be in our end. It starts with good defensive positioning and then playing more in the offensive zone. There’s a lot though, it’s not trying to be a loser, it’s just the reality of it.”
Bulldog hockey will return home on Friday, Jan. 5 and Saturday, Jan. 6 to face the Bemidji State Beavers. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. on Friday and 6:07 p.m. on Saturday.