It took one minute and five seconds for the Michigan Tech Huskies to force Ferris State to pull freshman goaltender Connor McDonough from his collegiate debut.
The 3-1 loss at the hands of Michigan Tech (6-2-0, 4-0 in CCHA) pushes the Bulldogs (2-8-2, 1-5 in CCHA) to their fifth straight loss and their second consecutive time being swept.
Senior goaltender Noah West, who acted as relief for McDonough, took issue with the coaching staff’s decision to start the rookie goaltender.
“I don’t even have words for the decision that was made to do what they did, but they did that,” West said. “Yeah, we lost five in a row. But to put a freshman in that situation, it’s just it’s not fair to the kid, it’s not fair to the team. Like I don’t even have the words for it. The two freshmen goaltenders, I love them to death. I want to see them succeed but to do that to them, that’s just unacceptable.”
West declined to elaborate on the frustration but added that “it’s not a science experiment.”
On their first six shots of the first period, the Huskies quickly put the Bulldogs down 3-0. Following the trio of tallies, West took over between the pipes for his sixth straight game played.
According to head coach Bob Daniels, the decision to swap McDonough for West wasn’t based on the freshman’s performance.
“You’re just trying to change the look a little bit,” Daniels said. “It’s a tough way for him to start his collegiate career and he’s going to have a nice, a nice, long, good career. he will. But he did look a little shaky, he did. His world is spinning pretty damn fast. I just think that for all those reasons, it was the time to make that switch right then”
The fast, multi-goal effort is reminiscent of Friday night’s loss, where the Huskies wrenched the lead from Ferris with back-to-back goals in under three minutes.
After the speedy start from Michigan Tech, scoring died down. No goals in the second period kept the tilt at 3-0 heading into the final stanza.
Roughly halfway through the stanza, the Bulldogs avoided a third shutout in three series with a goal from senior forward Kaleb Ergang.
Ergang’s tally was not enough to start a comeback, as the Bulldogs again fell to the Huskies, this time 3-1.
Following the swap in the first period, West turned away all 17 shots from Michigan Tech.
Ferris State will go on the road next week to face Lake Superior State at Taffy-Abel Arena on Friday, Nov. 15. After that, they will head south to Traverse City to finish their series against the Lakers in the “Traverse City Showdown” on Saturday, Nov. 16.