After splitting the series at Bemidji State, the Ferris State Bulldogs will host the Northern Michigan Wildcats in the final homestand of the season on Feb. 13 and 14.
Ferris State (5-25, 4-18 in CCHA) comes into the series against Northern Michigan (3-25, 3-17 in CCHA) off a series split at Bemidji State, winning the first game 6-3 before losing the second 4-3.
After Friday night’s 6-3 victory over Bemidji, the Bulldogs broke their 12-game losing streak, which stretched back to the Dec. 6 victory over Minnesota State.
Leading the Bulldogs in points is senior forward Gavin Best (12-9-21), who had two goals in the win against Bemidji. Best is one of five players with over ten points. Also on that list is senior forwards Josh Zary (10-7-17) and Max Itagaki (6-10-16), who both scored goals in the Bemidji series. Sophomore defender Christopher Lie leads the Bulldogs in assists with 11, with Itagaki right behind him at 10.
The Bulldogs have split goaltender reps this season between sophomore Martin Lundberg and junior Hobie Hedquist.
Lundberg has started 13 of the 16 games he’s played, and logged over 800 minutes in net. Lundberg has 307 saves and allowed 41 goals for a save percentage of .882 and a goals against average of 3.06.
Hedquist has started 12 of the 13 games he’s appeared in, and has 655 minutes between the pipes this season. Hedquist has 328 saves and allowed 45 goals for a .879 save percentage and a 4.12 goals against average.
Northern Michigan last played in the final weekend of January, splitting their home series against Bemidji State. The Wildcats won 2-0 on Jan. 30 but lost 7-1 on Jan. 31. Senior forward Caiden Gault (13-0-13), who played for Ferris State last season, leads the Wildcats as the only player over ten points this season with 13 goals.
There are three players tied with nine points, with freshman forward Tobias Pika (5-4-9) second in goals behind Gault. Both players scored one goal each in the previous series. Senior forward Kyle Bettens and junior defenseman Tynan Ewart lead the Wildcats with 8 assists on the year. Ewart leads the CCHA in blocked shots with 58, with Ferris State senior defenseman Valtteri Piironen right behind him with 55.
The Wildcats have had a two-goaltender season as well, with junior William Gramme and freshman Oliver Auyeung-Ashton taking turns in net. Auyeung-Ashton has started 14 of the 16 games he’s appeared in, logging 820 minutes between the pipes.
He has 481 saves on the year while allowing 38 goals for a save percentage of .927 and a goals against average of 2.78. Gramme started 14 of the 15 games he’s appeared in, logging 815 minutes in the net. Gramme has 487 saves and allowed 54 goals for a .900 save percentage and a 3.97 goals against average.
This is the only series between Ferris State and Northern Michigan this season. These two teams played four times last season, with Ferris State winning the season series 3-0-1. This season, Ferris State is eighth in the CCAA and Northern Michigan is ninth in the conference.
First-year head coach Brett Riley is very excited for the last home series to celebrate the seniors.
“We are very excited to build off of last weekend and prepare for a critical series at home against Northern Michigan,” Riley said. “This weekend is especially meaningful as we also celebrate our seniors and everything they’ve poured into this program. I am extremely grateful for the fan support we’ve received all year, and we ask everyone to show up once more for a major weekend. The crowd and atmosphere have been awesome, and that’s a true testament to our community.”
Ferris State will host Northern Michigan on Friday, Feb. 13, at 7:07 pm for Educators Night and Saturday, Feb. 14, at 6:07 pm for Senior Night for the final two home games of the 2025-26 season.