The officials seemed rather keen to putting the Bulldogs in the sin bin throughout the Jan. 11 contest with Michigan Tech.
Fortunately for the nationally ranked #3 Ferris State Bulldogs, they did what they have done 17 times this season.
They found a way.
Junior forward Dom Panetta and junior defensemen Travis White went down with injuries during the Jan. 10 1-0 win over Tech, but again were just able to find a way past an opponent that outshot them 46-21.
The 3-2 victory over the Huskies capped a sweep in which Michigan Tech squandered at the very least two points.
Junior forward TJ Schlueter found the net first for his first goal in 693 days, dating back to Feb. 18, 2012. His tally at 6:24 in the first was the only goal in the opening stanza.
Sophomore forward Kenny Babinski swept home a shorthanded chance off of a Chad McDonald feed on the rush to put Ferris up 2-0 at 15:01 in the second period, But MTU’s Alex Petan answered 1:21 later, setting up a 2-1 Ferris lead headed into the third.
It took 16:31 before Ferris was able to extend the lead to 3-1, when junior forward Justin Buzzeo batted in his 10th goal of the season.
Michigan Tech pulled their sophomore goaltender Jamie Phillips with three minutes left in regulation, but were only rewarded once for the risk.
At 19:06 in the third, Tech’s David Johnstone swept a shot from the corner that trickled behind junior goaltender CJ Motte to make it 3-2.
After junior defensemen Jason Binkley blocked a few last second attempts from reaching the heavily worked Motte, the clock ticked down to zero, and the brooms came flying out in Big Rapids.
One night after a 25 save shutout, Motte was called upon to stop 44 shots, and received third star of the game honors, due to Schlueter scoring his first goal in nearly two years as a Bulldog.
The Bulldogs will travel to Mankato, where they’ll see the only WCHA team to have made the National Tournament last season in Minnesota State.
Minnesota State is currently in third in the WCHA. They puck drops for the Mavericks at 7:07 Alaska time, at Alaska Anchorage.