Ferris State hockey returned home with a weekend split against the St. Lawrence Saints on Friday, Nov. 3 and Saturday, Nov. 4.
The brief interruption of CCHA play had the Bulldogs (3-4-1, 1-1 in CCHA) losing to the Saints (2-5-1, 0-0-0 in ECAC) 5-2 on Friday before taking Saturday’s contest with a 2-1 overtime win.
Head coach Bob Daniels was not pleased with the team’s performance in the 5-2 loss.
“We were poor in our morning skate,” Daniels said. “We didn’t look good. I thought [they looked] lackadaisical and I let the guys know that. Sure enough, it carried over to the game. We weren’t ready when the game started. We fell behind 2-0, we were chasing the game from that point on. We muddled our way through the second [and] played a little bit better in the third. But the start [was] unacceptable.”
Before the Bulldogs were even midway through the first, they allowed two early goals. The Saints added another tally in the second period, taking a 3-0 lead into the final frame. Senior forward Antonio Venuto put the Bulldogs on the board early into the third, but the Saints matched it with a goal of their own not even a minute later. Three minutes following their last goal, they scored their fifth and final of the game. Sophomore forward Caiden Gault scored with roughly nine minutes left in the period, his first of the season. Scoring would go silent following this and the Bulldogs lost 5-2.
Senior defenseman Nick Hale felt that the team need to come out ready in their next game.
“[We have to] come out with some more grit,” Hale said. “We have to understand that it doesn’t matter who we play. If we don’t play the right way and we don’t play with the right intensity, it’s going to be tough to win. In this day and age, everyone in college hockey is good and everyone can win.”
With the 5-2 loss behind them, the Bulldogs were able to even the series with 2-1 overtime victory. Daniels believed the effort to be improved from the previous night.
“We certainly played better from the start tonight,” Daniels said. “A big difference from how we came out yesterday. We were flat in the first period… I thought tonight we came out, had a really good first, a great second and a solid third.”
Daniels added that he thought that the Bulldogs “dipped” a little in the third, but expected St. Lawrence to fight back after the team “had their way” in the second frame.
Ferris fell behind as St. Lawrence buried another early goal, like they did in the previous night. However, freshman defenseman Trevor Taulien tied the game up halfway through the first period with his first collegiate goal. Scoring tapered off for the rest of regulation. While in overtime, a St. Lawrence mistake in the Bulldogs’ offensive zone resulted in Venuto rushing the puck the other way and sinking the Saints with the game-winning goal.
Venuto echoed Daniels’ beliefs that the team’s effort was much improved.
“It was definitely a hell of a lot better than yesterday,” Venuto said. “We played a full 60 [minutes] today. It just feels good to get out there and get that win.”
The Bulldogs will resume in-conference play next weekend when they face the reigning CCHA champion Minnesota State Mavericks at home on Friday, Nov. 10 and Saturday, Nov. 11. Puck-drop is set for 7:07 p.m. for both contests.