Senior forward Stepan Pokorny’s five-goal weekend helped propel Ferris State hockey to a series sweep of the Augustana Vikings at Midco Arena on Friday, Jan. 27 and Saturday, Jan. 28.
In their first-ever series against the Vikings (7-14-3) and the first-ever series at Midco Arena, the Bulldogs (10-16-1, 6-11 in CCHA) were victorious with a 5-2 win on Friday and a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday, courtesy of Pokorny’s four-goal game. The Bulldogs have now locked up back-to-back sweeps and have won four games in a row.
Head coach Bob Daniels is ultimately pleased with the weekend’s result but understands that the Bulldogs need to keep working.
“Yes, we’ve won four straight, that’s great. But it’s not as though there are not areas we need to work on,” Daniels said. “There’s [always] an area we can get better at. I thought in some ways, our faceoff play was not great on the weekend. So there are areas that we can tighten up and get better at. As long as we don’t get too caught up in wins and losses and get caught up in the details of playing good hockey instead, we’re going to be okay.”
In Friday’s matchup, the Bulldogs struck first midway through the first period, as they claimed the lead with a goal from senior forward Austin McCarthy. The tally was McCarthy’s first of the season. Ferris quickly added to their lead, as sophomore forward Caiden Gault scored to go up 2-0 in the first period. The Vikings got on the board with less than a minute to play in the second and tied up the score 2-2 in the third. The Bulldogs didn’t allow a goal from that point, while freshman defenseman Jack Mesic scored his second goal of the season to make the score 3-2 with eight minutes remaining. Ferris continued its offensive attack, as Pokorny scored his first of five goals on the weekend. After the tally, freshman forward Emerson Goode sealed a 5-2 win with an empty-net goal late in the third.
McCarthy’s goal marks the first goal ever scored at Midco Arena. The Ludington, Mich. native won’t be forgetting the goal anytime soon.
“It’s super special. It’s something that I remember for the rest of my life,” McCarthy said. “It was just an awesome experience to be a part of that night. We’re lucky that it was our team that got to go down and play them in their home opener and getting a sweep made it even better for our team.
Pokorny led the Bulldogs to the series sweep on Saturday, despite the close result. The Vikings scored first to take the lead midway through the first period, but Pokorny scored his first goal of the night seconds after and found the back of the net again early in the second period to go up 2-1. Each team traded another goal halfway through the final period with the Bulldogs falling into the shorthanded situation and Pokorny accomplishing the hat trick. With just two minutes to play, the Vikings put the extra attacker on the ice and tied the score at 3-3, which sent the game to overtime. Roughly three minutes into the extra frame, Pokorny scored his fourth and final goal of the night to give the Bulldogs the 4-3 win.
Pokorny, who received CCHA Forward of the Week honors, remains humble about the four-goal night, as he credits his team for his success.
“It’s obviously really exciting. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a night like that,” Pokorny said. “It’s not just about me scoring the goals. It’s all the teammates around me that put me in those chances and situations where I could score a goal. Hopefully, I keep it going.”
The Kolin, Czech Republic native has spent four years with the Bulldogs and has scored 18 goals and 42 assists with the team.
The Bulldogs currently sit in last place in the CCHA. The remainder of the season’s seven matchups will be conference play and Ferris will look to improve their seeding heading into the postseason in early March.
The Bulldogs are back at home this upcoming weekend for an in-conference matchup against the Bowling Green Falcons on Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. on Friday and 6:06 p.m. on Saturday.