After losing last weekend’s series against Michigan Tech, Ferris returns home to Ewigleben Arena to take on the Lindenwood Lions.
Ferris (1-5, 0-2 in CCHA) faces off against Lindenwood (3-5) with both teams riding three-game losing streaks, with both teams looking to break their streaks.
This season has been a slow start to the Brett Riley era, as this has been the lowest amount of wins in the first six games of the season for the Bulldogs in the past five seasons. In 2024-25, the team started 3-3, in 2023-24 the team started 3-3 and in 2022-23 the team started 2-3-1.
The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back losses at Michigan Tech, losing on Friday, Oct. 24, by a score of 5-1 and then losing the following day by a score of 4-2. Ferris got on the board first during the first game courtesy of junior defenseman Jack Mesic, but failed to score again. During the second game, the Bulldogs allowed the first four goals, and then attempted to mount a comeback, with goals coming from senior forward Riley Wallack and senior forward Josh Zary.
Head coach Brett Riley gave his thoughts on the slow start to the season.
“We took some positive steps in Plymouth, leaving with two wins,” Riley said. “There’s a lot we can build on from those two games, but the grit and tenacity the team showed were certainly inspiring. Our group is learning and growing every day, and we’re excited to take that momentum into CCHA play. With six of our next eight at home after this weekend, it’s a great opportunity to keep building our foundation.”
For the Bulldogs, they are bolstered by Zary (4-1-5), who leads the team in goals and points, and senior defensemen Xavier Jean-Louis (1-3-4), who is second on the team in points.
In the crease, Ferris sports the junior goalie from North Dakota, Hobie Hedquist, who so far this season has played four games for 202 minutes with an .887 save percentage, allowing 3.86 goals per game, but did have a 48 save game against the reigning national champion Western Michigan.
So far this season, the Bulldogs have struggled on the power play, only having four goals on 26 power play chances, which is good for 15% on the season.
Junior forward Emerson Goode believes the team can right the ship after the start of the season.
“As a team, I think we can focus on playing three full periods and sticking to our game plan,” Goode said. “I think our bright spot on this team though is our chemistry. This is the closest team I have ever been a part of, and I believe it will help us go far this season.”
For Lindenwood, their last win came against No. 5-ranked University of Denver, where they beat them by a score of 4-3, but since then, they lost to Denver, and then back-to-back 5-4 overtime losses to Miami of Ohio.
In the first game, Lindenwood was led by sophomore forward Giovanni Morneau, who had a two-goal game, with the other two goals coming from junior forward Jake Southgate and freshman forward Jacob Fletcher.
The Lions are led on the ice by Morneau (6-4-10), and just behind Morneau is sophomore forward Charles Savoie (2-7-9), who had two assists in his last game against Miami of Ohio.
In the crease for Lindenwood, they are led by sophomore forward Klayton Knapp, who has tallied 390 minutes in seven games, sporting a .878 save percentage while allowing 4.46 goals per game for the Lions.
The Bulldogs return home to Ewigleben Arena to face off against the Lindenwood Lions on Friday, Oct 31, at 7:07 p.m. and then again the next day at 7:07 p.m.