BIG RAPIDS – Ferris State University welcomed a nice crowd of enthusiastic students. Many of the students were dressed in white (to get them in the arena free of charge) and all were eager for a Bulldog victory.
The Bulldogs (2-1-0) did not disappoint the crowd by the time everything was said, done and written for the team’s home opener Friday night in Ewigleben Ice Arena. Ferris fell into a 1-0 goal, with a score late in the first period, but bounced back for two scores in the second and held on through a scoreless third for a 2-1 non-conference win over visiting Connecticut to send FSU fans home happy.
Ferris head coach Bob Daniels, considering illness that has wreaked havoc on the team, was pleased his team battled through the adversity to win game one of the two-game series with the Huskies. Ferris fans are hopeful this win sets the tone for the weekend as the two teams go at it on Saturday with the puck to drop at 5:05 p.m.
“I think our team did a good job considering the environment we’re in right now,” Daniels said. “We had four forwards out tonight ill. So, we were already short with forwards when (Cody) Chupp took the penalty (a five-minute major and a game misconduct) and we went down to 10 with a good number of those being our younger kids. Overall, though, I was pretty happy with our effort tonight.”
Connecticut took the first lead as Daniel Naurato scored, at 19:27 of the first period, off assists from Sean Ambrosie and James Gallagher for a 1-0 lead. It was a painful goal to give up for Ferris. Teams hate to surrender late-period goals, but hats off to the Huskies for capitalizing on a great opportunity just prior to the teams heading into the locker rooms for the break.
Naurato’s nifty goal was all that was registered on the scoreboard after the first 20 minutes were in the books.
In the second period, Ferris’ Derek Graham scored, as he beat the Connecticut netminder low on the glove side, at 3:34. The Bulldogs enjoyed the game-winning goal off the stick of freshman center Travis Ouellette who lit the lamp on a power play at 18:29 of the second (assisted by Scott Wietecha and Graham) for a 2-1 lead.
“We capitalized on some chances and we had our opportunities,” said Daniels, who liked the second period as Ferris held the edge in shots during the 20-minute period by a count of 19-7 and outscored the Huskies 2-0. “I thought that was our strongest period. I thought probably our weakest period, at least it felt to me, was our third period. The last five minutes I felt we were holding on.”
For the Bulldogs, sophomore netminder Taylor Nelson was solid in goal as he finished with 26 saves to earn the victory in the team’s home opener.
“I thought Taylor Nelson played well for us,” Daniels said. “In the third period near the end he made a number of big saves including one with five seconds or four seconds to go.”
The Bulldogs (2-1-0) did not disappoint the crowd by the time everything was said, done and written for the team’s home opener Friday night in Ewigleben Ice Arena. Ferris fell into a 1-0 goal, with a score late in the first period, but bounced back for two scores in the second and held on through a scoreless third for a 2-1 non-conference win over visiting Connecticut to send FSU fans home happy.
Ferris head coach Bob Daniels, considering illness that has wreaked havoc on the team, was pleased his team battled through the adversity to win game one of the two-game series with the Huskies. Ferris fans are hopeful this win sets the tone for the weekend as the two teams go at it on Saturday with the puck to drop at 5:05 p.m.
“I think our team did a good job considering the environment we’re in right now,” Daniels said. “We had four forwards out tonight ill. So, we were already short with forwards when (Cody) Chupp took the penalty (a five-minute major and a game misconduct) and we went down to 10 with a good number of those being our younger kids. Overall, though, I was pretty happy with our effort tonight.”
Connecticut took the first lead as Daniel Naurato scored, at 19:27 of the first period, off assists from Sean Ambrosie and James Gallagher for a 1-0 lead. It was a painful goal to give up for Ferris. Teams hate to surrender late-period goals, but hats off to the Huskies for capitalizing on a great opportunity just prior to the teams heading into the locker rooms for the break.
Naurato’s nifty goal was all that was registered on the scoreboard after the first 20 minutes were in the books.
In the second period, Ferris’ Derek Graham scored, as he beat the Connecticut netminder low on the glove side, at 3:34. The Bulldogs enjoyed the game-winning goal off the stick of freshman center Travis Ouellette who lit the lamp on a power play at 18:29 of the second (assisted by Scott Wietecha and Graham) for a 2-1 lead.
“We capitalized on some chances and we had our opportunities,” said Daniels, who liked the second period as Ferris held the edge in shots during the 20-minute period by a count of 19-7 and outscored the Huskies 2-0. “I thought that was our strongest period. I thought probably our weakest period, at least it felt to me, was our third period. The last five minutes I felt we were holding on.”
For the Bulldogs, sophomore netminder Taylor Nelson was solid in goal as he finished with 26 saves to earn the victory in the team’s home opener.
“I thought Taylor Nelson played well for us,” Daniels said. “In the third period near the end he made a number of big saves including one with five seconds or four seconds to go.”
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