Miami, Michigan and Notre Dame probably are the three best teams in the Central Collegiate Hockey
Association.
But Ferris State is quietly putting itself in position to win the league championship.
The Bulldogs played well for the second straight night en route to a 3-1 win over Bowling Green in the
Ice Arena Saturday.
Pat Nagle made 16 saves for the Bulldogs, who scored twice in the final five minutes to pull away from a
1-1 tie.
Travis Ouellette scored from the inside of the right circle off the rush after a BG turnover at the
blueline to break the tie with 4:39 left. Jordie Johnston’s empty-net goal with two seconds left
clinched the win as Ferris improved to 11-8-4 overall and 8-6-3-2 in the league.
The Bulldogs are third in the league with 29 points to trail Notre Dame (35) and Michigan (31). Miami is
fourth with 27.
BG fell to 7-15-2, 2-12-2-0.
Ferris held a 25-17 edge in shots. Both teams were 0-of-4 on the power play, the result of good
penalty-killing.
BG’s Andrew Hammond played well in goal, stopping 22 shots, 13 in the first period.
“We were solid again,” Ferris coach Bob Daniels said. “I really liked the way we came out with a high
competition level for the second straight night.
“Competing hard is part of (BG’s) DNA. I was proud our guys were able to match (BG’s) competition level.
The third period was even, but we got the chance and capitalized. The game easily could have gone the
other way.”
Among the best players for Ferris were two seniors, Nagle and defenseman Zach Redmond, who played well
all weekend. The Bulldogs won 4-1 Friday.
“I have a lot of respect for Ferris’ team,” BG coach Chris Bergeron said. “They’re a good team. A lot of
(the game) is on them, what they did and (they) made it difficult on us. “
The Falcons have held a one-goal lead or have been tied in seven of their last eight games, but are only
1-4-2 in that span. BG has nine freshmen and 10 sophomores, while Ferris played 11 juniors and seniors.
“We had a good effort tonight,” Bergeron said. “But we still got the result, where one play in the third
period ends up in our net in a game that nothing was happening.
“We can’t simulate that in practice, a 1-1 game with six minutes to go. As much as we try and as much as
we stress every play, we’re learning hard lessons. I wish we could learn them the other way by scoring a
goal and being able to say ‘see this play, you’ve got to make this play, it didn’t cost us this time.’
But it’s costing us every time. You can’t pay for experience. You get experience through living it and
we’re living it and it’s difficult.”
BG also played without sophomore forward Jordan Samuels-Thomas, who was a healthy scratch for the second
time this season. He’s one of BG’s best offensive players.
“I don’t think he is listening,” Bergeron said. “He wants to play the game a certain way and that’s not
the game we’re going to play. He will play the game our way or he will watch, and he knows that.”
BG started slowly, but rebounded to play an improved second period and an even third period. Over the
last two periods, BG generated sustained pressure in its offensive zone.
The teams were 1-1 after one period. BG freshman Bryce Williamson scored his first goal at 6:22, but
Redmond tied the game at 10:49.
“We had a good 40 minutes, but that’s been indicative of how we’ve played during the last little stretch
here,” Hammond said. “We didn’t get the start we wanted, but as the game went on, we got into our game.”
“We found a way, which we haven’t done much, where we didn’t have a good first period, we came back to
have a pretty good second period,” Bergeron said. “But I was proud of our guys for responding.”
FERRIS STATE 3, BGSU 1
GOALS BY PERIOD
FERRIS STATE 1 0 2 —3
BGSU 1 0 0 —1
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1, BG Williamson 1 (Solway, Rodriguez) 6:22. 2, FS Redmond 6 (unassisted) 10:49 (4-4 es).
Penalties: Ruel, BG, holding, 8:00; Fillinger, FS, obstruction-hooking, 9:21; Krelove, BG, hooking, 9:48;
Wietecha, FS, interference, 13:49; Wallace, BG, tripping, 17:16.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: None.
Penalties: Krelove, BG, interference, 9:25; Ferris bench, too many men, 14:08; Billins, FS, roughing
after the whistle, 19:49; Sinclair, BG, roughing after the whistle, 19:49.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3, FS Ouellette 2 (DeMartino, Fillinger) 15:21. 4, FS Johnston 4 (Redmond, Enbach) 19:58 (5-6
en).
Penalties: Schmit, FS, tripping, 3:55; Alexander, FS, slashing, 6:54.
SAVES BY PERIOD
Nagle, FS 2 9 5 —16
Hammond, BG 13 7 2 —22
Goalie statistics (goals against/minutes played): (FS) Nagle 1/60; (BG) Hammond 2/58:30, Empty net
1/1:30.
Penalties-Minutes: FS 6-12, BG 5-10. Power plays: FS 0-4, BG 0-4. Attendance: 1,499.
