No. 3 Wolverines and No. 4 Bulldogs play to a 2-2 tie at Yost
By Michael Caples –
ANN ARBOR – In their first showdown since changing conferences, the No. 3 Wolverines and No. 4 Bulldogs weren’t able to establish a winner and a loser.
Michigan welcomed Ferris State to Yost Ice Arena for a Wednesday night battle between two top-five teams, and the two schools played to a 2-2 tie.
The tie means that Ferris State’s unbeaten streak increases to 14 games. Bulldogs coach Bob Daniels said it was a fitting end to the contest.
“I thought we played well,” Daniels said. I thought we carried the first period, I thought Michigan carried the second, and then I thought the third and overtime if you add it all together was pretty even. So I thought a tie was probably the just result to the game, you know. We could have easily lost it, but we could have easily won it, too. We had our chances as well as they did.”
“…All in all, I think a tie’s probably the right result.”
Red Berenson had similar thoughts on the contest.
“I thought we got back in that game, but they came out and really handed it to us in the first period,” the Wolverines’ head coach said. “We still escaped the period, and we knew they were a really strong first-period team, but they were better than we were. We got back on our toes in the second period, and we played better, and it was anyone’s game in the third period. Disappointed to give up the lead, but we played hard right down to the wire. We gave up the lead, but then we hung in there, and it was anyone’s game in overtime. Then the shootout was what you saw.
“So I liked the first half, and then overall you have to look and say, ‘This was another good test for us, and our team bends, but they didn’t break.'”
A shootout that had no bearing on either team’s standings took place after the regulation and overtime tie, with Wolverines freshman forward Alex Kile scoring the decisive goal after a video review.
Kyle Schempp and Brandon Anselmini scored in regulation for the Bulldogs, while goaltender CJ Motte – playing against little brother Tyler – stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced.
Meanwhile, Andrew Copp and Alex Guptill scored for the Wolverines. Zach Nagelvoort stopped 29 of 31 in the tie.
Michigan is now 10-2-2 on the season, while Ferris State is 13-2-3.
While some may say that the game served as a measuring stick for the Bulldogs in terms of national rankings and perspective, Daniels said there’s too many teams out there to even worry about it at this point in the season.
“It’s hard to say, because there’s 60 Div. 1 teams basically, and we only play a handful,” the Bulldogs coach said. “But I’d say judging, we’re in the mix, Colgate, St. Lawrence we’ve played nonconference, and now Michigan. We’ll have a much better feel I think after we get through Michigan State and then the Minnesota tournament. But even that, it’s just a snapshot of the season. It all depends on how you are at the end of the year. I thought we took a step in the right direction in terms of playing better defensively tonight, a little bit more care with the puck, we still turned over plenty of pucks, but we took a step at least in the right direction.”
For Michigan, this marks the conclusion of the first half of the 2013-14 season. The Wolverines are off until the Great Lakes Invitational, which takes place outdoors at Comerica Park in two weeks. Berenson said he’s much happier with where his team is halfway through this season, as compared to halfway through last year.
“I feel a lot better about them than last year’s team,” Berenson said. “Last year’s team was a pretty good team, but we just couldn’t find a way to win, we couldn’t hang in there, we couldn’t get the big save when we needed it, and our goalie just couldn’t save us in a game. This year, I think the goalkeeping is a big factor and the difference between the two teams. I like the leadership, and I like the impact of the big freshman class, so I think this team has got something going.”
The game started off looking like it might be a blowout for the Bulldogs.
After a series of odd-man rushes to start the contest, Ferris State’s Schempp sent a backhand shot through Nagelvoort to give the Bulldogs the game’s first lead.
The Wolverines quickly tied it up, however, thanks to a fortunate bounce. Copp attempted to pass the puck to Di Giuseppe, but it hit a Ferris State stick and bounced past Motte into the FSU goal.
Yet the first period still ended with a large shot discrepancy; Ferris State out-shot the home team by a 15-5 margin.
Michigan claimed the lead for the first time just 38 seconds into the second period, when a bouncing puck in the slot landed on Guptill’s stick. The junior forward sent a quick shot past Motte for his sixth goal of the season.
That led to a middle frame controlled by the Wolverines, who evened the shot totals by the end of 40 minutes.
The lone goal in the third period turned out to be the game-tying (and unbeaten streak-preserving) goal. A point shot from Anselmini went through the legs of freshman Chad McDonald to tie the game for the Bulldogs late into the third period.
The Bulldogs almost stole the game in the final minutes. With under two to go in regulation, a turnover from UM captain Mac Bennett led to a golden opportunity for Garrett Thompson. However, the senior forward missed on a one-timer try, and overtime was needed.
Both teams recorded three shots in overtime, but none found twine.
Kile scored the deciding goal in the for-entertainment-only shootout, pulling the “Peter Forsberg move” on Motte. The Troy native cut to the left post, but reached out with his right arm to tap the puck off the right post and into the net. A video replay confirmed that the puck indeed crossed the goal line, though the shootout victory has no effect on the standings for either team.