Wolverines post convincing win over Bulldogs

By Michael Caples –

ANN ARBOR – Red Berenson started off his postgame press conference with a hint that he might have been a little surprised by the Wolverines’ five goals against the Ferris State Bulldogs Thursday night.

“Well it’s good to score against a team that doesn’t allow goals,” said Berenson, whose team recorded their first CCHA regulation win. “That team has only allowed five goals in six games, and we knew goals would be precious and maybe that’s why we played a little more opportunistic or maybe we played a little better defensively. It was important to get goals on this team.”

During the first period, it looked like both teams would have trouble scoring. The Wolverines and Bulldogs combined for a total of only 16 shots. Shawn Hunwick had nine saves for Michigan in the opening frame, while Taylor Nelson posted seven of his own.

But the Wolverines opened the floodgates in the second period. Chris Brown’s cross-crease pass to Phil Di Giuseppe gave Michigan a lead they never relinquished. Goals 1:34 apart from Travis Lynch and David Wohlberg gave the home team a 3-0 lead before the halfway mark of the second period. Both the first and third goals came on the power play, which Wohlberg attributed to simple, hardworking hockey in the offensive zone.

“Just getting the puck to the net really,” the senior forward said. “A lot of traffic in front is something we preach, so that really helped us out. The goalie couldn’t see much, and as Red says, what the goalie can’t see he can’t save, so we were just getting pucks on net and not letting him see it.”

Ferris State countered with a goal from Chad Billins late in the second, but the Bulldogs weren’t able to carry the momentum into the third period. Sophomore forward Derek Deblois scored seven minutes into the third to regain a three-goal lead for the Wolverines. A power-play goal from FSU’s Jordie Johnston made the game appear within reach, until Nelson got caught trying to rush to the bench for an extra attacker with two minutes remaining. The Wolverines took advantage of poor timing by the FSU goaltender and rushed in on a 2-on-0, with Di Giuseppe taking a generous pass from Brown and depositing the puck into an empty net for his second goal of the night.

“I can’t tell you it was any great execution,” Berenson said. “It was shots finding their way into the back of the net, second efforts on loose pucks, and a little bit of puck luck. But if you have the puck in their zone, things will happen.”

Hunwick stopped 28 shots to improve his record to 5-0-1 on the season. The Wolverines were 2-5 on the power play, while the Bulldogs were 2-3. The two teams square off again tomorrow night, again at Yost Ice Arena.