Two goals in first 63 seconds leads No. 9 Ferris State to win over No. 8 Michigan in season opener for both schools
By Ryan Zuke –
BIG RAPIDS – Last season, Ferris State posted a 16-1-1 home record, its best mark in school history.
The Bulldogs’ carried their dominant play on home ice into 2014, defeating No. 8 Michigan 4-3 Saturday in a huge regular-season opening game for both schools.
Coach Bob Daniels couldn’t have asked for a better start, as the No. 9 Bulldogs scored twice in the first 1:03 minutes.
Forward Matt Robertson sent sixth-round draft pick Kyle Schempp in alone with a long stretch pass on a poorly timed Michigan line change. Schempp released a quick wrist shot over Zach Nagelvoort’s right pad to give FSU a 1-0 lead 27 seconds in.
Sophomore Chad McDonald electrified the sellout crowd of 2,532 again moments later, deflecting in a Kenny Babinksi shot.
“You can’t really put it into words,” McDonald said of the emphatic crowd. “The crowd was in it all night. Our rink is definitely one of the toughest places to play.”
The Wolverines trailed 4-1 heading into the third, but were able to break through for a couple goals in the final 20 minutes.
Michigan’s Travis Lynch pulled the team within two four minutes in, one-timing a Justin Selman cross-ice feed in the slot.
After a flurry of chances by the Wolverines in the offensive zone, Evan Allen banged in a loose puck in front to cut the deficit to one at the 15:09 mark.
“I like the way our team hung in there,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said. “It was a way better second half of the game than the first half.”
Michigan had a chance to tie it on the power play in the last 1:11, but several blocked shots and a few key saves by CJ Motte preserved the win for FSU.
“He had an awesome game,” Daniels said of Motte. “He had a blocker save with 18 seconds to go, maybe a lot of goalies can make it, I don’t know, but to steer the rebound right into the corner, and give our team a chance to regroup defensively and clear the zone, that’s why CJ is special.”
At the 14:47 mark in the first, Motte came out to play a loose puck near the top of the left circle as brother Tyler Motte pursued. Tyler Motte shoved a FSU player, and after a large scrum, the Bulldogs were awarded a power play.
Just over a minute into the man-advantage, defenseman Ryan Lowney found forward Mitch Maloney streaking behind the Wolverines’ defense once again, and Maloney finished to put the Bulldogs up 3-0.
“We do that quite a bit,” Daniels said of stretching the ice. “What we like to do is try and hit the (deep) guy a couple times early, and then it starts opening things up underneath.”
It was Tyler Motte who drew first blood for Michigan 20 seconds into the second. He drove the net and snuck the puck past his brother, barreling him over in the process. The goal was reviewed but the call stood. Last year’s point-leader JT Compher recorded the assist.
“You know he wants to play well in that situation,” Berenson said of Tyler Motte. “He’s one of our best players and he did play well. That was in important goal for us.”
Motte almost scored on his brother again while his team was on the power play late in the second, but CJ Motte stretched out a left pad to deny Tyler on a rebound opportunity. FSU quickly transitioned the other way and McDonald buried his second of the game short-handed.
“We’re not happy with a lot of things, especially our start and our execution defensively,” Michigan captain Andrew Copp said, “but for the first game of the year we showed some resiliency. We didn’t overcome the adversity tonight, but we showed up and battled through it, which is good to see.”
FSU hosts Wilfred Laurier in an exhibition game on Friday, while Michigan plays the U-18 U.S. National Development Team on Monday, also an exhibition.