Michigan Tech tops Ferris State in Day 2 of the GLI
By Nick Barnowski –
DETROIT –
Despite getting outshot 36-20, Michigan Tech found the back of the net four times to beat Ferris State, 4-2, and take third place in the 50th Great Lakes Invitational.
After having 20 more shots than Michigan in Sunday night’s semifinal and losing, Monday’s game went nearly the opposite.
“I thought we had better scoring opportunities tonight,” Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson said. “We had better grade-A scoring opportunities than we did last night.”
For Ferris State, disappointment remained the theme from the program’s first appearance in the GLI. After losing a hard-fought defensive battle to Michigan State in the semifinal, the effort was there for the Bulldogs once again, but they couldn’t find the back of the net.
“I sound like a broken record, but I’m disappointed in the result, but certainly not disappointed in the effort tonight,” FSU head coach Bob Daniels said. “We created an awful lot of scoring chances, we just weren’t able to cash in.
“It seemed like whenever we gave up a scoring chance, it ended up in the back of the net.”
While the Bulldogs peppered more pucks on Huskies goalie Jamie Phillips, Tech made the most of its scoring chances, especially in the second period as they scored three times.
It was the ninth time in 18 games Tech has scored at least four goals this season.
Tech’s top line of Malcolm Gould, Tanner Kero and Alex Petan produced 3 points and was a combined +3 in the win, but it was the fourth line that impressed Pearson.
CJ Eick, Dylan Steman and Joel L’Esperance (Brighton) contributed two goals and two assists, something Pearson said gave the Huskies a huge boost.
“(Eick and Steman) both play well off of each other, then we put Joel L’Esperance in the lineup tonight,” said Pearson, the only person to win the GLI as both a player and coach. “When you get two goals from your fourth line, it’s a huge lift for us.”
Tech raced out to a 4-0 lead before Ferris halved the deficit.
After not recording a shot until nearly midway through the first, Eick beat Ferris goalie CJ Motte under the glove and above the pad to give MTU a 1-0 lead. The play started with strong pressure on the forecheck from L’Esperance, who found Eick in the slot with a pass.
The Huskies stuck again only 59 seconds into the second period when a Gould and Kero 2-on-1 resulted in Gould putting home a rebound.
L’Esperance scored his first collegiate goal at 9:33 of the second by dangling Ferris State’s Jason Binkley and going backhand to forehand and around Motte.
Fewer than five minutes later, Kero gave MTU a 4-0 lead with a shorthanded goal that slipped through Motte’s five-hole.
“We’ve had a few weekends together so we’re starting to get more comfortable,” Kero said of his line. “We’re just trying to do what we can do.”
Ferris fought back with two goals, one on the power play and the other fewer than two minutes into the third.
Junior defenseman Brandon Anselmini deflected Ryan Lowney’s shot from the point with the man advantage to give Ferris its first goal in GLI history. To open the third, defenseman Simon Denis scored his first goal of the season off a shot from the right hashmark of the right faceoff circle that squeezed through Phillips’ shoulder and the post to make it 4-2.
The second half of Michigan Tech’s season resumes on Jan. 2 at Wisconsin, while Ferris State travels to Alaska on the same day to start a weekend set.