Bemidji State was on the receiving end of a Bulldog onslaught from start to finish, resulting in a 7-0 victory for Ferris State.
“The score was not indicative of how the game was played,” Bulldog head coach Bob Daniels said. “The shots on goal were very close until the end and Bemidji had us pinned in our own zone at certain parts of the game.”
The first period was the most evenly played. Bemidji State goaltender Dannie Morgan stopped excellent opportunities created by the Bulldog offense. All it took was one power play for the Bulldogs to get on the board. Troy Milam deflected a shot by Phil Lewandowski past Morgan for a 1-0 lead at 5:07.
Bemidji came out firing on all cylinders in an attempt to tie the game in the second. Brown stood tall in net to keep the Beavers off the scoreboard. Rob Collins and Chris Kunitz connected on a two-on-one opportunity to make it 2-0 at 3:27.
“I thought at that point that was the goal that gave our team the most confidence,” said Daniels. “Before that, Bemidji scores and it is a 1-1 game and anything can happen.”
A hungry Bulldog offense never looked back after that second goal. Brett Smith collected a rebound off the doorstep and put it past Morgan at 13:28 to make it 3-0. Derek Nesbitt added a goal of his own from a beautiful pass by Derrick McIver and Jeff Legue at 14:36 to make it 4-0.
The third period brought only more goals for the Bulldogs and more headaches for the Beavers. Phil Meyer deflected a shot from Kristian Schroder between the legs of Morgan at 4:30 to make it 5-0. McIver scored at 8:55 with a slapshot that went off Morgan’s pads to make it 6-0. Both teams put in their respective backup goalies at that time.
Lewandowski had a breakaway goal to round out the 7-0 score at 9:24. Bulldog goaltender Matt Swanson preserved the shutout for the final 12 minutes of the game.
Ferris State will faceoff against Bemidji State again on Saturday night.
