BIG RAPIDS, Mich — Four goals in a first period “blizzard” were enough for the Ferris State Bulldogs to earn a weekend sweep over the Bemidji State Beavers with a 5-3 win.
“It was a snowstorm, no a blizzard, in the first period,” said Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore. “We did a lot of spectating and we dug a huge hole for ourselves.”
Bemidji State was outshot by Ferris State, 18-2, in the opening frame. Despite the offensive onslaught, Ferris State once again showed off a balanced attack with goals from the defense, forwards, and freshmen.
Ferris State’s first period scoring started with freshman Gerald Mayhew’s first career goal. Mayhew tapped a rebound past Andrew Walsh.
“It felt good,” said Mayhew of his first goal. “I had a lot of chances last night [that didn’t go in].”
The Bulldogs proceeded to tack on three more goals from defensemen before the period ended.
Zach Dorer added his first of the year with a shot from the left point and Scott Czarnowczan put up two more on identical plays.
“They were the same play,” said Czarnowczan. “He [Jason Binkley] shot and the puck found my stick and I slid them home.”
Despite a four-goal deficit, the Beavers were not out of the game. Aided by a multitude of power plays, they staged a comeback in the second period.
“We came out really well in the first,” said Ferris State coach Bob Daniels. “Then, we lost a bit of focus and what that resulted in was not necessarily poor play, but penalties.”
Bemidji State made quick use of the man advantage to get some wind back in its sails.
“We’ve had four games in a row where we’ve had slow starts,” said Serratore. “It was good to see the guys still had some fight left in them. We challenged them between the first and second period and were happy with how well they fought back.”
The Beavers continued to take advantage of power plays and a choppy second period to add two more goals and pull within one late in the middle frame.
“It’s nice being on the power play, ours was dialed in; it got Ferris out of rhythm as well,” said Serratore of the second period’s pace.
Daniels agreed, saying, “It was really tough getting in a flow. I give the guys a lot of credit for stepping up and re-engaging in the game.”
The second period resurgence was not enough for the Beavers, as Andy Huff tacked on one more Bulldogs goal late in the frame to put the game out of reach.
Next weekend, Ferris State (7-2-0, 4-0-0 WCHA) continues a long homestand with a two-game WCHA conference series against longtime foe Bowling Green State University, while Bemidji State (3-6-1, 3-3-0 WCHA) returns home to host Alaska-Anchorage.
