HOUGHTON, Mich. — After a strong game Friday that included a game-winning goal in overtime, No. 18 Michigan Tech played even better on Saturday, especially in the third period.
However, Andrew Dorantes pounced on a rebound with 1:21 left in regulation to lift Ferris State to a 3-2 victory Saturday night at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
Dorantes had a big weekend for the Bulldogs, striking in both games. His goal Saturday was the perfect cap to a resilient night by the visitors.
Darren Smith made 36 saves for the Bulldogs. He came up huge in the final frame, stopping 16 Huskies’ shots.
“We had the puck luck tonight [and] they had the puck luck last night,” said Bulldogs assistant coach Drew Famulak. “Obviously, our goalie played well. That’s the second time on a Saturday night and given us a chance to win. [I am] just very proud of our guys and how they played tonight.”
On the winning tally, Brandon Anselmini fired a long shot on goal that MTU goalie Jamie Phillips stopped. The Huskies goaltender laid out on his back trying to keep Dorantes from getting to the rebound, but the young forward took two swings at the puck to knock it in.
The Bulldogs (3-3-2 overall, 2-2-0 WCHA) got off to a strong start with a pass out front to captain Kyle Schempp. Phillips was ready and made the save.
The Huskies’ Reid Sturos was whistled for slashing when he launched a Bulldogs defender’s stick high into the air.
“I was pleased with the effort of our team tonight,” said Huskies coach Mel Pearson. “We came out well. We played with a lot more jump. We created more scoring opportunities than we did last night. I just thought we had an all around better game tonight. Unfortunately the scoreboard doesn’t indicate that.”
The Bulldogs were able to make the Huskies pay on the advantage as Mitch Maloney found Kenny Babinski in the high slot. Babinski roofed a shot over the left shoulder of Phillips.
A minute later, Joel L’Esperance had a golden opportunity for the Huskies as he flew up the ice and received a long flip pass. Skating in along, his shot sailed wide. The puck eventually made it out to Tyler Heinonen, who fired a shot stopped by Smith.
Sturos was whistled for a second penalty 7:29 in, but this time the Huskies killed it off.
The Huskies (3-3-0 overall, 3-3-0 WCHA) nearly found the back of the net with eight minutes left in the period as Jake Lucchini cut to the net. He fired a shot, got his own rebound, but neither found the back of the net.
Sturos made up for his penalties with a power play goal at 16:02. Mark Auk fed the puck to his defense partner, Matt Roy, who fired a shot off the back boards behind Smith. The puck kicked out the other side to Sturos, who had a wide-open net.
“I took a couple of bad penalties in the first and they scored on one,” said Sturos. “It was nice to get it back there on the power play.”
The Bulldogs started the second period much as they had the first with the puck in the Huskies’ zone right off the opening faceoff. Schempp took a pass and fired a shot on goal just 30 seconds in. Off the next faceoff, Babinski had a chance in front that beat Phillips, but not Lucchini, who blocked it.
The Huskies took the the lead at 4:29 when center Mason Blacklock found Max Vallis in the slot. Vallis threw a backhand shot on net and somehow it snuck past Smith for the tally.
The teams traded control of the puck and scoring chances, but neither had a Grade A chance.
The Bulldogs evened the game when Simon Denis took a cross-ice pass from Zach Szajner. With Sean O’Roarke open in front, Denis fired a wrist shot towards his forward. The puck got past O’Roarke and past Phillips for the goal at 16:16.
“We’ve been looking for more offense from our defense,” said Famulak. “We’ve got some skill back there and it just starting to come through right now.”
The Huskies had 1:23 of a five-on-three advantage at the end of the middle frame, but were able to get pucks to Smith other than a shot from Vallis as they had multiple shots blocked in the high slot area.
The Huskies came out flying in the third period and took control of the game everywhere but on the scoreboard.
Sturos took a cross-ice pass from Baltus and fired a one-timer that was stopped in the opening seconds. Sturos had another chance shortly after as a rebound kicked right to him. He beat Smith, but not the post.
Three and a half minutes in, Blacklock had a shot that got through Smith, but just missed the far post. Three minutes later, Vallis took a cross-ice pass and wired a shot, but Smith made the save.
With Shane Hanna off for boarding, the Bulldogs had a couple of good scoring chances. The best pair came first from Gerald Mayhew. The rebound kicked to Schempp, but Phillips sprawled out to make the save.
Phillips made 22 saves in the loss.
With 7:48 remaining, Sturos crashed the net, got a pass from Baltus, but was stopped on the chance.
