Ferris State senior Casey Haines tipped in a Matt Case shot for the overtime winner against the Ohio State University Buckeyes Saturday night in Big Rapids.
The goal capped off a furious Bulldogs’ comeback that saw them overcome a three-goal deficit in the third period, tying the game on a Blair Riley goal with just 51 seconds to play.
There were also two plays subjected to video review in the third period. The first was an Ohio State goal that was determined to have been hit with a high stick and was overturned after a video review.
Buckeyes coach John Markell was not happy with the call,
“How do you call a high stick from an overhead camera? The call on the ice was a goal. They have to have conclusive evidence from above to call it not a goal then, and I want to see it. I haven’t seen it, yet.”
The second was Riley’s tying goal. The goal was upheld after a video review that was presumably to check whether or not a Bulldogs’ player was in the crease at the time the goal was scored.
The Buckeyes controlled play for the first two periods before the Bulldogs made their comeback.
“We basically drifted through two periods of hockey,” said Ferris State coach Bob Daniels. “Our fans really lifted us out of our funk. We scored to make it 5-3 and the fans carried us the rest of the way. The student section deserves a big assist tonight.”
Two first period goals from Taylor Stefishen and Sergio Somma lifted the Buckeyes to an early lead. Both teams had chances and despite being outshot 13-9 in the frame, Ohio State entered the locker room at the first intermission with the advantage.
Somma added his second goal of the night three minutes into the second period to give the Buckeyes their first three-goal lead of the night. A pass from Peter Boyd left Somma in perfect position to slip a wrist shot past starting goalie Pat Nagle. Daniels replaced Nagle with sophomore Taylor Nelson following the play.
“That was more of signal to the guys that it was knock on them, not Nagle,” said Daniels. “I wanted to get under their skin a bit and change the pace up.”
That nudge may have been just what the Bulldogs needed. Justin Menke got Ferris State on the board five minutes later at the 8:34 mark of the second when he was the lucky recipient of a perfect Matthew Kirzinger pass.
The Buckeyes weren’t done however. Zac Dalpe got his first of the night at the 9:55 mark. Somma forced a Bulldogs’ turnover behind Nelson and fed the puck to Dalpe in the left circle. A quick shot from the sophomore slid by Nelson on the short side.
Kirzinger got his second point of the night with an extra attacker goal at the 12:31 mark of the second. With Nelson off the ice for a delayed Ohio State penalty, defensemen Matt Case and Brett Wysopal worked the puck up high, allowing Kirzinger to get ready for a one-timer attempt in the left circle. Case slid the puck down from the right point, and the freshman put their work to good use.
In the third period, Dalpe scooped up a Nelson rebound to improve the Buckeyes lead to three once again, but after that it was all Ferris State. The Bulldogs got the next four goals to take the weekend sweep.
Cody Chupp netted his first of the night on a power play when Haines lost control of the puck in the slot and it rolled to the senior captain’s stick. Buckeyes’ goalie Cal Heeter was unable to adjust in time and the shot sailed over his left shoulder.
Chupp’s second goal came when Zach Redmond got the puck in deep with extra effort in a battle along the boards and Chupp was again able to beat Heeter to make the score 5-4.
Ohio State had their chances early in the overtime period, but Somma took an untimely cross-checking penalty after a shot to Chupp’s head with 28 seconds to play. The Bulldogs drew the faceoff back to Wysopal. He slid a pass to Case that was one-timed on net and Haines was able to get the deflection right in front of Heeter for the winner.
The Bulldogs (9-3-2, 4-2-2-2 CCHA) have next weekend off while the Buckeyes (5-8-1, 4-5-1-1 CCHA) will travel to Grand Forks, N.D. for the Subway Holiday Classic where.
