During Saturday’s 3-3 tie between the Ferris State Bulldogs and the Ohio State Buckeyes, there were a grand total of 24 minor penalties called, which resulted in a total of 16 different power plays.
One such whistle may have decided the game. With the game tied at three with 11:21 remaining in regulation, Buckeyes’ sophomore defenseman Mike Folkes appeared to score his first career goal, but the goal was waived off due to a goaltender interference call on Ohio State’s Peter Boyd. Ohio State coach John Markell did not see the call directly, but he was not pleased with the officiating following Saturday’s game.
“It didn’t surprise me they would call something like that; that is the way the calls were going,” Markell said. “It seemed to be some crazy calls that interrupted the flow of the game I thought.”
“That was pretty phantom,” Buckeyes’ forward Zac Dalpe said of Boyd’s penalty. “Obviously the ref called it for a reason. It is tough not to get mad at that, but they are just doing their jobs, too.”
Ohio State’s Sergio Somma committed a checking-from-behind in the final two minutes of regulation, which struck Markell as a call that was not consistent with how the officials were calling the game late.
“Sergio Somma took the two minute penalty and in overtime, our guy got cracked in the back the same way,” Markell said. “In fact, (the Ferris State player) jumped in the air. That was just one circumstance; there were probably things the other way. But just be consistent, that is all we ask.”
The 3-3 score held up though the end of the third period and overtime, despite both teams having a pair of power plays each.
Ferris State won the postgame shootout, 2-1, in four rounds, with notches from Cody Chupp and Chad Billins for the extra conference point. Both Chupp and Billins went low on Carlson, with Chupp going under his stick side pad and Billins going through Carlson’s five-hole. John Albert was the Buckeyes’ lone shootout goal scorer.
“It is not a win; (however) we will take the two points,” Bulldogs’ forward Blair Riley said. “Obviously, the way the standings are set up right now, that is a huge two points for us. For the national rankings, we wanted two wins obviously, and tonight wanted to bounce back and get at least one.”
Ohio State won game one of the two-game series 5-3 on Friday night. The Bulldogs outshot the Buckeyes 49-30 in Friday’s game.
Ohio State outshot Ferris State in Saturday night’s rematch 33-24. Both teams switched goaltenders from Friday night. Dustin Carlson for Ohio State stopped 21-of-24 with his counterpart Taylor Nelson from Ferris State having 30 saves on 33 shots against.
“I would say the quality of opportunities and our chances that we didn’t actually get shots off were greater tonight,” Ferris State coach Bob Daniels said.
Ferris State scored seven seconds into their first power play of the game 15:07 into the game when Bulldogs’ defenseman Matt Case scored his fourth of the season. The shot was a hard slap shot from the blue line that ricocheted off the skate of Buckeyes’ defenseman Sean Duddy.
Ohio State had a golden opportunity late in the first period, as they had a five-on-three power play for a total of 91 seconds. Dalpe beat Nelson on his glove side and the puck went off the pipe 23 seconds into the five-on-three. The goal judge’s lamp was turned on, but the referees reviewed the goal on video to determine the puck never crossed the goal line.
Ferris State gained a 2-0 lead 2:59 into the second when Aaron Lewicki scored on a wraparound on Carlson’s stick side. The Buckeyes had the answer. C.J. Severyn and Dalpe scored just 40 seconds apart from each other at 5:03 and 5:43 of the second respectively to tie the game at two.
Riley scored 12:02 into the third on a shot from the left circle to beat Carlson, who was down on the ice.
“At that moment, when you’re on the road and you have a two-goal lead that evaporated, and now it is 2-2, the momentum is completely in (the Buckeyes’) favor),” Daniels said. “We’re back on heels and for him to score that goal on the power play, it certainly was a momentum shift for us.”
“We had some pretty sustained pressure on the power play and we made a couple shots that were blocked that were good scoring opportunities,” Riley said.
Ohio State once again answered. Kyle Reed tied the game at three 3:55 into the third when he redirected a centering pass from Taylor Stefishen to score the Buckeyes’ only power-play goal of the game. Ohio State went one-of-nine for the game on the man-advantage; the Bulldogs went two-of-seven.
Ohio State (11-13-2, 9-9-2-1) drops to eighth in the conference, but only two points behind fourth place Notre Dame and Lake Superior State. Ohio State has been unbeaten in five in their last six. Ferris State (17-8-3, 11-6-3-3) is just two points behind second place Michigan State, who has more games played than the Bulldogs. Ferris State is winless of five of their last six.
