CANTON, N.Y. – A tight game between the Ferris State Bulldogs and the St. Lawrence Saints ended in a 3-2 overtime victory for FSU on Friday. Chad McDonald scored the game-winner for the visitors just 1:39 into overtime.
The story of the game was first year Saints goalie Kyle Hayton, who stopped 44 of 47 shots in the loss, his third straight start to begin the season.
The Saints got on the board first with a goal from assistant captain Brian Ward just 55 seconds into the game. The assist went to Drew Smolcysnki.
The goalies then dominated the game for the next 30 minutes before Gerald Mayhew tied the game for Ferris State by squeaking a rebound past Hayton, who had made the original save by lunging across the crease to stop a one-timer.
Were it not for Hayton and his Ferris State counterpart, C.J. Motte, there easily could have been five goals. Ferris State coach Bob Daniels had nothing but praise for both goaltenders.
“I thought both goalies played exceptionally well tonight,” Daniels said.
Ferris State took the lead on a goal by Matt Robertson at 9:31 of the third, but with under five minutes remaining, Tommy Thompson fired a rebound past Motte to even the game for St. Lawrence.
“The puck was just sitting out front for me; it was one of the easiest goals I’ve ever scored,” said Thompson.
As the result of a Chris Martin penalty with just over a minute remaining in regulation, the Saints began the extra period down a man. Ferris State was unable to capitalize on the power play, but solved Hayton at 1:39 when McDonald fired a shot from the faceoff dot that fit in between Hayton’s glove and the post.
Daniels was happy with the effort of his Bulldogs.
“This was a really good game for us,” he said. “We find these games (against St. Lawrence) to be really quality hockey games.”
McDonald, whose goal gave Ferris State the victory, was happy to take a win from SLU.
“We came in here with a chip on our shoulder. St. Lawrence came into our barn last year and beat us.”
St. Lawrence coach Greg Carvel was ambivalent about the final score, but thought his team could have played better, with the exception of Hayton.
“If we have to be a team that wins late, that’s what we’ll be.”
The Saints and Bulldogs are back in action tomorrow night, with the final of the two-game series at Appleton Arena. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m.
