Hockey falls at No. 18 Ferris State in CCHA opener 6-3
October 29, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
The Alaska Nanooks led their Central Collegiate Hockey Association opener after one period of play, but the host and 18th-ranked Ferris State Bulldogs scored four unanswered goals in the final 40 minutes to take down the Blue and Gold 6-3 in Big Rapids on Friday night.
All three of Alaska's assistant captains scored first-period goals in the contest. A pair of even-strength tallies by seniors Kaare Odegard and Andy Taranto sandwiched a power-play marker from junior Colton Beck. Senior goalie Steve Thompson turned aside 26 bulldog shots in his first loss of the season.
Odegard opened the scoring at 1:17 of the first period, capitalizing on a feed from defenseman Trevor Campbell, with a wrist shot from the point for his first career goal.
Alaska's Beck doubled the visitor's early lead with his power-play strike at 14:03. FSU's Cory Kane was serving an obstruction-tripping minor, when the Nanook junior made good on the team's first man-advantage opportunity of the contest. With a Bulldog defenseman between himself and the cage, he managed to tap in a backdoor pass from defenseman Michael Quinn. Beck's linemate and fellow junior Cody Kunyk assisted on the score.
The Bulldogs erased their deficit in the waning minutes of the opening frame, scoring back-to-back goals in 55 seconds apart to even the tally. Connor Schmidt scored unassisted with even-strength at 17:58, when he intercepted a failed break-out pass and converted by beating Thompson below his blocker. Kyle Bonis made it 2-2 at 18:53, when he cashed in on an interference penalty to the Nanooks Justin Tateson and tipped a shot fired by Jason Binkley from the left point over Thompson's left shoulder.
It looked as though the teams would skate the lockerrroms tied, but defenseman Justin Tateson was quick to make up for his transgression. He sent a pass off the end boards that caused the puck to bounce over the cage on the rebound, where Taranto connected with the puck and batted it past FSU goalie CJ Motte at 18:53. For the period the Nanooks outshot their hosts 19-8 and carried a slim one-goal lead into the first intermission.
After letting in three goals through the first 20 minutes, Motte shut the door on the Nanooks turning aside their final 24 shots, while his teammates combined to Bulldogs score four unanswered goals en route to the 6-3 triumph.
FSU's Simon Denis potted the game-tying goal at 9:35 of the second period while the teams skated four-on four and Bonis added his second power-play score of the night and the go-ahead goal 91 seconds later. Thompson stopped Bonis' first shot attempt from the left post with a pad save, but his deflection rebounded back to his attacker's stick and Bonis lifted the puck over his left pad to make it 4-3 at 11:06.
Bulldog right wing Eric Alexander made it 5-3 at 13:34 and center Cory Kane added an unassisted goal at 15:30 of the final frame to seal the 6-3 victory.
For the contest the Blue and Gold went 1-for-5 on the power play, while the home team was 2-for-3. The Nanooks outshot FSU 43-32, marking Alaska's fifth straight game outgunning their opponent as well as the most shots allowed.
The teams reconvene at Ewigleben Ice Arena on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. for the series finale.