Ferris State Hockey Falls to Miami (Ohio) in Season Opener in Oxford

Game Highlights 

Oxford, Ohio – The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team suffered a 6-4 setback in its season opener Friday (Oct. 3) against Miami University (Ohio) at the Goggin Ice Center.

The Bulldogs (0-1-0) got multiple points from Connor McGrath, Xavier Jean-Louis and Christopher Lie in the game. Noah Rupprecht made the start between the pipes and saved 35 shots while allowing five goals.

Miami (Ohio) scored at 7:30 in the first period to give the RedHawks a 1-0 lead. Michael Quinn scored on the power play while Casper Nassen and Ryan Smith assisted.

FSU answered with back-to-back goals and took a 2-1 lead. First, Josh Zary scored his nation-leading 26th career power play goal at 10:24 to tie the game. McGrath took a shot that Miami goaltender Matteo Drobac saved, but the rebound was loose and Zary flipped it into the net. McGrath and Lie each assisted for their first point of the season.

Later, at 13:17, Riley Wallack won a faceoff in the offensive zone straight to Jean-Louis at the left point. Jean-Louis fired a shot through traffic that lit the lamp for his first goal of 2025-26. Wallack collected his first point as a Bulldog with the assist.

Matteo Giampa tied the game 2-2 with a goal at 14:32. He got behind the Bulldog defense and beat Rupprecht in a one-on-one situation for the goal. Vladislav Lukashevic and Ilia Morozov assisted.

FSU scored the only goal in period two at 7:42 courtesy of McGrath. Jack Mesic took a shot from the point that McGrath tipped and redirected into the top corner. Jean-Louis earned an assist for his second point of the night while Mesic got his first point this year. McGrath also picked up his second point of the game.

The RedHawks scored three unanswered goals in the third period. Nassen scored at 5:43 to tie the game with Lukashevic and Doug Grimes assisting.

Miami then got a goal from Justin Stupka at 9:12. Grimes and Michael Phelan assisted. The RedHawks capped off their run with a power play goal from Giampa at 16:23 that put them up 5-3. Kocha Delica and Ryder Thompson assisted.

FSU pulled back within one goal at 16:59 with Emerson Goode's first goal of the season. He took a pass from Tanner Rowe down the right-wing side and ripped a backhanded shot from the circle past Drobac for the goal. Rowe collected his first career assist and Lie got his second helper of the game. It was Lie's first career multi-point game.

The Bulldogs trailed 5-4 and pulled Rupprecht for the extra attacker. A shot came through that Zary nearly tipped, but instead was deflected to the RedHawks at center ice and Bradley Walker scored the empty-netter to seal a victory for Miami (Ohio). Maximilion Helgeson and Ethan Hay assisted.

For the game, FSU had 36 shots on goal, blocked 18 shots, went 1-5 on the power play and 4-6 on the penalty kill. The Bulldogs dominated on faceoffs, winning 50-75 draws (66.7%). The RedHawks had 41 shots on goal and 17 blocked shots.

Individually, Lie, Jean-Louis and McGrath each had multi-point performances. McGrath finished with a game-high seven shots on goal. Gavin Best was second on the squad with six. Mesic led the team with five blocked shots and Wallack, Jack Silich and Nic Belpedio each had two. Tyler Schleppe won 15-24 draws, Wallack won 15-22 and Zary won 10-14. Jean-Louis finished +3 while Belpedio was +2.

The Bulldogs will wrap up their series with the RedHawks Saturday (Oct. 4) at 6:05 p.m. (ET). Pregame coverage will begin on Sunny 97.3 FM at approximately 5:30 p.m. (ET), or after the conclusion of coverage from Ferris State Football's game against Roosevelt.