Ferris State Comeback Falls Short in Overtime as Bulldogs Take Four Points in Series Against Beavers

Bemidji, Minn. – The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team trailed Bemidji State University by two goals early in the third period but came back to force overtime Saturday (Feb. 7) at the Sanford Center in Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) play.

The Bulldogs (5-25-0, 4-18-0 CCHA) ended up falling 4-3 in overtime, but earned a point in the CCHA standings and took four-of-six points in the series against the Beavers (11-16-3, 9-10-3 CCHA) after a 6-3 win Friday night.

Sophomore goaltender Martin Lundberg tied his career high with 30 saves in the loss Saturday. Max Itagaki scored his second goal of the weekend to extend his point streak to five games, Caden Brown and Tyler Schleppe extended their point streaks to three games, Josh Zary had a two-point (1-1-2) performance and Carter Rapalje scored for the third time in the series.

BSU scored the first goal of the game at 6:15 with a power play goal from Oliver Peer. Peer's 16^th of the season came from Connor McLennon and Hudson Thornton.

Zary scored his nation-leading 31^st career power play goal at 11:19. Brown skated into the left circle and passed back to Christopher Lie at the point who took a shot that Zary redirected past BSU goaltender Max Hildebrand. It was Zary's sixth power play goal this year and 10^th goal overall. Brown got his fifth assist, extending his point streak to three games. Lie also earned his team-leading 12^th assist of the season.

Peer scored his third goal of the weekend at 7:00 in the second period. Kasper Magnussen assisted as the Beavers took a 2-1 lead.

Jack Mesic was booked for an interference call at 16:07 and then Trevor Taulien took a five-minute major for cross checking at 17:36, but the Bulldogs killed off 31 seconds of five-on-three and the first 2:24 of Taulien's major to get to the second intermission with BSU leading 2-1.

The Beavers started the third period with 2:36 on the power play, and they capitalized with a goal from Reilly Funk at 2:10. Vince Corcoran and Kirklan Irey assisted.

Itagaki scored his sixth goal of the season and second of the weekend at 9:33. Schleppe won an offensive zone faceoff back to Jack Mesic at the point who took a shot that Itagaki redirected past Hildebrand. Itagaki now has points in five straight games and 10 of his last 11. Mesic got his sixth assist of the year and Schleppe got his eighth, second of the series, and he has points in his last three games.

Rapalje tied the game with his third goal of the series and eighth of the season at 19:05. FSU pulled Lundberg for the extra attacker and Rapalje found the game-tying goal to force overtime. Taulien slapped the puck on the doorstep and it bounced to Zary who passed across to Rapalje for the goal. Taulien got his third assist of the year and Zary earned his seventh.

Vincent Labelle won the game for Bemidji State 1:12 into overtime with Peer and Thornton assisting.

For the game, the Bulldogs were 1-3 on the power play and 3-5 on the penalty kill. FSU was outshot by BSU 34-21 and blocked 25 shots compared to 14 for the Beavers. The Bulldogs won 31 faceoffs to Bemidji's 29.

Individually, Valtteri Piironen blocked six shots while Mesic, Taulien and Gavin Best each blocked three. Tanner Rowe and Rapalje led the team with three shots on goal and Zary won a team-high 11 faceoffs.

The Bulldogs will play their final two home games next weekend against Northern Michigan. Friday's game is scheduled for a 7:07 p.m. (ET) puck drop with pregame coverage beginning on Sunny 97.3 FM at 6:30 p.m. (ET). Fans can stream the game live via pay-per-view on Midco Sports Plus.