Bulldog Hockey Rolls to 6-0 Win Over Northern Michigan in Final Home Game of 2025-26

Postgame Highlights 
Postgame Interview - Coach Riley 
Postgame Interview - Tyler Schleppe 
Postgame Interview - Gavin Best 

Big Rapids, Mich. – The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team dominated Northern Michigan University Saturday (Feb. 14) night for a 6-0 victory in the Bulldogs' final home game of the 2025-26 season.

Ferris State took five points in the series against Northern Michigan after a shootout win Friday (Feb. 13) night and leads NMU by six points in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) standings for eighth place.

The Bulldogs (6-25-1, 5-18-1 CCHA) got multi-point performances from Tyler Schleppe, Carter Rapalje, Caden Brown, Gavin Best, Christopher Lie and Jacob Badal in the game. Martin Lundberg earned his second career shutout and made 25 saves, giving him his fourth victory of the season.

Brown put the Bulldogs up 1-0 at 6:03 in the first period. Nic Belpedio passed across the point to Lie for a shot that NMU goaltender William Gramme saved. The rebound bounced to Brown who finished the shot for his fourth goal this season. Lie got his team-leading 14^th assist and Belpedio got his fourth.

Schleppe put FSU up 2-0 with his first career short-handed goal at 10:24 in the second period. Rapalje tipped a pass to Best in the neutral zone who found Schleppe in the slot for a shot that beat Gramme. Schleppe got his third goal of the weekend and fourth of the season while Best collected his 10^th helper and Rapalje got his seventh.

Rapalje scored his ninth goal of the year at 11:40 on the power play. Brown passed from the right wall to Lie at the center point who found Rapalje in the left circle for a one-time shot and a goal. Lie's second assist of the game was his third of the series and 15^th of the year and Brown got his seventh helper of the season.

Schleppe scored his fifth goal of the year at 5:43 in the third period. Best skated with the puck behind the net and found Trevor Taulien at the point for a shot that Schleppe redirected passed Gramme. Taulien got his fourth assist and Best collected his 11^th.

Tanner Rowe scored his first goal as a Bulldog at 7:49. Badal fired the puck around the wall for Schleppe in the right corner who touched a pass to Rowe in the slot for the finish. Schleppe earned his second career three-point game with his ninth assist of the year on the play and Badal got his first helper of the season.

Rapalje capped off the scoring for FSU at 15:34. His third point of the game came on a two-on-one rush where Badal found him for the shot and score. Rapalje's 10^th goal of the season put FSU up 6-0, while Badal got his second assist.

For the game, Ferris State finished with 41 shots on goal, 17 blocked shots and 37 faceoff wins. The Wildcats had 25 shots on goal, seven blocked shots and 25 faceoff wins. The Bulldogs were 1-7 on the power play and 7-7 on the penalty kill.

Individually, Schleppe and Brown each extended their point streaks to five games while Lie made it points in four straight. Rapalje led the team with seven shots on goal and Taulien finished with a game-high four blocked shots. Josh Zary led the team with 12 faceoff wins.

The Bulldogs tied a season-high with six goals on senior night. Prior to the game, FSU honored its 13 seniors – Valtteri Piironen, Xavier Jean-Louis, Connor McGrath, Schleppe, Belpedio, Brown, Zary, Max Dukovac, Max Itagaki, Riley Wallack, John Lundy, Badal and Best.

Ferris State is off next weekend and will play its final regular season games in two weeks at Lake Superior State University. The games will be played on Thursday (Feb. 26) and Friday (Feb. 27) with puck drop scheduled for 7:07 p.m. (ET) both nights.