Michigan
15-5-120-7-1 CCH
Ferris State
9-11-216-12-2 CCH
Michigan Streak Ends in Home Loss to Ferris State
2/5/2000 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
Ferris State's Chris Kuntz tied the game just over two minutes into the final period when a shot from Scott Lewis hit Kuntz and deflected over Josh Blackburn's (Choctaw, Okla.) left shoulder. The Bulldogs (16-12-2, 9-11-2 CCHA) then took the lead at the 9:28 mark when Brian McCullough slapped a rebound past Blackburn. McCullough added an empty-net goal with 11 seconds remaining in the game to close out the scoring.
Michigan (20-7-1, 15-5-1 CCHA) opened the scoring late in the first period when Scott Matzka (Port Huron, Mich.) notched his sixth goal of the season. Sean Peach's (Langley, B.C.) shot from between the circles was deflected by Bulldog captain Gary Ricciardi to Matzka, who slid the puck under goalie Vince Owen giving the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
Michigan went up 2-0 midway through the second period on a power-play goal from Andy Hilbert (Howell, Mich). Mike Comrie (Edmonton, Alberta) skated into the Bulldog zone and around McCullough before dropping a pass to Hilbert in the slot, and Hilbert who beat Owen to extend his consecutive-game scoring streak to nine games (10 goals, four assists).
Ferris State's Rob Lightfoot got the Bulldogs on the board when he flipped a loose puck past Blackburn with five minutes to go in the second.
Michigan's Blackburn made 13 saves on the night while suffering his first loss of the season (7-1-1), while Owen made 31 saves for the Bulldogs.
The last time Michigan took a lead into the final period and lost the game was Feb. 11, 1995, at Illinois-Chicago, where the Wolverines led 4-3 after two periods and lost the game 5-4 in overtime.
Next weekend the Wolverines host Western Michigan University Friday and Saturday (Feb. 11-12) at Yost Ice Arena. Friday's contest starts at 7:35 p.m., while Saturday's opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m. Friday's game will be televised live on FOX Sports Net Detroit.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Red Berenson
On the loss ... "I thought that [Ferris State's] second period was a good period, even though we may have outshot them. I thought that they had some good chances in the second period, while we were sluggish in our own zone and made some mistakes with the puck. That's the period when they got their life. They got the breaks tonight, and we didn't get them. Their goalie (Vince Owen) played well. You have to give them marks -- they stayed in the game in the third period."
On falling to Ferris State ... "It's not like this is a big upset. It looks like a big upset in the standings, but Ferris State has matched up well against Michigan."
On the teams play ... "There were times we played well, and times we didn't play well. There were times we gave the puck away, times we got beat to the front of the net. You're going to make mistakes in a game, but tonight we weren't solid from start to finish. We didnt have a strong team game. There were parts of our penalty killing that let us down, parts of our power play that let us down, parts of our offensive game that we didn't capitalize on and parts of our defensive game let us down. We've really been in a funk the last two weeks, and it's been like pulling teeth."
On the three injuries ... "We lost (Geoff) Koch, (Josh) Langfeld and (Mark) Kosick. Well, that's a third of our goals. Tonight, they might have made a difference in the game. I can't blame that because we're still in the game, and we should have been able to win that game."
Senior Captain Sean Peach
On missed opportunities ... "We had our chances to score early on, and we just haven't been able to bury teams. We're not scoring; we have to be able to play defense."
On bad breaks in the game ... "That's how hockey goes sometimes. The team that plays the best doesn't always win, and the other team gets the bounces. Tonight, you could say that the bounces went their way a little more than for us."
Ferris State Head Coach Bob Daniels
On the win tonight ... "It's really big. The last few weeks, we've really struggled. Last night, with a two-goal lead and losing that, it seemed like our season was slipping away from us. It's really a big win from that standpoint. It's a good character-builder type of win for us."
On the difference between last night and tonight ... "I really felt last night that we were the better team, and we had a majority of the scoring chances. (Josh) Blackburn was the difference last night. Tonight, I felt that Michigan had the better of the chances -- maybe they deserved this game this game a little more tonight than they did last night -- but Vince Owen came up with the big saves. I thought our goaltending was outstanding tonight."
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
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