RedHawks fall to Ferris State in shootout

Bulldogs score tying goal with 23.3 seconds left in regulation.

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By John Bombatch, Staff Writer 2:50 AM Saturday, November 14, 2009

OXFORD — About two dozen Ferris State fans could be heard cheering Friday night, Nov. 13, as the game between their Bulldogs and the nation’s top-ranked Miami RedHawks came to a jarring conclusion.

The tiny school out of Big Rapids, Mich., played Miami to a 2-2 tie in regulation, then beat the RedHawks 1-0 in the shootout.

Miami defenseman Joe Hartman said coach Enrico Blasi warned the team about Ferris State (7-3-1), a team which is unbeaten against Miami (8-1-2) in its last five tries. The Bulldogs are 4-0-1 in that span.

“Coach had talked to us about them all week, and told us to be ready for a challenge,” Hartman said. “So we knew what was coming. We just didn’t finish when we needed to, and it cost us.”

Hartman scored Miami’s first goal of the contest in the second period.

After Curtis McKenzie scored off assists by Tommy Wingels and Chris Wideman with just over four minutes to go in the game, Miami appeared to be on its way to its fifth straight win.

But Ferris State’s Blair Riley scored off an assist by Cody Chupp from the right side with just 23.3 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 2-2.

When neither team could muster a score in the final ticks of regulation, or in the 5-minute overtime period, a shootout was needed.

On the Bulldogs’ first attempt, Zach Redmond lofted a shot over Miami goaltender Cody Reichard’s left shoulder for the go-ahead goal.

Neither team could manage another score the rest of the way — Carter Camper, Andy Miele and Wingels missed for Miami — and Ferris State came away with the shootout win.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” Blasi said. “They force you into playing a very non-up-tempo game. I thought our guys, for the most part, played a good game, but we got frustrated for sure. We’ve got to be better with our execution.”

The teams meet again at 7:05 p.m. today at Steve Cady Arena.

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