Romer scored his third of the season for Wildcats
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The NMU men’s hockey team dropped a 2-1 decision to the Ferris State Bulldogs on Saturday Night.
The Wildcats (1-14-1, 0-9-1) lone goal scorer on the night was Matthew Romer, scoring his third of the season with assists from Jakub Lewandowski and Danny Ciccarello.
The ‘Cats were unable to break through on the power play, going 0/5 on the evening while killing three of the four penalties assessed.
The ‘Cats continue CCHA play with a trip to Bowling Green next weekend for a clash against the Falcons.
Game Recap
The Wildcats garnered the first grade-A scoring chance of the evening early into the first period off a two-on-one rush. Browne wheeled down the left wing side, slid a pass through the defender to Michaelis on the back post, but West went post-to-post to make the sprawling save.
The Bulldogs flipped a puck out of its defensive zone, appearing to have sprung a Bulldog onto a breakaway. Govedaris made a great play defensive play to reach around the attacker and knock the puck off his stick as he was winding up to shoot, nullifying the one-on-one chance.
The Bulldogs were awarded a power play late into the frame. In one of the stranger sequences of events, the Bulldogs scored but went undetected by the officials, and play resumed for another 30 seconds. In that frame, NMU had a delayed penalty call. Per the NCAA rulebook, if penalties occur prior to or after the undetected goal, the penalties will still be enforced. So the clock was reset to 30 seconds prior, the Bulldogs had a 1-0 lead, and NMU had another penalty to kill, which they did so successfully.
After killing two penalties and about halfway through the second period, Romer made a slick pass from the left sideboard to a wide-open Daul walking in from the right point. Grayden stepped into a one-timer from atop the circle, but West went side-to-side to make the save.
The Bulldogs scored late in the period off a quick rush up the ice. A backhander from the bottom of the left circle was handled by Ouellette, but Doell was crashing the net and made a wack at Ouellette’s equipment. The puck then squirted loose, landed behing Ryan, and trickled over the goal line.
The ‘Cats struck back as time was expiring, cutting the Bulldog lead to one with 30 seconds left before the second intermission. Ciccarello held off a pair of Bulldog defenders along the left boards before dropping a pass to Lewandowski. Jakub drove to the post, drawing a defender to him, before slipping a pass to Romer on the back post and made no mistake in getting the Wildcats on the board.
The ‘Cats were whistled for a penalty shortly into the final period. The ‘Cats successfully killed the infraction thanks to a pair of glove saves where Ouellette was forced to flash the leather, one off a redirect from in tight and another from a one-timer from the slot.
Govedaris had a grade-A scoring chance with just over six minutes remaining. Wolfgang turned on the jets and beat a defender wide down the left hand side. Govedaris made a cut and drove to the net, freezing the netminder and looking at a wide open net, but the puck just rolled off his stick.
Seconds later after Wolfgang’s opportunity, a Ferris forward skated in on a breakaway. He fired a shot from the right hash marks, but Ouellette closed the five-hole and kept his team within one.
The ‘Cats got a power play opportunity with four minutes remaining, and it started with a real quality chance. Slipec let go a one-timer from the right circle, but West was able to make the save and corral the rebound. That was the only shot on the chance, and the ‘Cats had two minutes to tie the game.
The Wildcats generated chances to tie, but were unable to convert with the net empty, and the game ended 2-1.
