Riley Sheahan scored his ninth goal of the season in the 5-1 loss to Ferris State.

Irish Drop 5-1 Decision At Ferris State

Feb. 11, 2012

Final Stats

Big Rapids, Mich. – Ferris State got goals from five different players and senior goaltender Taylor Nelson stopped 27-of-28 shots as the Bulldogs rolled to a 5-1 win over Notre Dame on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 2,493 at Ewigleben Arena.

Nate Milam, Chad Billins, Cory Kane, Derek Graham and Jordie Johnston scored for Ferris State while Riley Sheahan had the lone Notre Dame goal.

The Bulldogs out shot the Irish, 33-28, on the night. Steven Summerhays played the first 5:24 and gave up two goals with three saves to take the loss. Mike Johnson played the final 54:36, finishing with 25 saves in the game.

The loss, Notre Dame’s third straight, drops the Irish to 16-13-3 overall and 11-10-3-0 in the CCHA, good for 36 points. They are currently in a three-way tie for seventh place with Miami and Northern Michigan.

With the win, fifth-ranked Ferris State, ran its unbeaten streak to 12 games (9-0-3) and picked up its 20th win of the season. The Bulldogs are now 20-8-4 for the year and 14-6-4-1 in the conference good for 47 points. They extended their first-place lead in the CCHA to five points as second-place Western Michigan, dropped a 4-3 decision to Ohio State.

Ferris State got off to a quick start, scoring twice in a 51-second span early in the first period.

Milam put the Bulldogs ahead, 1-0, at 4:33 when he beat Summerhays off a face off. Center Cory Kane won a draw to the freshman right wing at the top of the right circle. Milam fired a low hard shot that beat Summerhays inside the left post for his second goal of the season.

Just 51 seconds later Billins beat Summerhays from the high slot as he fired a wrister that the sophomore goaltender couldn’t stop. The goal was Billins’ seventh of the season and came at 5:24 to make it 2-0. Kyle Bonis and Derek Graham picked up assists on the goal.

Notre Dame finally broke through on Nelson for the only time on the weekend in the Ferris goal. The senior blanked the Irish for almost four periods, before they converted on the power play at 19:54. Center Billy Maday won a face off in the left circle that Anders Lee tapped back to defenseman Stephen Johns. Johns moved the puck to Sheahan at the center point and he drove a slap shot past Nelson for his ninth goal of the season to cut the lead to 2-1 going into the first intermission.

The Irish would out shoot the Bulldogs, 12-11, in the middle period but the Bulldogs scored the lone goal when Kane scored off a deflection in front of Johnson. Billins moved the puck from the right boards to Kane in the slot. The sophomore center fired a shot at the Notre Dame goal that appeared to go off an Irish defenseman, deflecting past Johnson for Kane’s fifth goal of the season and a 3-1 lead.

In the third period, Ferris State would add two more goals. At 9:47, with the teams skating four-on-four, freshman defenseman Jason Binkley fired a shot from the left boards. Graham was stationed in front and to the left of Johnson and deflected the shot over the Irish goaltender for his fourth goal of the season to make it 4-1.

Johnston closed the scoring with a power-play goal at 11:10 for his 16th goal of the season and the Bulldogs had the 5-1 win.

The loss was the second CCHA series loss for the Irish after they dropped a pair to Western Michigan on Jan. 13-14. Since beating Minnesota at Minnesota on Jan. 7, Notre Dame has gone 3-7-0.

The Irish will look to get back on the winning track next weekend but will have to do it on the road as they travel to Oxford, Ohio for a pair of games with the Miami RedHawks on Feb. 17-18.

GAME SUMMARY                              1     2     3   -  F#5/#6 Ferris State (20-8-4/14-6-4-1)      2     1     2   -  5#9/#9 Notre Dame (16-13-3/11-10-3-0)      1     0     0   -  1

Scoring

First Period: FSU: Nate Milam 2 (Cory Kane), 4:33; FSU: Chad Billins 7 (Kyle Bonis, Derek Graham), 5:24; ND: Riley Sheahan 9 (Stephen Johns, Anders Lee), PPG, 19:54.

Penalties: ND: 5 for 10 minutes; FSU: 4 for 8 minutes.

Second Period: FSU: Kane 5 (Billins, Andy Huff), 15:25.

Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; FSU: 3 for 6 minutes.

Third Period: FSU: Graham 4 (Jason Binkley, Scott Czarnowczan), 9:47; FSU: Jordie Johnston 16 (Matthew Kirzinger, Garrett Thompson), PPG, 11:10.

Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; FSU: 3 for 6 minutes.

Shots On Goal:Notre Dame           10 - 12 -  6 - 28Ferris State         10 - 11 - 12 - 33
Goaltender Saves:ND: Steven Summerhays (5:24) 3 - x - x - 3 Mike Johnson (54:36) 5 - 10 - 10 - 25FSU: Taylor Nelson (60:00) 9 - 12 - 6 - 27
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 6FSU: 1 for 6
Attendance: 2,493 (sellout)