Three third period goals lift Ferris State over WMU 3-0

By Kristen Vermetten
Western Herald

(Chyn Wey Lee/Western Herald) WMU center Chris Clarkson defends with his body after losing stick during Broncos 3-0 loss to No. 13 Ferris State University Friday night.

Arms swinging low, senior center Chris Clackson was like a gorilla on the attack during a significant first period penalty kill. Diving towards players, deflecting the puck with his hands, Clackson proved to be the optimum obstacle to ward off any offensive play.

The Lawson Lunatics shouted praises and chanted, “CLACKSON, CLACKSON” as he made his way to a well deserved break on the bench. His selflessness was not enough to keep No. 13 the Ferris State University (12-3-2, 7-2-2-2 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) out of the net as the Western Michigan University (6-8-3, 2-8-3-2 CCHA) hockey team lost 3-0 Friday night.

“When you lose your stick on the penalty kill it can be pretty tough,” Clackson said. “I didn’t except that to happen at all. When you’re in that situation, you need to find a way to get it done. I got lucky, got hit with a couple. [Riley] Gill some made great saves too and with a great effort we got the puck out and it’s good we got the kill.”

The Broncos held strong against the No. 1 offensive and defensive team in the conference for the first two periods. They matched the Bulldogs’ upbeat tempo and were effective with their skilled passing and hard hits. WMU had great leadership on the ice and continued their fantastic team work.

“Well we got to get some goals. We’d like to generate some more scoring opportunities on it and get some goals on it, obviously. We had some chances here tonight and I think it’s a point right now where we’re gripping our sticks a little tight, maybe over analyzing some things on the ice a little bit from the guys,” WMU head coach Jim Culhane said. “It may take one of those goals that is maybe not very pretty where it goes off of a shin pad, a skate or off a pant or something. Just to break the ice for us. We generated some chances there in the first 40 minutes of play and on the power play, but again, Nagle was there to make the saves.”

After a hard played two period battle, FSU succeeded with the first goal at 19 seconds in the third period. This deflated the Brown and Gold morale and two more Bulldog shots found the net at 10:10 and 11:43 in the third period. The Bronco offensive pull lost its speed and the game’s combative attitude died on the ice.

“We still played pretty well in the third period, just a couple big mistakes at the blue line in the third period and they capitalized on it,” senior defenseman Tyler Ludwig said.”They got a couple break aways there. We just got to limit our mistakes there.”

The WMU power play continues as the biggest adversary for the team, keeping the puck in the opponent’s zone is proving to be much harder for the Broncos when they have the advantage. Senior goalie Riley Gill endured thirty seven hard shots on goal, the blue line taking multiple shots as well. After the fantastic defensive play of the offense last weekend and the excellent offensive play by the defense this weekend and should be seeing more wins. If the Brown and Gold power play can find its groove, there will be no stopping WMU for the remainder of this season.

“It’s 0-0 and I think the critical moment was the first goal,” FSU head coach Bob Daniels said. “If they [WMU] got the first goal, I think you’d be looking at a completely different game. So, pretty equal game if you ask me.”

The Broncos will face the Bulldogs again Saturday night at FSU.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS7F-fp35mA[/youtube]

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Posted by heraldstaff on Dec 11 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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