By Journal Sports Staff

BIG RAPIDS – In need of a win to its season alive, the Northern Michigan University hockey team couldn’t get it done.

Up 2-1 late in the third period, the Wildcats were whistled for a five-minute major penalty that led to two Ferris State goals. The Bulldogs then picked up two empty netters to clinch a 5-2 win. NMU goaltender Atte Tolvanen made 41 saves in the loss.

With the victory, Ferris (17-14-6, 15-11-4 WCHA) wins the series 2-0 and moves on to the WCHA Final Five next weekend.

The Bulldogs put the pressure on Tolvanen early, putting up five shots in the first five minutes, but the freshman stopped them all.

Northern (15-16-7, 12-11-5 WCHA) got on the board first when Robbie Payne scored on the power play off a pass from Zach Urban.

However, Ferris answered shortly after that when Chad McDonald deflected a shot past Tolvanen.

After a scoreless second period, NMU got its second lead of the game at the 5:22 mark of the third period. Senior forward Darren Nowick deked around a defender and went top shelf to beat Ferris goalie Darren Smith.

That’s when things went bad for the Wildcats. For the second time in the game, Northern was called for a major and this time, the Bulldogs took advantage of their big opportunity. Gerald Mayhew tied the game at 2-2 with the man advantage and then gave Ferris the lead just 37 seconds later when his shot skittered just across the line behind Tolvanen.

Bulldogs Mitch Maloney and Jared VanWormer scored the empty netters to cap off Ferris’ victory.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.