By Derek Berry –
TAMPA – Making their first-ever trip to the Frozen Four in one of the warmest places to host the event, the Ferris State Bulldogs – the CCHA regular season champions – went up against a team very similar to themselves.
In any other tournament, the Bulldogs might have been the Cinderella story. But, no, the Cinderella story was on the opposite bench. And the Bulldogs gave Cinderella a good, swift kick in the rear.
Ferris State junior forward Kyle Bonis scored two goals, including the game-winner on a sweet rebound off the right pad of Union’s outstanding goaltender Troy Grosenick, giving the Bulldogs their first shot ever in the NCAA championship game Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over the high-flying Union College Dutchmen from New York.
The Bulldogs will face the Boston College Eagles – a team who has won 18 consecutive games – in the NCAA title game Saturday night at 7 p.m.
The Frozen Four is being played this year at the Tampa Times Forum, home of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
Bonis deflected the credit back to his teammates on his offensive success in such a huge game.
“I credit the shot by Soaps (Ferris defenseman Brett Wysopal),” said Bonis of his eventual game-winning tally. “It’s something we work on in practice. Grosenick made quite an extension and he was a little more close to stopping that than I would’ve liked.”
Both teams were making their first-ever Frozen Four appearances and got the nerves out by playing a back and forth, up and down pace in the first period. Ferris seemed to be getting the better of the scoring chances though.
Ferris had a chance to score in the game’s opening seconds but the puck was deflected away by Grosenick. It was a sign of things to come.
“As the game unfolded, I knew it would be tight-checking,” said Bulldogs head coach Bob Daniels. “They’re {Union} very good defensively. I’d like to congratulate Union. It could easily be them heading into the {final}.”
Bonis had several chances thoughout the game. He was wide open in the slot and fired a blistering shot at Grosenick who made a nice pad save in the first period. In fact, Bonis was all over the ice. To say he made a difference in the game would be an understatement.
“He’s one of those players that the puck follows him,” said Daniels. “He had some good chances tonight. Kyle Bonis has always been a scorer. We were concerned about his skating {when we recruited him}. He’s got a history of scoring goals since he was 14, 15 years old.”
Ferris tested Grosenick throughout the game, but particularly in the third period. Daniels said the Bulldogs would panic in key situations during the season when they would cling to late leads and still win most of the time. He said the semifinal win over Union was different.
“Now, we embrace the moment and not wish the game away,” he said. “I thought our players did a good job of staying focused. {Poise} is a characteristic {of this team}. This is not a high-maintenance group of kids.”
Bonis knew the hard-charging Dutchmen would come back swinging after he scored the go-ahead goal with more than 4:43 left in the game, making it 2-1 Ferris State at that point.
“I knew Union would push really hard,” said Bonis. “We didn’t want to sit back. We learned some hard lessons during the season, on how to handle a lead.”
Daniels was fearful of Union’s power play headed into the game, especially their big center Jeremy Welsh, a one-man wrecking crew.
“We knew how good Union’s power play was,” he said. “I gotta give credit to our scout unit. We couldn’t stop the scout unit in practice when we tried to simulate it. We did an outstanding job of not going in the box.”
In fact, Ferris State did not commit a penalty until early in the third period, when senior forward Derek Graham was called for a hook. Ferris penalty kill did the job and they didn’t panic like they had so many times during the regular season. In this year’s NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs have kept their heads about them and feel they belong.
Not long after Union College freshman defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere hit the cross-bar with a shot from the point that Bulldogs senior goaltender Taylor Nelson never saw, Ferris State notched its first goal of the game in the second period, tying the score at one, after relentless pressure in front of Grosenick.
Initially, it appeared that Ferris State senior forward Aaron Schmit got the goal , but it was Bonis in the right place at the right time to bang it in, with Schmit and sophomore defenseman Scott Czarnowczan of Macomb, getting the assists.
Union sophomore forward Daniel Carr got the Dutchmen on the board first in the second period, after the Dutchmen picked up their pace. A face-off win by Welsh led to a shot from the point by Union junior defenseman Greg Coburn and was ultimately deflected in by Carr.
Carr gave credit to Nelson, especially for his play at the end of the game, holding Ferris in it. “I think you’ve got to give credit to {Nelson},” said Carr. “He didn’t give up any rebounds at the end of the game,” he added, to the flurry that Union was trying to create after Ferris took the lead late.
But Union faced adversity for the first time all tournament long and Nelson wasn’t surprised at how his team handled the Dutchmen’s desperation.
“We’ve been great all year of getting in shot lanes and blocking shots,” he said. “Our team did a great job today of forcing guys wide. We did a really good job of chipping pucks out.”
Nelson said the feeling of even playing in the national title game is one that will take awhile to sink in. “We can’t be satisfied,” he said, of Ferris State’s push to be national champions.
Bonis thought back to the beginning of the season when everyone around the Bulldogs told them they weren’t good enough. “I don’t think there’s a guy in that locker room I wouldn’t want to go into a national championship with.”
Union College head coach Rick Bennett was asked what went wrong for his team against Ferris State. Rather than dwell on what his team did or didn’t do, he heaped praise on the Bulldogs. Bennett was concerned about the swarming Ferris defense headed into the game saying it was something his team hadn’t seen all season.
Ferris State certainly proved Bennett correct. “Ferris State played excellent,” said Bennett. “{Bob Daniels} has done an excellent job.”
Just as Union College learned about the Bulldogs, someone else will find out Saturday night, when Ferris State gets a chance to prove the doubters wrong yet again.