NCAA Frozen Four: The Most Noteworthy Stats from Ferris State vs. Union College

Ferris State University bent and then broke the Union College Dutchmen’s vertebra en route to a 3-1 win in the NCAA men’s ice hockey semifinals Thursday afternoon at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Stopping 34 of 36 shots faced, goaltender Troy Grosenick faced the second-heaviest workload of his sophomore season and the most demanding since a 39-save, 5-1 win over Rensselaer on Jan. 14.

Of their 37 total stabs, one of which went into an empty Union cage, the Bulldogs issued 30 of them within the final two periods, including 17 in the middle frame.

At the other end, Taylor Nelson confined the opposition to a single goal for the third consecutive tournament game.

For the third time in national tournament games, Ferris State confined its opponent to single-digit shots in a scoreless first period. The Bulldogs held a 7-6 advantage in the shooting gallery at the 20-minute mark.

Things erupted after that fairly placid first period. By the second intermission, the Bulldogs had a 47-43 edge in terms of attempted shots and also led in the shots-on-net column, 23-19.

Of the attempted stabs, 32 of Ferris State’s occurred in the second period while Union unleashed 23.

Ferris State confined Union’s top scorer, Jeremy Welsh, to zero shots on goal through the first two periods. Welsh mustered two stabs at Nelson in the third period, but saw his five-game goal scoring streak come to an end along with his junior season.

Within the second period, Bulldogs’ blueliner Chad Billins led all skaters with four shots on net. He had also blocked four opposing attempts through the first 40 minutes, trailing teammate Brett Wysopal (five) for the lead in that category.

With both the equalizer and the empty-netter, senior Aaron Schmidt garnered his first ever multi-point performance as a collegian. His goal and assist in this single game matched his total in 42 games as a freshman and a sophomore.

By day’s end, Billins and teammate Kyle Bonis led all skaters with five shots on goal.

The Bulldogs have now killed each of their last 26 penalties, dating back to the Feb. 25 tilt with Western Michigan, their regular season finale.

Union’s only power play of the afternoon, coming at 4:30 of the third period, was terminated after 83 seconds with a high-sticking minor to Josh Jooris.

In the losing effort, Welsh, Kelly Zajac, Kyle Bodie and at Mat Bodie each garnered a winning record at the face-off dot. Zajac went 18-for-28, Welsh 16-for-29, Kyle Bodie four-for-seven and Mat Bodie two-for-two.

As a team, Union won 44 out of 76 draws.

Defenseman Greg Coburn could easily be deemed the Dutchmen’s player of the game with an assist, two shots on goal and four blocked shots on the home front.

With one game yet to come versus Boston College or Minnesota, Ferris State finishes its season a perfect 6-0-0 against ECAC teams.

The Bulldogs previously swept a two-night home set with Rensselaer by a cumulative score of 6-0, swept Colgate on home ice in the first week of January and bumped Cornell in the Midwest Regional final.