Feb 23, 2023
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State hockey program (7-23-2, 6-17-1 CCHA) is set to wrap up the regular season when they travel to face the Ferris State Bulldogs (12-16-4, 9-12-3 CCHA) for a Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) road series.
Stories to watch:
- The Lakers are currently locked into the eight seed for the CCHA Mason Cup Playoffs, but they will be looking to play spoiler with an opportunity to eliminate Ferris State from home ice contention by stealing four points or less depending on other results involving Bemidji State and Northern Michigan. LSSU will also be playing close attention to the results in Mankato, Minn. as the Lakers will travel to Houghton, Mich. for the first round of the Mason Cup Playoffs if the Michigan Tech Huskies can secure at least four points in the series against the Mavericks, but they will face Minnesota State otherwise. Michigan Tech is guarunteed to have the tiebreaker over Minnesota State in the event that the two programs share the MacNaughton Cup by virtue of a 1-0 lead in regulation victories and not being able to allow more than two Maverick points on the weekend in order for this situation to occur.
- LSSU leads the all-time series between the two programs 82-62-115, including a series split in January in the Soo. The Bulldogs bested the Lakers in game one by a score of 4-0, but LSSU would shake up the lineup and respond with a 4-1 victory the following day.
- Ferris State will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak in which they have given up a combined 23 goals.
- The Bulldogs are led in scoring by Stepan Pokorny and Jason Brancheau who enter the series with 20 (6G, 4A) and 19 (11G, 8A) points, respectively.
- Bulldog goaltender Noah Giesbrecht currently boasts ten wins on the season, including a shutout against LSSU, but Laker netminder Ethan Langenegger (Kamloops, B.C.) has had success against the Ferris State attack in his career with two of his four career shutouts coming against the Bulldogs. In the previous matchup between the two programs, Langenegger came away with 39 saves, only allowing a single goal on the night.
- Harrison Roy (Lakeville, Mass.) has proven to be a force since the turn of the calendar year, accumulating nine of his 14 points of the season in 2023, including his fourth power play goal in four games during the previous matchup against Ferris State.
- Junior forward Jared Westcott (Imperial, Mo.) notched the first game-winning goal of his career in the closing minutes of the Lakers' 2-1 victory over St. Thomas on Feb. 17.
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Eight different Lakers have recorded at least ten points entering the series against Ferris State, led by Jacob Bengtsson (Stockholm, Sweden) with 20 (1G, 19A), but senior captain Louis Boudon (Grenoble, France) is not far behind with 19 points after scoring his ninth goal of the season on senior night (9G,10A).
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Bengtsson is currently leading LSSU in assists this season with 19.
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Roy leads the team in goals so far this season with ten after scoring a pair, including the game-winner with 13.3 seconds remaining in regulation, in a 3-2 victory over Bemidji State on Jan. 28.