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Hello everyone and welcome again to Ferris Sports Update, I'm your host Rob Bentley
and thanks for tuning in.
On today's show we'll recap a busy weekend in Bulldog Athletics and recap all the action
with highlights from home games as Ferris State Hockey, Midswomen's Basketball.
We're all in big rapids and we'll start with head coach Bob Daniels and Bulldog Hockey
and coach first of all welcome congratulations on the weekend sweep over Northern Michigan.
Thanks Rob, it's good to be here and it's good to be here on Monday after we were able
to sweep Northern which I thought was a very good team and it certainly helped us in the
standings.
Before we get to the highlights of the game, talk about the fans that support the crowd,
sell out crowd on Saturday almost to sell out on Friday night and had to be nice coming
off a bye weekend play at home.
Boy it was and you know what is interesting, Friday night they didn't have it as a sellout
but I don't know where they would have put any more people, it looked full to me Saturday
was beyond capacity and it's great to have those kind of crowds when we turn home to
play.
I believe we've only had one loss at home in conference, it's the best home conference
record of any team in our league and you know what I think a lot of that's due to the fact
that we get such a lift from our fans and we get a real lift from the student section
which has you know got quite a number of straight sellouts in a row, I think it's we're zeroing
in on 50 straight sellouts in the student section and what a lift that gives our team
and there's a reason why our home record is so good and it has to do with our fans.
We start off on Friday night as we go to the highlights and a big 7-1 win, it was a tie
game after one period, 1-1 but a couple big second and third periods for the Bulldogs.
Yeah it was and you know what the game was very close obviously 1-1 going into the second,
I thought in the first period CJ Mott had a number of good saves and then we got a couple
balances that you'll see that go our way in the second period that I thought you know really took
the starch out of northern Michigan and I gave our team a lot of credit as the second period
as we got built the lead that we never let up on which which is really important like sometimes
certainly in the past earlier this year we had a number of games where we jump out to a free goal
lead and then we'd be a nail bite or one goal win by the end of the game and that this game here
we just kept kept the foot in the throttle and and came out with a really nice win.
So the goal from Kenny Bobensky then northern Michigan able to answer 1-1 going into the
second and Bulldogs explored the three goals here in the second.
Yeah and again I think you'll see we just get one right there and obviously it was kind of a
broken play and it was you know just an odd goal and that wasn't caught the camera here's a really
nice goal this was really the back breaker they had 3-1 on the breakaway and CJ just made a couple
big saves earlier and then for us to go up on two goals you know with with a goalie is CJ's
caliber and that now here's a play by Andy Huff we're short-handed here and he had a great week
and he really really played well Doug the puck out of the corner he's Chad McDowell you know nice
finish on the goal but that was a short-handed goal that really broke the back I thought it
in the third period as you see here we really you know we never let up and that's why I was
really proud of the players. How does it change your philosophy as a coach when you've got a
four or five goal lead does it change the outcome or the strategy going into the final period?
Well you know it did late the period I kind of you know took some of the players that maybe see
a little bit more ice time throughout the course of most games I took them out except
to hear Garrett he scores with 541 Garrett gets a second goal in the game I tried to get him out
to get the hat trick but other than that I tried to shelter some of the guys that see a little
bit more ice time and you try to save them for the next night you know I realized partway through
the third they started sheltering some of their players as well just saving their legs for the
next game. You win a 7-1 victory on Friday night and obviously it's great to win those types of
games and they don't happen that often in college hockey but expecting a different type of game on
Saturday night. Well you do and it's interesting because you talked to a lot of the fans on Sunday
after the two-to-one win they said well what's the difference between the seven one and two-to-one
those games hockey college hockey is very unique I don't know any other sport where you always play
the same opponent or generally play the same opponent back-to-back nights and you know I've
been doing it for 20 some years and you know the other team first of all Northern's a very very good
hockey team and so we knew we were going to see a very motivated team and nothing changed that
aren't the things that what it changed is really northern you know I'm sure their coach held them
the task and they came out and and and I thought they had a very good hockey game. Here we scored
early on a turnover and Dom Panetta who hasn't been in the lineup for a while came he brought us
quite a bit of energy I think that was his first shift in some time and he gets a nice assist and
Jared Van Wormer so you know all of a sudden in this game we get two goals out of our fourth line
even though Corey Cain scores the second goal and he's not on the fourth line he was centering
that line and you know it's good when you get a couple goals out of out of secondary scoring if
you will. Bulldogs leading one to nothing in the first and then score stands up until the third
period and we'll see a big goal from Corey Cain to make it two to nothing early in the third.
Yeah and you can see even here like that was a great opportunity by Chad McDowell we're getting
some chances here's one by Dom Panetta a really good opportunity so we were getting our chances
their goalie played well and we knew going in that it was not going to be a seven one two
nights in a row we knew this was really going to be a hard fight it's very difficult to get a sweep
in college hockey and it's very difficult in our conference and you know as it turned out we really
you know if we want to retain first place we had to get this week this weekend. Bulldogs make it
two to nothing the northern Michigan will score their one goal of the game but from there you're
able to hold on and another big performance in that from CJ Monk. Yeah it was CJ had played very
well in this game he had to obviously and had a strong weekend so we were happy that to come away
with the two wins happy for CJ that he played so well I'm proud of the fact that the first night
we got a lot of scoring from our primary scoring the second night when in a close game we got it
from secondary scoring so overall the team looked really good. This week back on the road you
traveled to Bemidji State for the first time here in the WCHA and just talk about the the travel
schedule and the trip to Bemidji a long trip here for the Bulldogs. Yeah it sure is this will be
our longest bus ride of the year it'll be 14 hours each direction we you know because of that we'll
leave Wednesday evening get partway we'll try to get to Marquette that night stay the night Marquette
and then eight hours from Marquette the next day you know and I say that because it's all weather
permitting the trip from Marquette over to Bemidji you spend a great amount of time along the
waters of Lake Superior so a lot of different weather conditions can move through but if it all
goes well then we'll get there and be able to practice Thursday evening at Bemidji and then
obviously pray Friday Saturday and hop on the bus we'll just come straight home Saturday night
after the game. Talk about Bemidji State you had a chance to play them early in the year a five to
four overtime win a five to three victory at home and two close games against the Beavers. Yeah all
those games are going to be close against Bemidji there that's the kind of team they are they lost
to this weekend they were tied both games going into the third period against a really good Minnesota
State team Minnesota State was able to come out victorious in both of those but those were tough
games and those were at Minnesota State but Bemidji obviously would be that much harder when we
have to play them at their rank. I know one of the goals for the Bulldogs to reach Van Andel Arena
the WCHA championship later on here in the year but first you want to get home ice and certainly
still a little bit of work to do in that regard but you've put yourselves in good position. Yeah I
think we are pretty much you know we can probably use at least one more to secure it a hundred percent
but it's pretty much getting almost mathematically where we've secured a home ice not quite there
yet but it's close and then so that's our next goal and then if we do that then the next step
after that would be to take a strong look and see if we're in a position to take you know take the
WCHA regular season title. Well coach Buster Luck congratulations on the wins and safe travels to
Bemidji Minnesota. Thanks a lot Rob appreciate it. We'll be back with more Ferris Sports Update right
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Welcome back everyone to Ferris Sports Update time to talk men's basketball with us head coach
Andy Broncombe and coach first of all welcome to the show and congratulations on a big victory on
Saturday. Thanks Robert. Always nice to come into a new week coming off a big win on the weekend and
certainly you had to be pleased with the way your team performed this past weekend. Absolutely you
know we gave great effort in the last two games so we can be proud of that and we met expectations
and you know unfortunately we only won one of those games but you'd like to have them both
here at home and from the home fans but you know it was the expectations were met we have them high
and they met them the last two games and we're going to build off that. Kind of shorten your rotation a
little bit as we go to the highlights had a lot of guys that played a lot of minutes so starting
with the Michigan Tech game on Thursday. Well it's a decision we made we'd like to go deeper in the
rotation but like you said you know there's there's certain people that maybe got to figure a few
things out before they get back in but they're capable of doing that and we're looking forward to
when they're when they're buying in and joining them back to the rotation. Here against Michigan Tech
a team that you played close up in Houghton earlier this year and you get off to a great start led by
nine points here early in the game but Michigan Tech a veteran team that battled back as well.
You know they're back-to-back champs and they lost a player of the year so we're finding out that
they had a lot of other players that were pretty good and they're Stoliker you know finally getting
to that counter spin back move this year he's got a great right-handed hook and you know that
counter move's been good for them and you know they shoot they shoot the three ball better than
any team in the league and they shoot a lot of them so we chased hard but you know you can see
on some of these highlights close isn't close enough as far as a closeout you know basically
the best thing is not to let him catch the ball and Stelzer is a heck of a player in this league
and I'm kind of glad he has one more one more year because you know I'd like to compete against him
a couple more times he's the ultimate competitor and you know that makes the game fun even though we
lost. Bulldogs on the inbounds play here to Josh Fleming he had a big win for you 16 points in
both games. Yeah Josh is back to kind of and there's one of those closeouts Robert but Josh is back
to the form that we you know imagine him at with back-to-back 16-point games and you know he can
shoot the three real well but yet he can get in the post and you know their Stelzer just making a
play just willing his team to the victory but we competed hard against these guys there's Josh
again in the post first-time player you know like I said he can shoot it but he can flex into the
post you know we run by there it's just they they made just enough plays down the stretch but you
know both times we competed against him this year and and we chased those guards hard and you know
we held the leading scorer in the lead Armga is 23.1 I think he was averaging to 11 points
so we played pretty well. Come back on Saturday and taking on Northern Michigan for the second time
and certainly a game that that meant a lot I know to you and your staff and your team with
head coach Bill Saul on the opposite side. Yeah just seems like every game this year has a little
little story behind it and that one certainly has some some mixed emotions and some some different
feelings and you know we played real well and and guys just made plays you know I'm going to give
the credit to the players and they made some some great talent points we drew some stuff up and we
even taken a little bit more of the shot clock now that our rotation has gone down to fewer
players and maybe that's helped that you know I hope so but the guys are just making some great
plays in this last game and we got the win because of it. As we go to the highlights of Saturday's
game again another game that was close early kind of back and forth between both teams and finally
in the second half you were able to pull away and and really control the game in the second half.
Yeah I think we got up as many as 15 and you know that proved to be just enough like I think they
cut it to seven or eight and you know it's just nice to get it off that have our effort rewarded
with a win because we've had a lot of games with great effort we just came up short but the guys
made the plays in this one there's Ramon hitting elbow jay you know shot fake one dribble pull
up these are things we practice in practice all the time and you know here they are knocking
things down you know a couple times we got caught with Marcus Hall hitting shots you know they
coached all he certainly knows our defensive rotations and he took advantage of a few of them
with some falling out of bounds passes but there's Drew again making a talent play and
effort was was good today I don't know I probably have to ask you if there's ever been three players
to all play 40 minutes in a game in the history of Ferris State maybe but it could have been a first.
You have to go back many years probably in the in the record books Drew layman a big three there
and he had a big first half Dietrich Lever a big second half. Well there there are most experienced
bulldogs you know and and to say that's our expectation is the truth you know and they met
expectations and they gave great effort there's one of the rotations I was talking about you
know kind of picked your poison and they made a good play but yeah Dietrich and and drew we're
going to rely on them and we're going to rally behind them and you know we keep talking about
them having my back and me having their back and we'll start right there so they did a great job.
Ramon McPhee you mentioned earlier had a big game Jared Steliker we'll see him here before
the end with a couple big dunks and got some good production from those two on the inside.
Well they're a good one to punch there's Jared Duncan and you know Ramon as a senior is playing
just like that you know like he doesn't have too much basketball left and he's playing with that
urgency which is a great thing and you know Jared's just a talented young big man maybe one of the
most talented young big men in the league and you know in order to win we need them both to play well.
74 to 65 victory over the Wildcats and a game that you hope establishes some some momentum as you
head into the final six games here the regular season. Well we're a little out of the top eight
for the GLIAC tournament right now but you know mathematically we're not eliminated so that's
what we're going for and you know looking at the schedules of the teams we need to catch in our
schedule there's definitely a way and we have the will so we're going to be getting after it and
trying to qualify for that tournament. This week back on the road you've got Northwood on Thursday
night first let's talk about the Northwood matchup a close game at home just talk about what it
takes to go to Midland and pull out a win. Well we're going to have to play with the same effort
we played on Thursday and Saturday and we'll start there and see if we can't make some plays
it's just going to be contrasting styles I mean they're a huge team and we're starting to you
know three under six foot guys so but they're going to have to guard us too so it's going to be
a contrast of styles and we'll see who can execute the best you know they have a little
advantage being at home but we're pretty hungry right now and I think we've found something
and we found some guys that are playing hard and buying in and it's pretty exciting. Coming up
with that on Saturday obviously a trip to Sioux St. Marie as you take on Lake Superior State maybe
one of the most veteran most experienced teams in the conference. Yeah they have some stud players
and they're very well coached and you know they're on top of the league by a couple games and
but you know what a challenge what a fun thing to be able to go to the number one team in the
league and try to knock them off at their place and if you could do stuff like that it's a it's a
resume builder you know it's a notch in your belt so we welcome the challenges we enjoy the
competition and competing and you know that's going to be a fun one also. Still three games
left here at home here in the season at Wink Arena and I had some great support this past weekend
just talk about the opportunity to play in front of those home fans and pull out a big
win on Saturday. I wish we could play them all at home but you know you do have to go on the road
but our fans are great and they've embraced and they've kind of you know went through the ups and
downs so far this season with us and I kind of saw it all develop and here we are back on a high
note and you know playing real well and with some good energy and you know the fans help us with
that energy so when we're home we're we're you know I'd say easily 10 points better. Bulldogs I
got some great contributions one one guy we didn't mention a whole lot of was Jabril Jaxx and he's
one of those guys that played 40 minutes on on Saturday. Well you know Jabril is one of those
guys that will run through a brick wall for you so you tell him what to do he's going to attempt
to do it and he's going to do it with you know all the energy he has so you know when you have a
guy like that you have to reward him and you know he's one of the guys buying in and he's given a
great effort and he's still got a lot of you know youth he's got a future in front of him where
you know he could be the point the point card of the future and you know a big player for us on
a championship to come. Well coach congratulations again on the win and best of luck to the Bulldogs
as you head on the road this week. Thank you. We'll be back with more Ferris Sports Update right after this.
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Welcome back everyone to Ferris Sports Update time to check in with women's basketball with us
assistant coach Shay Mead and coach first of all welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
Appreciate being back here. Like the men a couple games at home this past week against Michigan Tech
and Northern Michigan two of the two of the better teams in the Gleac North and had a couple great
meetings with them on the road and two more games that went to the wire. You know it's it just seems
to be that battle you know especially against those two you know tops in the league close to the top
and then you know with us up there on the road like you said real close why not give another great
show at home you know but unfortunately we came out on the short end of the stick. Seems like every
every game the Bulldogs have played it's it's been a game that's went to the wire and you know
unfortunately you haven't won some of them but every game in the Gleac has been much the same.
It's it is unbelievable I mean when you got nine games this year where you're losing by eight points
or less it's very it's it's heartbreaking but it just goes to show you how tough the league is
you're in and you're out. Busy week this past week as we'll go to the highlights of Thursday's game
coming off a game at Grand Valley on Monday and back at action at home at Wink Arena and
just talk about the performance against Michigan Tech got off to a great start again against the
Huskies. We did you know we really got off to a great start against Tech you know and we kind of
kept up a great pace we started off strong and then you know Tech as always in the second half
their second half team caught fire you know just like they did on the road at home and
just something that we couldn't really dig ourselves out of get over the hump and like I said
unfortunately you know we got a came out on the losing end. Just saw Dina Drosti there with the
basketballs here some big shots here in the first half but unfortunately didn't get quite as many
looks in the second half of this game. Yeah you know Dina's been playing really well for us especially
shooting the ball from deep I mean she's 42% I believe right now in the year and just really
shooting the ball well here she is again I mean I think you know in the past two games you know I
she had well eight threes I believe so like you know when she's given us offensive production
like that there's not much that the opposing teams can really do but you know like we have to do is
she can shoot it but we also got to stop their shooters and you like I said you let Tech warm
up enough you know shooting all these threes they're going to start making them sure enough in the
second half you know they start hitting all their shots and there's just something we couldn't get
back from. Katie Mavis right here with the pull-up and she had 13 points a nice contribution off the
bench. Yes Mavis you know really came to play this game she played really well for us was attacking
the basket hitting her mid-range outside shot she played really well you know you know every now and
then you get those role players that really step up and it's it's a great feeling it's great to see
them because you know just wish there was a day in and day out. Much like you mentioned kind of the
same as the first meeting I got out to a lead in the first half when Michigan Tech just hit some
hit some big shots in the second half. They did and you know here they are again another outside
shot you know it was just crazy you know they we did a really good job containing them in the first
half both times and then second half you know they just caught fire and it's really tough to battle
back when the team is just dropping threes like that. 78-70 the final score of that game and certainly
in the Gliac not much time to worry about that loss you come right back in another game on Saturday
against another good opponent in northern Michigan. Yeah northern I mean they hit a little skid early
on but they've been playing well again you know they're top in the league again I wanted to top
teams you know so it's always a tough battle you know especially coming off that tech loss
heartbreaking but then you got to come back and bounce back and get ready for northern. Going to
the highlights of the northern game this game a little bit different in terms of both teams
really struggled shooting the basketball offensively 30% around that figure for both teams. Yeah you
know it was a it was a tough night offensively I don't know if that goes to show you the defenses
really well I know we had a couple of mishaps and our rotations and everything but you know
offensively was a struggle I wish we got more buckets like that you could see Hannah Hoffman
to Chris here's another one right here Hannah's been playing really well for us lately not only
on the defensive end but being just a great passer from the high post it's been really well to
open up the the book for her and everything. Oh the Michigan as we as we talked about some good
outside shooting from some of the post players as well. Yeah it helps you know like I said with
the tech if you allow them to continue to get these open shots and we call them you know practice
shots because the more they take in the game the more they're going to start hitting later on
and if you allow them big girls to start warming up and shooting these shots they're going to hit
and you know it helps when you've got girls that are six two six three that can really stretch the
floor for you and they start hitting from northern and again it's just something that we couldn't
get back from. Alyssa Callow with the pass underneath one of the Gleax top scores but you
did a pretty good job on her for most of the game. We did that was our that was really our main focus
we really wanted to slow her down because she is their go-to you know she gets them going you know
whether it's scoring passing whatever she really is the engine to that team and I thought we did a
really nice job on her but you know they had some great people step up some great role players and
they're very well coached team very good players. A game that went down to the final play almost had
a chance at a tie it at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim and unfortunately you fell
short by three. Yep fell short but that shot was really really close you know rimmed in and out and
would have been awesome to see it go in because I think that would have given us momentum for
overtime but you know just not the way it went that day. This week back on the road like the guys
at Northwood on Thursday and you had a great meeting with them here earlier in the year at home
overtime game and talk about what it takes to turn that one around and pull out a victory on
Thursday. You know it's going to be tough like Bronx just said you know they're going to have
home court advantage this time and Northwood's been playing really well lately you know in order
for us to go in there and knock them off we got to we got to get the wheels turning offensively
we got to stop their drives you know they're a really good driving team and so we got to stop
them play really great containment and good defense and help side and talk and if we do all that and
we start communicating and start hitting our open shots you know we're going to give them a run for
their money like they gave us and it's going to be a fun battle. On Saturday then across the bridge
to Sue St. Merida take on Lake Superior State and you're able to pull out a win at home against
them a game you had in control some big shooting on the Lake Superior State part late in the game
I made it a three-point game but talk about what it takes to make sure you secure that win. You
know again you know like you said we had that huge win we were up 20 plus points and they just
started catching fire so like I said we just need to contain their shooters contain their
playmakers and we need to do what we need to do offensively and stick to our game plan and we do
that I think we'll come away with two wins this weekend. Talk about the Gliac and how competitive
it is this year it seems like on any given night anybody can beat anybody and still a close race
battling for those final playoff spots. Yeah I mean we're we're still in it you know we're a
couple games back right now but if we really start to catch fire and everything we can make it you
know we're just fighting for that eight spot but like you said the Gliac day in and day out you
don't know what you're going to get from people I mean you could get Wayne going on the road
you know the Saginaw whatever and Saginaw beats Wayne and Wayne's the top right now
and then you got Tech who could just play you know Northern another top team and they could
flip-flop so just depends on what you want to get Hoops playing well at that time and
and everything but it's a battle it's fun. When you look at the Bulldog Raster still a young team
overall just one senior on the floor and she's obviously a good one in Saradishone but a lot of
a lot of players coming back a great nucleus as you look towards the future. Yes you know it's
we have a great core coming back you know I was talking to the Michigan Tech coach after that game
actually about it and we were talking about who we have and everything and she said stop I do not
want to talk to you about that right now it's too scary looking for the future you guys I mean
it's scary what we have coming back but obviously it's gonna be a huge loss losing Sarah she's such
a great player for us but we're really looking forward to continuing having this core group for
a while and hopefully this core group can start pulling things together right now for us and
just keep it rolling this year and for seasons to come. Well congratulations again on what's
happened so far for the Bulldogs best of luck as you travel on the road this week. Thank you very
much I appreciate it. That's gonna do it for another episode of Ferris Sports Update reminder
you can follow all the action online at Ferris State Bulldogs.com
