Union College and Ferris State fought to a scoreless first period in the opening semifinal game of the NCAA Men’s DI Frozen Four today, in Tampa, Florida.  The first period also ended without penalties.  In the second period the pace and the fight intensified as Daniel Carr put Union College up 1-0 eight minutes into the period.  Kyle Bonis put Ferris State on the scoreboard with three minutes remaining in the second on a power play opportunity, making it 1-1.  Union College had two two-minute penalties in the second.  The play became more rigorous yet in the third as Union picked up three two-minute penalties, and Ferris State had two of their own.  With five minutes remaining in the third, Kyle Bonis was in the right place at the right time and picked up a rebound and put it in to put Ferris State up 2-1.  With time running out, Union College put an extra attacker on the ice, and Ferris State’s Aaron Schmit found the empty net to make the final 3-1.  Just as was the case for Union College, this is only Ferris State’s second appearance in the NCAA Tournament; their first came in 2003 when they won in the opening round and lost in the second round.

With this win, Ferris State advances to the NCAA Championship Game on Saturday, facing the winner of second semifinal game between #1 Boston College and #6 Minnesota, which got underway an hour ago and can be seen on ESPN2.

This result of Ferris State advancing to the Championship Game was only picked by one person in our pool.

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and what the heck, go Terriers!

— Tom