WHERE: Ewigleben Arena, Big Rapids, Mich.
WHEN: Friday, 6:07 p.m.; Saturday, 6:37 p.m. (CST)
WATCH: FloHockey.tv (subscription)
The Chargers will finish the first half of the 2019-20 season on the road against Ferris State in a WCHA series.
UAH (1-13-2 overall, 1-9-2 WCHA) is coming off a tough series at Bowling Green last week. In game one, the Chargers lead 3-0 at the halfway point but allowed nine unanswered goals. UAH battled back to a 2-2 tie in the second game, while BGSU took the extra WCHA point in the 3-on-3 second overtime.
Christian Rajic, Jack Jeffers, and Tyr Thompson each lead the Chargers with four goals on the season. Josh Latta tops UAH with seven assists. Latta and Rajic each have nine points.
Goaltender Mark Sinclair (4.27 goals against average, .883 save percentage) had a mixed weekend at Bowling Green. After a strong start in game one, he then allowed all nine goals. He came back to stop 38 of 40 shots in the tie in game two.
Ferris State (5-9-1 overall, 3-6-1 WCHA), which was idle last week, sits in eighth place in the WCHA standings. The Bulldogs are 3-2-1 in their last six games, including a win and a tie at Alaska Anchorage two weeks ago. FSU went 2-1-1 in a two-week Alaska trip visiting both Fairbanks and Anchorage.
FSU’s top three scorers are all defensemen. Freshman Jake Willets leads the team with 14 points, 13 of which are assists. Seniors Nate Kallen and Joe Rutkowski each have 10 points. Kallen and junior forward Coale Norris each have five goals.
Goaltending has been split almost evenly between three players: senior Austin Shaw, sophomore Roni Salmenkangas, and freshman Carter McPhail. McPhail (3.00 GAA, .904 SV%) has started in three of the Bulldogs’ last four games.
Las season, the Chargers and Bulldogs split the season series 2-2, each winning and losing a game in Huntsville and Big Rapids. FSU leads the all-time series 17-9-2, but the teams are 5-5 in the last 10 meetings.
After this weekend at Ferris State, UAH will be off until January 3-4 when the Chargers go to North Dakota. The Chargers return home on January 9-10 against Bemidji State.
This week in the WCHA: All times Central. All WCHA home games can be seen on FloHockey.tv (online subscription).
Friday, December 13
* UAH at Ferris State, 6:07 p.m.
* #10 Bowling Green at Lake Superior State, 6:07 p.m.
* #1 Minnesota State at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
#4 Clarkson at Michigan Tech, 6:07 p.m.
Saturday, December 14
* UAH at Ferris State, 6:37 p.m.
* #10 Bowling Green at Lake Superior State, 5:07 p.m.
* #1 Minnesota State at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
#4 Clarkson at Michigan Tech, 5:07 p.m.