Lakers fit to be tied

Freshman Josh Sim scored his first collegiate goal to help Lake Superior State salvage a 1-1 tie in Game 2 of its Central Collegiate Hockey Association series. The Lakers (1-0-3 overall, 0-0-2 CCHA) failed to capitalize on eight power-play opportunities, but got a big performance from junior goaltender Jeff Jakaitis, who totaled 21 saves. He made several key stops throughout what was his best game so far this season.

Ferris State scored first, taking a 1-0 lead on a goal by Adam Miller at 16:03 of the second period.

Sim answered at 18:16 of the middle stanza as Barnabas Birkeland and Jeff Rainville drew assists.

FSU goaltender Mitch O'Keefe also totaled 21 saves. The Bulldogs (1-1-2 overall, 0-0-2 CCHA) finished 0-for-3 on the power play.

LSSU and FSU also skated to a 4-4 tie on Friday.

LSSU plays a home-and-home series on Oct. 28-29 against Northern Michigan. The Lakers travel to NMU on Friday and play host to the Wildcats at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.

*** FRIDAY:

Lake Superior State came back from a two-goal deficit to take a one-goal lead, but Ferris State out-scored the Lakers 2-1 in the third period as the teams skated to a 4-4 tie during the first night of Central Collegiate Hockey Association play Friday at Taffy Abel Arena.

FSU's Matt Stefanishion and Matt Verdone scored in the first period to give the Bulldogs (1-1-1 overall, 0-0-1 CCHA) a 2-0 lead.

LSSU's Kory Scoran changed the momentum with a power-play goal with eight seconds remaining in the opening period. He later assisted on Dominic Osman's power-play goal at 5:16 of the second period, tying the game 2-2. Alex Dunn, who was filling in on defense in place of injured blueliner Ren Fauci, gave the Lakers a 3-2 lead at 17:24.

Ferris State opened the third period with a five-minute power-play due to Nathan Ward's checking-from-behind major penalty. Sault Ste. Marie native Jim Jorgensen scored a power-play goal for Ferris State to tie it, 3-3.

LSSU (1-0-2 overall, 0-0-1 CCHA), which finished 3-for-5 on the power play for the night, took a 4-3 lead on Trent Campbell's power-play goal at 8:28 of the third period. But the Bulldogs came back again, this time knotting the score at 4-4 on an even-strength goal by Brendan Connolly.

The Lakers, who out-shot FSU 28-23, ended the third period with a power play and had three shots on goal during the overtime period. The game ended, however, with Derek R. Smith picking up a checking-from-behind major with 2:55 to go and the Lakers playing short-handed.

Jeff Jakaitis totaled 19 saves for LSSU, while Mitch O'Keefe had 24 saves for the Bulldogs.

Ferris State finished 2-for-7 with the man-advantage.

(Courtesy of the LSSU Sports Information Department.)