Ewigleben Ice Arena saw its first shoot out as Ohio State and Ferris State battled through three periods and overtime to wow fans with one of the most exciting activities in sports. The Buckeyes pulled out the 3-2 shoot out victory to earn the two conference points in Saturday’s contest. Friday night also saw the national ranked team down the Bulldogs as the Buckeyes won handily 6-2.

Ferris State scored with less than a minute to go in regulation after pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker. Defenseman Zach Redmond skated up into the left circle with no one around and let off a wrist shot through a few defenders beating Ohio State goaltender Dustin Carlson under the right blocker to get crowd back into the game with the tying goal.

“I just kept skating up and there was no one around,” Redmond said. “I let the shot go through a couple defenders and I don’t think the goalie saw it.”

Left winger Casey Haines tied the game for the Bulldogs early in the second period as he battled in front of the net and scoring his sixth goal of the season. Haines’ wingers Mike Embach and Corey Couturier picked up the assists on the even strength goal.

Late in the overtime period, center Brendan Connolly saw the almost game winning goal bounce off the post as he was right on the door step. Connolly kept the pressure up all evening as he led the Bulldogs in 10 shots including an unsuccessful penalty shot. “We didn’t play 60 minutes last night but tonight we played a full 60,” Connolly said.

“Goaltender Taylor Nelson did a good job with rebound control tonight and he took care of the puck,” Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels said. “The team is happy with tonight’s win; we gained confidence in the second half but were not satisfied. Ohio State came in this weekend with an 11 game winning streak and they’re the best team we’ve seen all season.”

Nelson earned the tie for the Bulldogs as he made 35 saves on the evening. Nelson also helped keep the Buckeye’s power play under control as Ferris State shut down all three man advantages.

On Friday night, the Bulldogs started out strong in the first period but fell off as the Buckeyes stormed all the way through the game. Ferris State scored two of the first four goals but ended up falling 6-2.

Center Jordie Johnston started the scoring off early on. His unassisted goal came at the 2:32 mark of the first period beating Carlson along the ice. Johnston’s game leading goal didn’t last long however as Ohio State tied the game less than three minutes later.

The Bulldogs were able to take the lead back however in the first period as Redmond scored while on the power play. Redmond’s second goal of the season came at 9:35 with Connolly picking up his 13 assist on the season.

The Buckeyes tied the game shortly after and never looked back as they scored five unanswered goals.

Buckeye goaltender Carlson made 30 saves on the evening in preserving the victory as Bulldog goaltender Pat Nagle made 19 in the loss. Ferris State also switched goaltenders midway through the third period as Nelson came in and make five saves.

Ferris State looks to use a weekend off as they have a bye week coming up. “Coach Daniels will make sure we are on our toes and sharp at practice,” Connolly said.

After the bye week, the Bulldogs look to host nationally ranked University of Omaha- Nebraska. The Mavericks are currently tied for fourth in the CCHA and face off with Ferris on Friday, Jan. 30 and Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:05 p.m.

The men’s basketball team continued its winning streak by dominating in two home games last week against the Tiffin Dragons and the Ashland Eagles. The team improved its record to a 6-4 conference and an 8-7 overall record by winning four out of the last five games.

The game against Ashland on Saturday matched the two highest scorers in the conference, Ferris State sophomore forward Justin Keenan against Ashland sophomore center, Kale Richardson with Keenan edging out Richardson by two points.

The game was not without a little drama, when a questionable no-call against Keenan resulted in the head coach from Ashland being ejected from the game after receiving two technical fouls. Other than the coaching incident, the game went rather smoothly with Ferris destroying Ashland 100-64.

Guard Darien Gay scored 23 points had seven assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block. Keenan scored 20 points, had five rebounds and an assist.

The Ferris State Bulldogs also beat the Tiffin Dragons 98-63 on Jan. 15. They started out early with a six point lead and never lost sight of the victory. Every Ferris State player during the game against Tiffin saw playing time and scored at least one point.

Forward Verdell Billingsley scored a personal season best with 26 points. Billingsley also had six rebounds, an assist and a block. Gay scored 14 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three rebounds. Guard Dontae Molden contributed six total points, 11 assists, three steals and two rebounds.

The basketball team looks to keep improving its record when the Bulldogs compete against Wayne State on Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. and Northwood on Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. These will be the last two home games until Michigan Tech on Feb. 12.

The Lady Dawgs picked up their first win in seven GLIAC games on Thursday defeating the Tiffin Dragons 83-82 in the final seconds, but couldn’t put a streak together losing 62-85 to the Ashland Eagles on Saturday.

The Eagles handed the Bulldogs their eighth GLIAC loss of the season as they soared to a 49-32 halftime edge.

The Lady Dawgs couldn’t come back as the Eagles outscored them 35-30 in the second half.

Ferris outscored Ashland 40-24 in the paint, but a three will beat a two every time, and Ashland had a plethora of threes converting 10-of-17 from beyond the arch while Ferris was able to only knock down 2-of-13.

Forward Amy Joostberns led the Bulldogs with six-of-seven shooting, along with grabbing five rebounds and recorded three steals, she also posted a team and personal career-high 15 points. Guard/forward Caitlin Hutchison chipped in with 11 points.

The Eagles were led by three players reaching double digits as Betsy Morrison scored a game-high 16 points, Lacy Romine tallied 12 points and Lynsey Warren added 11 points.

The Lady Dawgs picked up their second GLIAC win on Thursday as the defeated the Dragons in the final seconds.

It was a high flying, up tempo game as the Lady Dawgs set the up pace tempo and kept it up from beginning to end.

“The pace of game is why so many points were scored. Our defense was very good. We didn’t quit, and got our energy up, our bench had a lot of energy,” head coach Tracy Dorow said.

In a constant battle for the lead it was the Lady Dawgs that pulled off a defensive stop to clinch the win with two seconds remaining on the clock.

Ferris trailed by four points with 41 seconds left in the game, guard Becci Houdek put the game on her shoulders demanding the ball from behind the arch, from the same spot she missed just a shot before.

Guard Teghan Thelen unselfishly passed it back to Houdek who hit a three-pointer with 24 seconds left to cut the deficit to only one point, 82-81.

“Not sure if there was a momentum changer, but Teghan’s pass to Becci was huge. Teghan was unselfish enough to give Becci the ball back, you know Teghan wanted that shot, but it shows the trust the players have for each other. To give the ball back to Becci who just missed, and for Becci to demand the ball…just shows the confidence, and trust,” Dorow said.

Thelen fouled the dragon’s Kylene Spiegel, who missed the front end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds to play. Hutchison grabbed the rebound and Houdek put up the winning jumper with eight seconds left.

Forward/center Ashley Fleming led the Bulldogs with a personal career-high 21 points. Houdek added 15 points, forward Jenna Guay knocked down 12 points and Thelen recorded 10 points.

Ferris State is 4-10 overall and 2-8 in league play, and will host Wayne State University tomorrow at 6 p.m., and Northwood at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The men’s and women’s track and field began its 2009 season last week by competing in the Saginaw Valley State Collegiate Open on Saturday.

The highlight of the meet was the women’s track. Out of the top 10 finishes in the women’s one mile run, Ferris State placed first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.

All-American cross country runner Tina Muir placed first in the event with a time of 5:14.03.

The second place finish went to Mikinzie Stewart who ran the one mile in a time of 5:19.74.

The women’s track team also had all four top finishes in the 8,000-meter race. Stewart placed first in the 8000 with a time of 10:20.68 and was followed by Muir who had a time of 10:21.03.

The 800-meter event also had a member of the Ferris State women’s track team place in the top three. Nikki Wiers placed third with a time of 2:26.62, just missing first place by .39 of a second.

“I’m excited for indoor track and I think the team will do really well. We do a great job working together as a team and Steve has wonderful coaching,” Megan Josey said.

The men’s track team also had a success with a second place finish in the 800 meter run by Matt Jozwiak with a time of 1:59.42. Mike Mangieri also had a second place finish in the mile run with a time of 4:23.44. Mangieri then went on to claim a third place finish in the 3000m run with a time of 9:02.73.

The men’s and women’s field events didn’t have as much success.

For the women’s field event, Andrea Fogle had the highest place finish, finishing sixth in the shot put competition with a distance of 10.05m. The men’s shot putter, Alex Dekok, also had the highest placing field event, with his sixth place finish with a distance of 12.72m.

The next track and field event will be the Grand Valley State Bob Eubanks open on Jan. 23 at 4 p.m.

The FSU Athletics Department will give away a $100 certificate at each of the Bulldogs 11 GLIAC men’s and women’s doubleheaders this season.

In order to win the prize on a given day, students must be in attendance prior to halftime of the women’s basketball contest. A raffle drawing will be held to determine the winner in the second half of the men’s game.

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford said he would be back for his junior season. Countless athletes are coming back for the next season, not the school year.

It’s becoming an oxymoron, student-athlete. Football and male basketball players seem to major in gym and communications ... with some student. When it’s time to declare for the draft the players don’t say “I’m coming back for my junior school year.”

In fact the only player I have heard publicly say he was coming back for the next school year (not season) was Florida State cornerback Myron Rolle, who is deferring to enter the draft until 2010, so he can study medical anthropology at Oxford University, as a Rhode Scholar.

Thank you Rolle for truly being a student-athlete. Never mind that Rolle was predicted to be in the top 50 draft picks this spring.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Rolle told ESPN.com. “I’m going to get the chance to study at Oxford and read some incredible books and be among scholars. The whole culture in England is just very appealing. It will make me a better person and a stronger advocate.”

Not only does he have brains, but he is smart. The Wizard would be so proud.

Rolle’s decision to juke the draft and enroll in Oxford should be front page sports news, before T.O. getting kicked out of Dallas, before Tim “The Wonder Boy” Tebow winning yet another championship, and before Utah’s perfect season.

Athletes from prestigious institutions such as Texas, USC, Michigan, North Carolina, the list goes on, are leaving school, and the opportunity for a great education in the dust to throw around a ball.

Okay, I can’t be too mad, because without the ball throwers I would not have a job. Anyway, athletes do not come back to complete a degree, reiterating the stereotype of the dumb jock.

The stories from those who have taken a class with a high profile athlete are typically about studying and practically killing themselves for a passing grade while the athlete would on occasion appear in class and would still get an A.

It begins in college, and extends throughout, that high profile athletes are above the law. Apparently high profile athletes don’t need to attend class because universities are happy with their institution being represented by an athlete that can dunk or score touchdowns.

Again, Rolle, I thank you for not being part of the typical high profile athlete.

Former Michigan running back announced at the end of his junior season he would be coming back for his senior season to beat Ohio State. Michigan lost to Ohio State, Hart and other high profile seniors like offensive line man Jake Long and quarterback Chad Henne played in the New Years Day Capital One Bowl, and never stepped foot in class again. Way to come back.

There are students out there scraping to get by, working several jobs to pay for classes, real classes, not gym, not art, not football tech.

I am not personally against these classes, I am however against athletes padding their schedules with easy classes and not completing a real degree, because they are using college as a springboard into the pros instead of using it as an opportunity to achieve an education.

I thank you Rolle for actually being a student. I thank you for not going into the draft, and actually completing a degree, a real degree, not a communications degree allowing you to spout off during games.

There should be an NCAA ruling saying the athletes must complete their educations. No one is allowed to declare for the draft until after they complete their degree. I know there is the argument of the athletes’ families need the money.

The families need a son, a brother, a nephew, that is educated. Then the athlete can give educated and smart responses to reporters. It kills me when athletes are unable to speak in proper sentences.

So again, I thank you Rolle. I thank you for going above and beyond what your classes called for.

According to ESPN.com, Rolle created "Our Way To Health," a program for Seminole Indian children to help educate them about the importance of physical fitness. He studied comparative politics and holistic medicine for six weeks in London, and was awarded a $4,000 grant for cancer research.

Rolle admires Benjamin Carson, a doctor and director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. How many football players can name someone they admire that does not wear a jersey or coached them?

Rolle is an extraordinary athlete. He’s a very smart man, who knows the value of a good education.

I just wish more athletes were like Rolle. I would also rather write about Rolle than Owens, or other high profile athletes.