In the third straight winning season opener under Coach Bob Mancini Michigan Tech defeated Ferris State University 4-3. Scoring: MTU 1 1 2 - 4 FSU 0 2 1 - 3 1st Period MTU - Seale (Wright, K. Peterson) 7:09 2nd Period MTU - Dupont (B. Peterson) ppg 13:56 FSU - Blake (Roach, Christion) ppg 17:17 FSU - Dodunski (Kitching) 18:31 3rd Period FSU - Hunt (Nagy) 6:10 MTU - P. Mikesch (Garvey) 6:42 MTU - Hanchuk (unassisted) 15:39 Penalties: 1st Period: MTU- Wright holding 1:31 FSU - Colinga slashing 3:26 MTU - Caravaggio (served by Myers) delay of game 7:09 FSU - Raoch interference 11:08 MTU - Kryser interference 18:15 2nd Period: FSU - Colinga elbowing 0:35 MTU - Van Tighem interference 3:06 FSU - (player unk) interference 5:55 MTU - K. Peterson roughing 12:51 FSU - Bernam roughing 12:51 FSU - Blake tripping 13:01 MTU - Kryser check from behind 17:20 3rd Period: MTU - Roy tripping 3:11 FSU - Anderson roughing 6:42 MTU - J. Mikesch roughing 6:42 MTU - Savage hooking 18:50 Goaltending Saves: MTU Caravaggio 7 7 11 - 25 FSU Nagy 15 14 9 - 38 Commentary: The first period was dominated by MTU's play in the Ferris zone. MTU pelted Nagy with shots. Nagy stood up to the play well making several critical saves. Finally, on a 2nd rebound from about 15 feet out, Travis Seale put the puck in the net. Nagy continued to thwart MTU's scoring for the rest of the period. During the second period, Dave Dupont rifled a shot on net from the point on a 4 on 3 power play. An FSU player slammed into Caravaggio who was put on his back in the MTU net. Being unable to get up, Caravaggio was tended to by the medical staff. After a lengthy delay, FSU's Jason Blake was able to score in the top right corner of the crease. This was followed a minute later by a Dodunski shot from the blue line that was screened from Caravaggio by several players. Momentum was clearly with FSU at this point in the game. FSU continued in the third with a go ahead goal by Hunt who caught Caravaggio moving to the right and unable to stop the puck on the low left glove side. Things were starting to look bad. However, Liam Garvey crahed the blue line and fed the puck to a streaking Pat Mikesch who was able score. This goal, 31 seconds after FSU's Hunt goal, killed FSU's momentum. The game highlight has to be Hanchuk's unassisted, coast to coast, wrap around goal at 15:39 which proved to be the game winner. The last minute of the game was a nail biter as FSU pulled the goalie and went up on a 6 on 4 power play. MTU was up to the task and closed off the game. Overall, MTU showed that its positive mix of experience defenders, it 2 of the top three leading WCHA scorers from last year (Pat Mikesch and Brent Peterson) and its aggressive freshman who have come to play hockey on Friday and Saturday nights is a winning combination. While MTU's overall team is young and thus unpredicatable, my guess is that come March, MTU will not be in the WCHA cellar.