The nation­ally No. 13-ranked Ferris hockey team shut down No. 18-ranked Nebraska-Omaha 3–1 in the first quar­ter­fi­nal game of the CCHA Tournament.

The Bulldogs lead the best-of-three play­off series 1–0 with another game to be played on Saturday. If Ferris wins, it will advance to the semi­fi­nals at Joe Louis Arena. If Nebraska-Omaha wins, the teams will play Sunday in a one-game, winner-take-all showdown.

Ferris goalie Pat Nagle gave a strong show­ing in the vic­tory over University of Nebraska-Omaha stop­ping 33 of 34 shots. Photo by Kelsey A. Schnell, Editor in Chief

Ferris improved to 11–0 all-time in home play­off con­tests. The Bulldogs have outscored the Mavericks 8–2 in three con­tests this season.

Bulldog junior goalie Pat Nagle stopped 33 of 34 shots in the game with the only Maverick goal com­ing in the final two minutes.

After a score­less first period, Ferris junior left wing Mike Embach opened the scor­ing 7:16 into the sec­ond period. Bulldog senior cen­ter Aaron Lewicki net­ted a power play goal with just over five min­utes left in the sec­ond to give Ferris a 2–0 lead.

Midway through the third period, Embach net­ted his sec­ond goal of the game on a power play to push the Bulldog lead to 3–0. Nebraska-Omaha scored with 1:23 left to avoid the shutout, but got no closer.

The Bulldogs went two for five on their power play oppor­tu­ni­ties, while lim­it­ing the Mavericks to zero for four on their power play chances.

Lewicki tal­lied a goal and an assist for the Bulldogs. Junior cen­ter Justin Menke and sopho­more defense­man Brett Wysopal added two assists each for Ferris in front of 862 spectators.

Miami (Ohio) topped Ohio State 6–2 and Northern Michigan snuck past Alaska 4–3 to take 1–0 leads in their series’. Michigan sur­prised Michigan State with a 5–1 vic­tory in East Lansing.

Ferris and Nebraska-Omaha bat­tle Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Ewigleben Ice Arena.