The Yost Arena crowd lingered a little longer than usual tonight.

They had two good reasons to stay. One was planned - the other was expected.

After the game, Chris Fragner, Chad Kolarik and Kevin Porter were the center of Senior Night festivities.

And right before the team's three seniors were recognized, they took turns passing off the team's first regular-season CCHA championship trophy since 2002.

Michigan defeated Ferris State 5-3 to clinch the conference title with one game remaining in the regular season.

Though the Wolverines had plenty of offense, their penalty kill was less than acceptable.

Ferris State scored all three of its goals on the power play, but Michigan countered the Bulldogs' man-advantage assault with two power-play goals of its own.

The Wolverines had plenty of opportunities to score in the first period. With seven and a half minutes remaining, junior Travis Turnbull's shot hit the post. And two minutes later, a hard shot from freshman Max Pacioretty bounced off the pads of Ferris State goalie Pat Nagle. The loose puck landed inches from the goal line, but Turnbull's attempt to tap the puck in the net failed.

The Wolverines spent the last two minutes of the first period killing a Chris Summers interference penalty, but Sauer successfully deflected the Bulldogs' late barrage of shots and the first stanza ended scoreless.

Both teams made up for their lack of early offensive production by scoring a combined five goals in the next 20 minutes. Three minutes and 20 seconds into the period, junior Brandon Naurato's shot from the edge of the circle gave Michigan its first goal of the game.

Three and a half minutes later, with Summers in the penalty box, Ferris State forward Brendan Connolly scored on a shot that hit the crossbar and then careened past Sauer into the net to knot the score at 1.

But as the Bulldogs' goal was being announced over the Yost Arena loudspeakers, forward Brian Lebler flipped the puck past Nagle to steal the momentum and regain the lead for the Wolverines.

Naurato was sent to the box for hooking with 9:43 left in the period, giving Ferris State its third power play of the game - and it converted for the second time 30 seconds later on a shot by Ferris State forward Blair Riley.

With the score tied 2-2 in the waning minutes of the second period, Bulldogs defenseman Matt Case tripped forward Matt Rust to give Michigan the man advantage.

And like the Bulldogs had done for the whole period, Michigan finally capitalized on the power play. Forward Aaron Palushaj passed the puck back to Porter, who launched a blazing slapshot from the circle to notch his 26th goal of the season and give the Wolverines a one-goal edge heading into the second intermission.

The flurry of goals continued in the first half of the third period - and the Wolverines didn't waste time adding to their lead. On the first shift, 15 seconds in, forward Max Pacioretty's slapshot put Michigan up by two.

Three minutes into the period, on the power play, forward Louie Caporusso scored to give the Wolverines a three-goal cushion and prompt a Ferris State change in net. Nagle was replaced by third-string goalie Derek MacIntyre, who had a 4.00 GAA in one game this season.

But two minutes later, the Bulldogs struck again on the power play. After a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty left Michigan shorthanded, Ferris State narrowed its gap to two with a Mike Fillinger goal that left the Wolverines just 2-for-5 on the penalty kill.

With 2:16 remaining, Matt Rust was sent to the box for tripping. Michigan fought off a 6-on-4 deficit for the last minutes of the game - and as the final buzzer sounded, the Wolverines gathered around Sauer to celebrate their conference title.

During the postgame Senior Night ceremonies, Kolarik was able to skate across the ice for the first time in front of a crowd since being sidelined with a hamstring injury two weeks ago against Lake Superior State.

Ferris State and Michigan will square off again tomorrow night in Big Rapids. It will be the Wolverines' last regular-season game.