ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The St. Cloud State University Huskies evened the series 1-1 today, beating Bemidji State 4-2 at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. The loss evens SCSU to 1-1 overall and 1-1 in the WCHA. It drops BSU to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in WCHA competition.
The scoring started early for St. Cloud State as they went on the power play after a Kerri McEwen penalty. Josefin Petterson would beat the Beaver goaltender, Anik Coté, just 4:10 into the first period to go up on the Beavers 1-0. The Huskies came back with just 30 seconds left in the period to add to their lead. Carrie Holldorf took the pass from Krista Simonson in front of the net and snuck it just inside the right pipe and past Coté to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
In the second period, the Beavers came out and dominated the ice. “With the bigger sheet of ice, we needed to make some changes to our fore checking to get our defense more involved and to keep the puck in the zone,” commented BSU head coach Bruce Olson. “I think it changed the momentum for us a little bit.” That Beaver’s persistence would pay off as Emily Curcuruto scored her first goal as a Beaver just two minutes in to the stanza when she pushed the loose puck past the goaltender to bring the Beavers within one, 2-1. BSU would score again when Amber Fryklund would pass the puck across the net to the open Kerri McEwen who beat the Husky goalie with a one-timer to tie the game with 2:48 to go in the second period.
The third period was a story of missed opportunities for the Beavers. “We had a number of chances we just couldn’t finish,” said Olson. McEwen missed the net on a breakaway chance, Alicia Kinsman shot wide of the net in a 2-on-1 situation and Fryklund was open in front of the net and had the puck bounce over her stick.
The Huskies, on the other hand, made good of their opportunities and that would make the difference in the game. In the period, BSU out-shot the Huskies 12-2. But those two shots were converted as goals for the Huskies. Ashley Stewart made good on her first goal of the season at the 7:29 mark when she took the pass from Jennifer Swanson and put her shot in the top left corner to beat the Beaver goaltender to take the lead 3-2. With 55 seconds remaining in the game, the Beavers called time out and pulled their goalie, 24 seconds later, Abby copper would snag the loose puck and send it in from the opposite blue line to put the Beavers away for good, 4-2.
After the game coach Bruce Olson said, “It was a good effort for the team. They could have easily given up after the first period but they didn’t. They fought back and gave themselves opportunities.”
The Beavers will be back in action with their home opener Oct. 20 when they take on the University of North Dakota in the John Glas Fieldhouse. The puck is scheduled to drop at 4:05 p.m.
--bsu--
