Minneapolis, Minn. - It should come as no surprise that Bemidji State (3-5-3, 3-3-2 WCHA) and Minnesota (9-0-1, 7-0-1 WCHA) ended this afternoon’s contest in a 2-2 draw at Ridder Arena. The 4-1 Beaver setback yesterday was a rare occurrence as four of the past six meetings have ended in a tie or a one-goal contest. In fact, the Beavers handed Minnesota its last league tie on Jan. 12, 2002 in Bemidji.
Bemidji State led after periods one (1-0) and two (2-1) and held a slim 14-13 shot advantage after the second frame. Overall, BSU head coach Bruce Olson enjoyed his team’s effort out on the ice against one of the nation’s powerhouse programs.
“I was impressed with our play in over six periods of hockey this weekend. This was the best hockey that we have played all season.”
Sophomore forward Katie Ward got the Beavers on the board with an even-strength tally at 7:14 in the first with help from senior defender Lisa Peters and junior forward Caesare Stimson. Peters, who received the third star of the game, increased the BSU margin 2-0 at 3:22 in the second with an assist going to junior forward Guylaine Hache. The goal (2) for Peters tied her for second on the club in conference play.
Just 2:03 later, UM’s Ronda Curtin slid one in the net to cut the lead in half at 2-1 and that is where the score would stay until the 11:17 mark in the third. At that point, Minnesota’s La Toya Clarke notched a short-handed goal after BSU’s Nicky Kluck was whistled for tripping. With the count at 2-2, Peters felt that the tying goal was to Bemidji State’s advantage.
“It was to our favor (the tying goal by UM), because we played more aggressively from that point till the end,” said Peters. “This is the best hockey we have played and we are really making some progress.”
BSU freshman goaltender Jill Luebke saw her first action in the series and played 65:00 minutes to push her record to 0-0-2. Luebke recorded her first career tie in the 1-1 draw against Ohio State, Nov. 1, 2002.
The game marked only two combined penalties as each squad went 0-1 on the power-play opportunity. Not only was the score indicative of how equally the two teams played but total shots (19), penalties (1-2) and saves (17) were matched as well.
“I thought that we were in a good position with being up 2-1 going into the third,” said Olson, “because we have finished strong in the third all season long. We could have easily folded after we gave up the short-handed goal, but we didn’t. It feels real good to come out of here with a tie.”
Next up for BSU is a non-conference series against the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D. Saturday’s game will begin at 2:05 p.m. while both teams square off Sunday at the same time.
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