COLUMBUS, Ohio - Jill Luebke made a career-high 42 saves to keep the Beaver’s in a game tonight where the BSU was out shot by the Buckeyes 45-16. Amber Fryklund, Lill Raynard, and Caesare Stimson all recorded two points in the game as BSU used two second period goals to lock the game at 3-3 and push the Buckeyes into an overtime tie.

The Buckeyes got on the board first when junior defender Emma Laaksonen beat Jill Luebke to put Ohio State up 1-0 just 8:14 into the game. But Kerri McEwen knotted the game at 1 when she scored 1:57 later (10:11) with help from fellow seniors Betsy Hegland and Alicia Kinsman.

Kinsman’s assist on the play seemed very unlikely just yesterday. When the team boarded their plane bound for Columbus, Ohio, Kinsman was not one of the 21 players with a boarding pass. The coaches made a last-second decision to leave her in Bemidji to recover from a sickness she had been battling during the week. Kinsman was so determined to play, she got in her car and drove to the game. The decision to insert her into the line-up paid off for the Beavers when she assisted McEwen on the play and kept the Beaver’s chances of finishing the 2003 in fourth place alive.

Ohio State would come back to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission after Shana Frost scored her eighth goal of the season with 1:25 to go on the first frame.

Early in the second Jeni Creary would score the game’s only power-play goal as she took the pass from Jennifer Desson and Emily Hudak to put the Buckeyes up by two.

But the first line for the Beavers took it upon themselves to pull Bemidji State back into in the game. At the 6:07 mark of the second period, Lill Raynard found Amber Fryklund with a pass and Fryklund converted it into a goal to bring the score to 2-3. In the 19th minute of the same period, Fryklund would again beat the Ohio State goaltender to tie the game, 3-3. Raynard and Caesare Stimson picked up their second assists of the game on the play.

“Lill Raynard really had a great game for us tonight. She passed the puck well and set Amber Fryklund up for two beautiful goals,” commented head coach Bruce Olson after the game.


The third period was dominated by the Buckeyes. Ohio State out shot the Beavers 14-7 in the period. But the play of freshman goaltender Jill Luebke kept BSU in the game and forced Ohio State into overtime.

The teams tied each other up pretty well in the extra period. Ohio State managed the only two shots of the scoreless overtime period.

“Outstanding play by Jill Luebke tonight kept us in the game. She really made some great saves,” added Olson after the game.

The tie marks the second time BSU has forced OSU into overtime to decide the outcome of a game this season. It also ties Bemidji State’s own WCHA record for most conference games in a season ending in a tie (6). Luebke also tied Bre Dedrickson for the most ties in net during a season with her fifth tie of 2003.

The Beavers are now 9-15-7 on the season and 5-12-6 in the WCHA. The same teams will face off tomorrow with fourth place up for the taking. The winner will slide into fourth place in the WCHA standings and take fourth seed in the WCHA Final Five Mar. 6th. Tomorrow’s is set for a 4:05 EST face-off and will be played in the OSU Ice Arena.

Scoring Goal Assist
1st OSU Emma Laaksonen (6) Katie Sershen (1), Jana Harrigan (14)
1st BSU Karri McEwen (5) Betsy Hegland (3), Alicia Kinsman (5)
1st OSU Shana Frost (8) Jaclyn Haines (6)
2nd OSU Jeni Creary (14) Jennifer Desson (5), Emily Hudak (14)
2nd BSU Amber Fryklund (14) Lill Raynard (14), Caesare Stimson (7)
2nd BSU Amber Fryklund (15) Lill Raynard (15), Caesare Stimson (8)

Saves
T - OSU April Stojak (65:00) - 13 (7-13-2) T - BSU Jill Luebke (65:00) - 42 (2-2-5

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