Oct. 29, 2004
[box score]
BEMIDJI, Minn. - In a game filled with firsts, the Bemidji State women’s hockey team (1-7-0, 0-6-0 WCHA) scored its first goal against No. 4 Minnesota Duluth (5-0-1, 5-0-1 WCHA) since Feb. 23, 2003, a span of 14 periods and in the process snapped an 0-30 scoreless streak on the power-play. In the end, however the Bulldogs prevailed with a 2-1 victory in front of a crowd of 221 at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.
The series finale started much like Friday’s game with Minnesota Duluth out-shooting Bemidji State 15-6 and scoring two goals early in the first period, as Caroline Ouellette took a pass from Jill Sales and skated in all alone and beat freshman goaltender Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.) five-hole just 29 seconds into the game. Ouellette tallied her second marker at 4:23 of the opening stanza off a helper from Nora Tallus. Brookshaw and the rest of her teammates calmed down after UMD’s second goal, shutting down Minnesota Duluth’s high-powered offense for the duration of the afternoon.
Sophomore Kelly Hart (Ajax, Ontario) nearly made history at the 13:37 mark of the first period, as she attempted what is believed to be the first-ever penalty shot taken at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse in the six-year history of BSU’s women’s hockey program. Bulldog defender Julianne Vasichek was whistled for tripping Hart on a breakaway, prompting the officials to render the penalty shot. Hart came away empty-handed in her attempt at putting the Beavers on the scoreboard, however, as sophomore netminder Riitta Schaublin stoned Hart with a solid stop of her own and preserved a 2-0 Bulldog lead heading into the first intermission.
Neither team scored in the second frame and BSU relied heavily on Brookshaw, who stood her ground between the pipes, turning away 12 shots in the period and 25 shots in the first two stanzas. Minnesota Duluth built a 27-12 shot advantage heading into the third period.
In what proved to be an epic period of hockey, the Beavers turned the table on the Bulldogs, as BSU rattled off seven shots to UMD’s four. Bemidji State finally broke its scoreless streak against Minnesota Duluth at 7:38 of the final session when freshman Jessica Pullar (Elk River, Minn.) banged home her first collegiate goal right in front of the net, a power-play score. Pullar’s tally was the first power-play goal scored by BSU since Oct. 16, 2004, when Hart connected with a player advantage at Wisconsin. Hart and sophomore Nikki Eckebrecht (Hamilton, Ontario) each were credited with an assist on Pullar’s goal. The helper by Hart was her team-leading third assist of the year and sixth point of the season, also a team-best. Eckebrecht recorded her first point of the 2004-05 campaign with the assist.
Bemidji State continued to pressure Minnesota Duluth for the remainder of the final period, but its best chance came with 1:33 left in the contest, as the Beavers pulled Brookshaw, which gave the home team a two-skater advantage as a result of a UMD penalty taken at 17:07 of the period. Despite peppering Schaublin with several close-range shots, BSU was unable to solve the Basel, Switzerland, native, who finished with 18 saves and her fourth consecutive win.
Brookshaw finished her second career start on a high note after stopping 29 straight Bulldog shots after allowing two early goals in the first period. In Brookshaw’s four appearances as a rookie she has made 80 saves and secured a solid .909 save percentage.
UMD fired 31 shots on goal in the game compared to 19 by BSU.
Head coach Bruce Olson was encouraged by the way his team rebounded after Friday’s 6-0 loss.
“I was really pleased to see our team bounce back the way they did,” Olson said. “Last night and today we saw two different teams on the ice. We handled the puck better and made better decisions today and I saw more players perform the way they are capable of.”
The Beavers travel to Grand Forks, N.D., on Saturday, Nov. 6 and Sunday, Nov. 7 for a WCHA series versus the Fighting Sioux at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Both games are set to start at 2:05 p.m.
Notes: Minnesota Duluth now owns an unbeaten 21-0-1 record against Bemidji State. BSU’s 2-1 loss on Saturday marks only the second time in series history that the Beavers have come within one goal of beating the Bulldogs. BSU and UMD skated to a 3-3 overtime draw on Feb. 3, 2002, marking the only other time Bemidji State has come within a goal of either tying or defeating Minnesota Duluth. The Beavers held the Bulldogs to a season-low 31 shots in Saturday’s game and 63 shots on the weekend, also a season-low. By allowing just two goals in today’s game, BSU held UMD to its lowest single-game goal output against Bemidji State in the 22 prior meetings between the two teams.
