Oct. 9, 2004
ERIE, Pa. - Sparked by sophomore goaltender Jill Luebke’s 46-save performance, the Bemidji State women’s hockey team snapped an 11-game losing streak in its season-opener with a 2-1 win over #8 Mercyhurst Saturday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Junior Aimee Collins and sophomore Kelly Hart each tallied goals in BSU’s first win over the Lakers in six prior meetings.
Despite being outshot 47-14 in the contest and 14-3 in the first period, Bemidji State led Mercyhurst the entire game with its first goal, a power-play marker, coming at 12:47 of the opening period. Forward Aimee Collins, who played two seasons with the Lakers before coming to BSU before her junior year, lit the lamp against her former teammates, marking the first goal of her career as a Beaver. The power-play tally was the first scored by BSU since Kelly Hart netted a power-play marker on Feb. 8, 2004, at North Dakota.
Sophomore Kate Robinson picked up the assist on the goal.
Neither team scored in the second stanza, as Luebke stood strong in net, turning away all 20 shots she faced in the period.
The score remained 1-0 until the 12:06 mark of the third period, when Kelly Hart recorded her first goal of the year and what proved to be the third game-winning score of her collegiate career. Sophomore Helena Tageson was credited with an assist on Hart’s lamplighter.
Mercyhurst peppered Luebke again in the final frame, piling up 13 shots, only one of which found the back of the net. After BSU senior Jenny Schnickel was whistled for an interference penalty with just over one minute left in the third period, the Lakers pulled netminder Desirae Clark. Aided by two extra skaters, the home team finally solved Luebke with its lone goal of the afternoon at 19:01 of the third period.
The goal came too late for Mercyhurst, however, as the visitors came away with a 2-1 triumph, their first win over a nationally-ranked team since Jan. 23, 2004, when the Beavers topped #10 Ohio State 4-3 in overtime at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse.
Luebke, who finished with 46 saves on the day, picked up her first win of the year and sixth of her career. Her 46 saves were the most made by the junior from Neenah, Wis., since she stopped 48 shots on Dec. 5, 2003, at Minnesota.
Clark collected 12 saves in the loss and she falls to 0-1-0.
Bemidji State moves to 1-0-0, while Mercyhurst drops to 0-1-0. The Beavers will look to earn the series sweep Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
Game Notes: Saturday’s win marks the second consecutive season-opening win, as the Beavers defeated Wayne State 3-2 in last year’s opener at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse (Oct. 10, 2003). BSU is 2-5-0 all-time in games starting the season, and head coach Bruce Olson improves his mark to 2-1-0 in season-openers.
