BEMIDJI , Minn. (John S. Glas Fieldhouse) - The Minnesota Golden Gophers rode a standout performance from goaltender Brittony Chartier, who saved 24 of 25 shots faced to backstop the Golden Gophers to a 4-1 victory over the Bemidji State Beavers tonight in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association women’s ice hockey contest.

Minnesota picked up the game’s first goal at 5:31 mark of the first period. Gigi Marvin tallied her ninth marker of the season with help from Brittany Francis and Anya Miller. Anya Miller would pass the puck up ice to Brittany Francis who would pass the puck over to Gigi Marvin. Marvin would skate the puck up the left wing and juke out Bemidji State goaltender Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.) to give the Golden Gopers an early 1-0 lead on its first shot of the game.

Minnesota would push its lead to a 2-0 lead late in the first period when Tiffany Johnson would net her first goal of the season at 17:39. Kelli Blankenship and Jenelle Philipcz would pick up the helpers on the Golden Gophers second goal of the period.

Bemidji State was able to kill off the lone power-play opportunity for the Golden Gophers in the first period. Brookshaw made two stellar saves in front of the Bemidji State net to keep Minnesota from scoring on the man-advantage.

Minnesota’s Bobbi Ross was called for tripping at 8:17 of the second period to give Bemidji State its second power-play opportunity of the period. The Beavers would take advantage and bring the score within 2-1. Bemidji State’s Ashley Leopold (Afton, Minn.) would pass the puck to Haley Balcom (Elk River, Minn.) who would take a slap shot and force Minnesota goaltender Brittony Chartier to make a tough save in traffic. Chartier would leave a rebound and Franny Dorr (Roseville, Minn.) would net her third goal of the season to bring the Beavers back within a one goal deficit. Leopold and Balcom picked up the helpers on Dorr’s goal.

Bemidj State was able to out-shoot the Golden Gophers 8-to-7 in the second period and appeared to be picking up some momentom going into the second intermission.
The Golden Gophers picked up the pace in the third period, putting 16 shots on goal after combining for just 16 shots through the first two periods.

The increased shot production for the Golden Gophers paid off, as Minnesota would pull away by pushing its lead to 3-1 just 5:19 into the third period. Melanie Gagnon would skate the puck up ice for Minnesota and would fire a shot just as she entered the Bemidji State zone that would find the left top corner of the Bemidji State net. Gagnon’s unassisted goal was her second of the season for the Golden Gophers.
Late in the period Bemidji State would pull its goaltender with 1:14 left in the period. Minnesota would score an empty net goal seven seconds after the Beavers pulled its goalie. Brittony Francis put the Golden Gophers up 4-1 on her third goal of the season. Picking up the assists on Francis’s goal was Gigi Marvin and Melanie Gagnon.

Brookshaw saved 28 of 31 shots faced, in 58:46 minutes of work dropping her season record to 3-9-2.
Brittony Chartier saved 24 of 25 shots for the Golden Gophers, seeing her record improve to 11-3-1 with the win.

Minnesota out-shot BSU 32-25 in the contest including 16-to-11 in the final period of play.
The teams combined for just seven penalties on the night, three minors on Minnesota and four minors on Bemidji State. Minnesota went 0-for-4 on the power play while Bemidji State went 1-for-3 on the man advantage.

The loss dropped BSU’s all-time record against Minnesota to 1-27-3 and to 0-15-1 all-time at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse against Minnesota.

Bemidji State (4-9-2 / 2-6-1 WCHA) and Minnesota (11-3-1 / 8-2-1 WCHA) wrap up their two-game series tomorrow afternoon. Opening faceoff from BSU’s John S. Glas Fieldhouse is slated for 2:07 p.m. Central time.

--beavers--