GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Ralph Engelstad Arena) - Bemidji State improved its win streak over North Dakota to four games this afternoon with a 3-1 victory at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. Bemidji State’s Nikki Eckebrecht recorded three points on the afternoon with a goal and an assist to lead the Beavers to a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) win.

Bemidji State picked up the game’s first goal at the 19:15 mark of the first period, as Nina Ziegenhals (Sandt Augustin, Germany) tallied her second marker of the season with help from Nikki Eckebrecht (Hamilton, Ontario) and Ashley Leopold (Afton, Minnesota). Leopold passed the puck up the boards to Eckebrecht who skated the puck into the North Dakota zone. Eckebrecht then passed the puck over to Ziegenhals who was left all alone in front of the North Dakota net and Ziegenhals would back hand the puck into the net to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead late in the first period.

North Dakota was able to out-shoot the Beavers 7-to-5 in the period.

Cassandra Flanagan was called for roughing at 7:37 of the second period, and Bemidji State’s Tara Hiscock (Bemidji, Minn.) took advantage of the power-play opportunity just :11 seconds later to push Bemidji State’s lead to 2-0. Kate Robinson (Shanty Bay, Ontario) took a slap shot from the right circle and the rebound bounced out Nikki Eckebrecht (Hamilton, Ontario) who passed it over to Hiscock who berried the puck into an open net. The goal was Hiscock’s second goal of the season for the Beavers and proved to be the eventual game winning goal, her second game winning goal of the season.

The Beavers pushed their lead to 3-0 at the 11:20 mark of the second period. This time it was Nikki Eckebrecht taking advantage of the scoring opportunity. North Dakota goaltender Brittany Kirkham tried to clear the puck out of the zone and instead of clearing the puck she passed it right to Eckebrecht who skated in and fired the puck into the North Dakota net. The unassisted goal was Eckebrecht’s second goal of the season.

Bemidji State put 20 shots on goal in the period while North Dakota was able to get 7 shots on goal in the second period.

North Dakota would break up the shutout at 4:42 of the third period when Melissa Jaques netted an unassisted goal for her second goal of the season. Jaques fired a shot from the right circle that found the right hand corner of the net to bring the Fighting Sioux within a two goal deficit. North Dakota continued to apply pressure but Bemidji State goaltender Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.) stayed strong and shut down North Dakota’s offensive charge to seal up the victory for the Beavers.
Brookshaw saved 24 of 25 shots faced in 60:00 or work, improving her record to 5-11-2 on the season and 3-3-0 all-time against the Fighting Sioux.

Brittany Kirkham saved 27 of 30 shots faced for the Fighting Sioux, seeing her record drop to 3-13-2 on the season.

Bemidji State out-shot North Dakota 30-to-25 in the contest.

The teams drew eleven penalties, seven minors on Bemidji State and four minors on North Dakota. Bemidji State went 1-for-4 on the power-play, while North Dakota went 0-for-7 on the man-advantage. Bemidji State has recorded at least one power-play goal in six of its last seven games.

With the win Bemidji State improved its record to 8-8-1 all-time versus North Dakota and 5-4-0 in Grand Forks, N.D.

Bemidji State (6-11-2 / 4-8-1 WCHA) and North Dakota (3-14-2 / 0-12-1 WCHA) will wrap up their two-game series tomorrow afternoon. Opening faceoff from North Dakota’s Ralph Engelstad Arena is set for 2:07 p.m. Central time.