BEMIDJI , Minn. (John S. Glas Fieldhouse) - Bemidji State junior goaltender Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.) posted the fourth shutout of her career, leading the Beavers to a 1-0 victory over the North Dakota Fighting Sioux this afternoon in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) contest.

Brookshaw’s 32-save shutout backstopped just the third 1-0 victory in BSU’s women’s hockey history.

The game was a defensive struggle, with the teams combining for just 56 shots on goal. Bemidji State managed just 24 shots on goal with 12 of those shots coming in the second period, while North Dakota recorded 32 shots on goal with 15 of those shots also coming in the second period. North Dakota out-shot the Beavers in each period out-shooting the Beavers 9-to-7 in the first period, 15-to-12 in the second and 8-to-5 in the final frame.

Helena Tageson (Malmo, Sweden) broke through the scoreless deadlock 4:22 into the third period. Tageson got the puck on a break away opportunity and snipped a slap shot from the top of the left circle that found the upper left hand corner of the net for her seventh goal of the season. Tageson’s game-winning goal was an unassisted goal.

Brookshaw made the one-goal lead stand, and Tageson garnered her first game-winning goal of the season and her third of her career.

North Dakota managed 1:09 second of extra-attacker time after taking a timeout at 18:22 of the third period. North Dakota had to re-enter goaltender Brittany Kirkham with :20 second left after Samantha Bowers was called for checking at 19:40 of the second period.

Brookshaw posted 32 saves to pick up her fourth shutout, moving her into sole possession of first place on BSU’s career list passing Bre Dedrickson for the all-time record. She stopped nine shots in the first, 15 shots in the second and eight shots in the third, picking up the victory and improving to 9-11-3 on the season. With the nine wins Brookshaw ties Bre Dedrickson for most wins in a season.

Brookshaw has lead Bemidji State to a season high six game unbeaten streak, during the six game unbeaten streak Brookshaw has posted a goals against average of .823 and a save percentage of .971.
This is the longest unbeaten streak for Bemidji State since the 2001-02 season when the Beavers posted a eight game unbeaten streak.

Brookshaw out-duelled North Dakota’s Brittany Kirkham, who fell to 3-18-2 despite saving 23 of 24 shots faced. She was 19-for-19 through two periods, including a seven save first and a 12 save second period, but allowed Tageson’s marker on five shots in the third.

The 1-0 victory was the third in BSU’s eight years of Division I competition. BSU’s last 1-0 win came over North Dakota on Feb. 4, 2006, and prior to that BSU defeated Minnesota State, 1-0, on Feb. 12, 2005.

Two of Bemidji State’s three 1-0 victories have come at home against the University of North Dakota.
With the win Bemidji State improves its record to 10-11-3 which is it’s best record through 24 games since the 2001-02 season when the Beavers were 10-8-6. Bemidji State also improved to 8-8-2 in WCHA play, which is the best start in conference play in Bemidji State’s eight year Division I era.

Both teams went scoreless on the power play, with BSU going 0-for-4 and North Dakota going 0-for-6 on the man-advantage.

BSU extended its unbeaten streak to six (5-0-1) with the victory, its the longest of the season and the longest since going 5-0-0 from Feb. 3-24, 2006.

The victory improves Bemidji State to 11-8-1 all-time in its series against North Dakota, including an 5-4-1 mark in 10 games in Bemidji. Bemidji State has dominated the series of late, with tonight’s win improving the Beavers to 7-0-0 in the last seven meetings in the series and 9-2-0 in the last 11. Bemidji State is 5-1-0 against the Fighting Sioux in Bemidji since Feb. 25, 2005.

Bemidji State (10-11-3 / 8-8-2 WCHA) will look to extend its six game unbeaten streak next weekend as the Beavers will host No. 9 Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 20-21 from the John S. Glas Fieldhouse. Faceoffs are set for 7:07 p.m. on Saturday and 2:07 p.m. on Sunday.

--beavers--