BEMIDJI, Minn. — Travis Winter (Jr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) fired shot through heavy traffic in front of the net and past the Black Knight goaltender with 3:12 to go in the third period to break a 1-1 deadlock and lift the Bemidji State men's ice hockey team to a 2-1 victory over Army Friday at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse.

The win broke the seal on the Beavers' 52nd season of hockey and helped BSU improve to 3-0 all-time versus the Black Knights.

The Beavers found themselves down 1-0 before most of the 1,382 in attendance had time to get situated in their seats. The Black Knights took a failed BSU trip into the zone and beat the Beavers back up the ice. Owen Meyer placed the first shot of the 2007-08 season over the left shoulder of Bemidji State senior goaltender Matt Climie (Leduc, Alberta) just 32-seconds after the drop of the puck.

BSU would return the favor at the 11:47 mark when Jake Bluhm (Sr., F, Red Wing, Minn.) buried a one-timer from newcomer Matt Francis (Jr., F, Surrey, British Columbia) to level the score.

The teams would come out of the intermission to play an uneventful second period. A total of 12 shots were fired on net, with each team being credited with six, and the penalty box door was never opened.

The pace quickened during the final 20 minutes.

Army looked to have taken a 2-1 lead midway through the period on a shot off the stick of Luke Flicek, as Climie was taken out. But the referee quickly waved off the goal and after a brief discussion between officials and explanations to both benches, the goal was disallowed due to a Black Knight player being in the crease.

The event was a shot in the arm for the Beaver attack as the team would pepper Josh Kassel with 12 shots in the period with Winter's first point of the season finding its way into the net. Brandon Marino (Jr., F, Riverside, Calif.) was credited with the first assist while freshman forward Matt Read (Ilderton, Ontario) earned his first collegiate point with an assist on the play.

The power-play was a non-factor Friday. A total of six penalties were called on the night with both teams coming up dry on the man advantage. The BSU penalty-killing unit successfully negated four Army opportunities while its power-play crew was 0-2.

After the first-minute stunner caught everyone on their heels, Climie compose himself and turned away 21 shots, including nine to finish the first period, to collect his 32nd career win in net for the Beavers.

Kassel finished with 22 saves while allowing two goals in 58:56 pf play.

Three times during the third period Army would leave its net open in a last-minute effort to even the score, but the extra effort was unsuccessful.

The 2-1 victory served as the prefect start to the Beavers' 52nd season of collegiate hockey. BSU improved to 38-12-2 in season-openers all time and is 4-2-1 to open a new season under head coach Tom Serratore.

The 2007-08 meeting between BSU and Army was the first head-to-head battle since the teams met to kick off the 1999-2000 season. The Beavers also won that contest, 5-2, garnering its first win at the NCAA Division I level. BSU would post a 3-0 shutout the following night to complete the series sweep in West Point.

The 1-0-0 Beavers will attempt to sweep the series and extend their winning streak over Army to four games tomorrow when the teams wrap up the season-opening series. The puck is set to drop at 7:05 p.m. a the John Glas Fieldhouse.

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