BEMIDJI, Minn. (John S. Glas Fieldhouse) —
The Bemidji State University hockey team fell behind 2-0 for the second
consecutive night and was unable complete the comeback as the Beavers
fell 2-1 to the Merrimack College Warriors. The Warriors used a
short-handed goal in the first period and a goal midway through the
second period and was able to hold off a late BSU rally to complete the
sweep.
Bemidji State out-shot Merrimack 6-4 in
the first period but the Warriors held the advantage on the scoreboard
at 1-0 going into the first intermission. Merrimack’s scored a
short-handed goal at 12:06 of the first period to give the Warriors the
1-0 lead. John Goebel intercepted an errant pass and was able to fire
the puck past BSU goaltender Matt Climie (LeDuc, Alberta) into the top of the net to give the Warriors the lead.
In
the second period the Merrimack Warriors applied as much pressure as
they had all weekend generating 12 shots on goal. Just over the half
way point of the second period Justin Bonitatibus scored his first goal
of the season to push the Warrior’s lead to 2-0. Bonitatibus
picked up loose puck in front of the Beaver net and was able to fire a
shot that beat the BSU goaltender through the legs. Matt Jones and Pat
Kimball were awarded the helpers on the eventual game winning-goal.
Bemidji
State cut the lead to 2-1 before the period was over. Merrimack’s
Grant Farrell was called for hooking at 16:53 of the third period to
give the Beavers their fifth power-play of the game. BSU would take
advantage of the man advantage and net its first power-play goal of the
season to bring the score within a one goal deficit at 2-1. The Beavers
Cody Bostock (Salmon Arm, British Columbia) fired a shot on goal from the point that the goaltender kicked aside. Travis Winter (St. Cloud, Minn.) picked up the loose puck and buried his second goal of the season. Bostock and Ryan Cramer (International Falls, Minn.) assisted on the power-play goal.
Once
again Bemidji State out-shot Merrimack in the third period, 11-5.
Bemidji State called a timeout with 1:03 left in the period to set up a
play to try and notch the game at 2-2 and send the game into overtime.
Merrimack’s Pat Kimball was called for slashing at 18:57 left in
the period and the Beavers goaltender came off to give the Beavers a
6-on-4 power-play opportunity during the last 1:00 of the game.
BSU
applied plenty of pressure but the combination of the Warriors defense
and solid goaltending by Andre Brathwaite allowed the Warriors to
garner a weekend series sweep of the Beavers. It is the first time the
Beavers have been swept at home under the tutelage of head coach Tom
Serratore. The last time the Beavers were swept at home was on Nov.
10-11, 2000 when Miami (Ohio) swept the Beavers at the John S. Glas
Fieldhouse.
Climie stopped 19 of 21 shots
faced suffering his first lost of the season for the Beavers.
Climie’s record falls to 1-1 this season. Brathwaite stopped 28
of 29 shots in net for the Warriors seeing his record improve to 1-0
this season.
Merrimack and Bemidji State
combined for 14 minor penalties for 28 minutes with BSU accumulating
just five penalties for 10 minutes while Merrimack committed nine minor
penalties for 18 minutes. Merrimack was 0-for-4 on the man advantage
while Bemidji State was 1-for-9 on the power-play.
With
the loss the Beavers fall to 3-3 all-time versus the Warriors and 2-2
at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse versus Merrimack. The Warriors are
currently on a three game winning streak versus the Beavers. The last
four meetings between the two teams have been one goal games with the
Warriors winning the last three games.
Bemidji
State (2-2-0 / 0-0-0 CHA) will face its first Western Collegiate Hockey
Association (WCHA) opponent next week when the Beavers will rekindle a
series with St. Cloud State that began in 1948, on Friday Oct. 26 and
Saturday Oct. 27 from the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.
Both games are slated to start at 7:05 p.m.
--beavers--
