ST. CLOUD, Minn. (National Hockey Center) —
In a tremendous performance by Bemidji State University defensively,
the team’s struggles to score continue as the Beavers out shot
St. Cloud State University 40-29 in a 2-1 loss to the Huskies before
6,002 in the front end of a two-game non-conference set at the National
Hockey Center Friday.
The Beavers blocked 22
SCSU shots making it difficult for the Huskies to get many good
opportunities and often sparking a BSU run back down the ice for a
quality scoring chance on the opposite end of the Olympic-sized ice
sheet. Despite multiple chances on the St. Cloud State doorstep, the
Beavers were able to salvage only Tyler Scofield’s
(Jr., F, Prince George, British Columbia) first goal of the season as
the SCSU goaltender, Jase Wesloski, made 39 saves to single-handedly
keep SCSU in the game and earn a victory and the first stat of the game
along the way.
In a strange first 20 minutes
of play, the Beavers out shot the Huskies 12-8 and halted all three of
the St. Cloud State power-play opportunities.
The Beavers looked to have taken a lead during the 15th minute of the period when Blaine Jarvis (Sr., F, Gladstone, Manitoba) found Matt Pope
(Sr., C, Langley, British Columbia) form the corner for a one-timer in
front of the net on the power play. But further review of the goal
showed that Pope kicked the puck into the net and the goal was
disallowed by the referee leveling the score at 0-0.
The
Huskies also had their chances in the first. SCSU had four quality
scoring opportunities, the best of which came a man short. The
Huskies’ defense came up with the puck and Nate Dey took a long
pass up the ice off the board and looked to have BSU goaltender Orlando Alamano
(Jr., Fresno, Calif.) on his back, but Alamano swept the puck off the
line to stop the short-handed opportunity and keep the Huskies out of
the scoring column.
In the second period, the
Beaver defensive unit continued to control the contest rarely allowing
the puck to reach the BSU goaltender, but when Garret Roe snapped a
shot from the top of the left circle with 20-seconds to go in the SCSU
power play and just over nine minutes to play in the period, it found
the upper corner of the net just over Alamano’s right shoulder to
break the 0-0 deadlock.
Scofield evened the
score at 1-1 seven minutes later when he stepped between a pair of SCSU
defenders to steal a pass and flip the puck over the Huskies’
goaltender for the second unassisted goal of his career and his first
point of the 2007-08 campaign.
The goal would
turn out to be the only point the Beavers recorded in the game marking
the first time since Jan. 12, 2007 the Beavers have recorded just one
point in a game--ironically Scofield also recorded the goal in that
contest.
Entering the second intermission, the
game seemed to be in the hands of the Beavers despite the 1-1 score.
BSU was out shooting SCSU at a two-to-one clip (32-16) and had 17
quality scoring chances to the Huskies nine. But the Huskies would come
out of the break and change their own fortunes.
SCSU
shrunk the shot differential by out shooting the Beavers 12-3
eventually leading to the game-winning goal. Michael Olson took a pass
from Dey and Ryan Lasch and fired and a wrist shot between the pads of
Alamano to put the Huskies ahead for good.
With 1:26 left on the clock, BSU head coach Tom Serratore
called a time out to rally his team and attempt to formulate a strategy
to take the Huskies to overtime, but in the end the Beavers came up
short dropping their third straight game by a single goal, 2-1.
Although
the teams combined for 11 minor penalties, six for the Beavers and five
for SCSU, the power-play played only a small role in the contest.
Roe’s first period power-play goal was the only success either
team had on the man advantage as each team managed only nine shots and
the squads combined to go 1-for-11.
Alamano
saved 27 of 29 shots faced in goal for the Beavers including a pair of
superb SCSU short-handed scoring opportunities. He turned aside all
eight shots in the first period, seven of eight in the second and 12 of
13 in the third. He played 58:40 as the Beavers went with an extra
attacker for the game’s final 1:25. He took the loss and dropped
to 1-1-0 on the year.
Wesloski went the
distance for the Huskies, saving 39 of 40 shots faced allowing only
Scofield’s second-period lamplighter. He improved to 2-2-0 with
the victory.
The BSU loss allows SCSU to
shrink the Beavers handle on the all-tie series to 42-34-3 since the
series began during the 1947-48 season. It also extends a Huskies
winning streak over BSU to 12 games and holds BSU winless at the
National Hockey Center in seven tries.
The Beavers, 2-3-0 on the
season, look to put an end to their current three-game losing skid
tomorrow a when they attempt to avoid the Huskies’ sweep at the
National Hockey Center. The opening face off of the series finale is
slated for 7:07 p.m.
Notes:
BSU is now 3-21-2 on Olympic ice in the Division I-era... BSU’s
last win on a 200x100 rink came at Colorado College Dec. 29, 2006...
Alamano’s streak of holding opponents scoreless to begin the
season ended after 89:32... BSU’s current three-game losing
streak is its longest since a four-game skid between Jan. 12 and 20 of
last season... It is just the third skid of three games or more since
the beginning of the 2003-04 season... With 40 shots on goal tonight,
the Beavers tie a 5-2 loss versus Minnesota Duluth and a 2-0 loss at
Findlay for ninth-highest number of shots on goal in a loss since
1999-2000... BSU has out shot its opponents 105-61 in the last three
contests--BSU is 0-3 in those games.
--bsu--
