BEMIDJI, Minn. (John S. Glas Fieldhouse) — The Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team got multiple-point efforts from three players while senior goaltender Matt Climie (Leduc, Alberta) stopped 31 shots en route to his eighth career shutout Saturday as the Beavers salvaged a series split with No. 18 Niagara, 3-0, at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse.

The victory, BSU’s first since Oct. 13th, ended the Beavers’ longest losing skid since they lost five straight in the final month of the 2002-03 campaign, snapped a five-game winless streak versus the Purple Eagles dating back to Oct. 27th of last season and a put to rest a strand of three straight losses at the Glas.

In a first period of play dominated by the Beavers, senior center Matt Pope (Langley, British Columbia) got the Beavers on the board during the 11th minute. Blaine Jarvis (Sr., F, Gladstone, Manitoba) drug the puck into the zone and centered it to the slot. Joey Moggach (So., F, Brandon, Manitoba) took a swipe at the puck sliding it across the front of the net to Pope, who was on the left door step. Pope put a shot on goal that was blocked by the Niagara goaltender, but the rebound bounced right back to the senior who found the back of the net for the eventual game-winner and the first of his two goals on the night.

BSU skated into the first intermission up 1-0 having out shot the visiting Purple Eagles 15-8 during the first 20 minutes.

In a cleanly played second stanza during which the penalty box doors were never opened, the Beavers added to their lead 6:49 in when Jarvis scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season with help from Moggach and Cody Bostock (Salmon Arm, British Columbia). Climie turned away all 12 NU shots to give the Beavers a 2-0 cushion heading into the final period.

Bemidji State was out shot 11-5 in the third, but the Beavers made good on one of those shots as Pope recorded his second career multi-goal game beating the NU goaltender for his second goal of the night with just under 12 minutes to play. Senior forward Jake Bluhm (Red Wing, Minn.) and Moggach were credited with assists on the play.

Moggach finished the night having a hand in each of the Beavers’ three goals marking a new career-high for the sophomore.

In the shut out, Climie turned away 12 NU shots in the first, 11 during the second and five in the final 20 minutes of play. He improved to 2-1-0 on the season working 59:51 between the pipes and holding he Purple Eagles without a goal for the first time since Robert Morris blanked NU January 29, 2005.

Niagara’s Adam Avramenko posted 28 saves while allowing three goals to even his record to 1-1-0 in the loss.

In addition to Climie’s’ solid defensive effort, the Beavers blocked 20 Niagara shot attempts and the BSU penalty kill held the Purple Eagles in the check for the second consecutive night stymieing all three NU opportunities.

Niagara (5-2-0 overall; 1-1-0 CHA) falls to 5-8-5 all-time in Bemidji, Minn. while the Beavers climb to 12-17-7 in the all-times series with the Purple Eagles.

Bemidji State, 3-5-0 on the season and 1-1-0 in CHA play, next hits the road for one of its three, four-game road swings this season. The Beavers continue league play next weekend (Nov. 9-10) when they travel to Huntsville, Ala. for a two-game series versus the University of Alabama-Huntsville. The puck is slated to drop at 5:30 p.m. Friday with a 4 p.m. matinee Saturday.

Notes: BSU has not been out shot by its opponent this season... The Beavers have now out shot their opponents by a 260-1584 margin... Failing to net a power-play goal in the series, BSU is now 2-33 on the man advantage in 2007-08... With his eighth career shut out, Climie comes to within one of tying Jim Scanlan (1978-82) and Blaine Comstock (1967-71) for the top spot on BSU’s all-time shut outs list... With 2-0=2 points Saturday, Matt Pope surpassed Miles Kuharski (2002-05) and Peter Jonsson (2002-05) to climb into 14th place on BSU Division I-era scoring list with 53 points... Blaine Jarvis moved into 18th place (49 pts) on the Division I-era scoring charts with 2-1=3 points in the series... The shut out marks just the second time BSU has kept Niagara off the scoreboard since the series began in 1999... The BSU penalty kill unit has now held opponents scoreless on the power play in five of its eight contests... Jarvis and Moggach have each recorded at least point in each of the last two games.... Jarvis is riding a two-game goal streak while Moggach has recorded an assist in each of the last two.

--bsu--