MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Ridder Arena) - Bemidji State rode an outstanding performance from junior goaltender Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.) who stopped 28 shots to backstop the Beavers in a 2-0 shutout victory over No. 8 Minnesota on Friday night from Ridder Arena. With the win Bemidji State snaps a season long six game unbeaten streak.

Bemidji State started the scoring just 3:55 into the first period. Jessica Pullar (Elk River, Minn.) netted her second goal of the season with help from Jenn Sadler (Pickering, Ontario) and Wendy Bergh (Hallock, Minn.) to put the Beavers up 1-0 early in the contest. Bergh’s assists was her first career point wearing the green and white.

Bemidji State would add to it’s lead early in the second period when Jenn Sadler netted her ninth goal of the season and her second point of the game at 2:26 of the second period to give the Beavers a 2-0 lead over the Golden Gophers. Kate Robinson (Shanty Bay, Ontario) picked up the lone helper on Sadler’s goal. Sadler’s goal put her in a tie for the team lead in goals this season.

Bemidji State goaltender Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.) was strong in goal and was able to shut down the potent offensive attack of the Golden Gophers, stopping 28 shots in her second shutout of the season and her fifth shutout of her career.

“We had a solid team effort tonight, everyone contributed in this win,” said coach Steve Sertich. “Emily was outstanding in net for us and everyone won a lot of battles for us that enabled us to clear the zone when we had too.”

Minnesota outshot the Beavers 28-to-25 in the contest, shots on goal for the game were 9-to-9 in the first period, 10-to-9 in the second and 6-to-10 in the third period.

Brookshaw picked up the victory for the Beavers stopping 28 of 28 shots faced in 60:00 minutes of work, improving her record to 10-15-5 on the season. With the win Brookshaw moves into first place in most wins in a season with 10 passing Bre Dedrickson who held the record with nine wins in a season.

Brookshaw also picked up her 20th win in her career, she is just the second Bemidji State goaltender to amass 20 wins in a career. This is Brookshaw’s second win ever over the Golden Gophers. The last time Brookshaw picked up a win over the Golden Gophers was on Jan. 7, 2006 when the Beavers beat then No. 5 Minnesota 2-1 at Ridder Arena.

Kim Hanlon picked up the loss for the Golden Gophers stopping 23 of 25 shots faced in 58:30 minutes of work. With the loss Hanlon’s record falls to 7-4-0 on the season.

The teams combined for eight minor penalties. Bemidji State picked up five minor penalties for 10 minutes, while Minnesota picked up three minor penalties for just six minutes. Bemidji State went 0-for-3 on the power-play while Minnesota was 0-for-5 on the man-advantage.

This is the second time this season that the Beavers have upset a ranked opponent. The last time Bemidji State upset a ranked opponent was on Jan. 5, 2007 when the Beavers upset then No. 9 Ohio State, 2-1 in Columbus, Ohio.

With the win the Beavers are now 2-28-3 all-time versus the Golden Gophers and 2-2 in its last four games versus the Golden Gophers. The Beavers have won it’s last two games versus the Golden Gophers at Ridder Arena, the last time the Beavers beat Minnesota at Ridder Arena was on Jan. 7, 2006 when Minnesota was ranked number five in the nation, the Beavers beat Minnesota 2-1.

With the win Bemidji State now has 22 points in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play, the 22 points is the most Bemidji State has garnered in the WCHA in it’s eight year Division I era.

Bemidji State (11-15-5 / 9-12-4) will wrap up its two game series with Minnesota (19-9-1 / 16-8-1 WCHA) tomorrow afternoon at 3:07 p.m. from Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.

--beavers--