BEMIDJI, Minn. (John S. Glas Fieldhouse) - Through the clutter of 24 penalties whistled for a total of 83 minutes, Matt Climie’s (Sr., G, Leduc, Alberta) school-record 12th career shutout propelled the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team (12-11-3/9-2-3) to a 4-0 victory over College Hockey America foe Robert Morris University (10-9-3/5-3-2) Saturday night in front of 1,618 at the John Glas Fieldhouse.

For BSU, eleven different players had a hand in the scoring on the night, but Matt Francis’ (Surrey, British Columbia) forth marker of the season was all the Beavers would as Climie turned away all 19 RMU shots to match Jack Horner’s Beaver Hockey record for shutouts in a season with five. Horner set the record during the 1976-77 season.

The Beavers and Colonials spent most of the first period feeling each other out, but when RMU’s David Boguslawski and BSU’s Brandon Marino (Jr., F, Riverside, Calif.) were sent to the box for roughing at the 19:42 mark of the period, the ice opened up and the Beavers took the early 1-0 lead.

The Colonials sent the put down the ice after digging it out of the far side corner. Tyler Lehrke (So., F, Park Rapids, Minn.) intercepted the pass just outside the BSU offensive zone and skated the puck down the slot before firing a shot off of goaltender Christian Boucher. Francis followed, gobbled up the rebound and flipped it past Boucher for the 4-on-4 goal with just five seconds remaining in the period.

The Beavers went up 2-0 12:41 into the second period when Graham McManamin (So., D, Anchorage, Alaska) netted his second marker of the season finding the back of the net on a slap shot form the point as the Beavers were cycling the puck around the zone. Assists were credited to Matt Read (Fr., F, Ilderton, Ontario) and Tyler Scofield (Jr., F, Prince George, British Columbia) on the play.

BSU held the lead and skated into the second intermission with a two-goal advantage over the visiting Colonials.

The game was physical from the opening face off, but during the final 20 minutes, the level of physical play was elevated. Sixty-five minutes were served in the box for 11 penalties between the teams. Robert Morris took the brunt of the calls as four players received 10-minute misconduct penalties including a game misconduct to Kyle Frieday for checking from behind.

The Beavers made the best of their time on the man advantage. Both Matt Pope (Sr., C, Langley, British Columbia) and Travis Winter (Jr., C, St. Cloud, Minn.) potted power-play goals with Winters’ team-leading fourth power-play marker of the season coming in a 5-on-3 situation.

In all, BSU was 2-for-8 (.250) on the man advantage while holding the Colonials scoreless on five attempts. Combined, the Beavers’ special teams lead the nation clicking at a 56.2 percent efficiency rate.

Climie improved to 10-4-3 on the season with the win and is a scorching 9-1-3 in league play. The blanking of RMU not only extends his own career shutout mark at the school, it also vaults him past Grady Hunt (2001-2004) and into sole possession of the top spot on BSU’s Division I-era wins list with 41.

Making 19 saves on 19 shots, he climes to eighth in the nation in save percentage (.930) while is goals against average dropped to 1.69 to place him third among all NCAA Division I goaltenders this season.

Boucher turned away 37 shots in the loss allowing all four BSU goals. The blemish dips his 2007-08 record to 10-4-3.

The Beavers peppered Boucher with shots all night and finished the game owning a 41-19 shots-on-net advantage. BSU, which has been out shot just four times in 2007-08, increased its season lead to 820-629 (+191).

The three-point weekend snaps a three-game losing streak to the Colonials and stretches BSU’s lead in the all-time series to 9-5-1. Saturday’s victory also gives the Beavers (21) an extra two-points of separation between them and third-place Robert Morris (12) in the season standings which could give BSU a bit a breathing room down the stretch as the Colonials still hold four games in hand.

Bemidji State, now 12-11-3 overall and 9-2-3 in league play, hosts Wayne State University (7-17-2/3-7-0) for a two-game CHA set to wrap up the current four-game homestand. The series is slated to start at 7:35 p.m. Friday with a 7:05 p.m. drop of the puck for the season finale Saturday. Both games will be played at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse.

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