BEMIDJI, Minn. - After three weeks of being away from home, the Bemidji State University women’s hockey returned to John Glas Fieldhouse Friday night to be treated to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the No. 2-ranked University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

UM moves to 8-2-1 overall and 7-1-1 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action this season, while BSU drops to 1-8-2 overall and 0-7 in the WCHA.

The Beavers played some of their best hockey of the season in the first period, and even held a slight shot advantage midway through the frame. There were very little stoppages of play, and after a fast first it was 0-0 with Minnesota holding a slim 14-9 shot advantage.

The second period was a little more of a struggle after the Gophers amped up their offensive attack. They only took one more shot than what they had in the first, but held possession for much longer stretches and conceded just two shots.

Two Beavers entered the box in the second, and they even had to kill off a 5-on-3 early in the frame. They did so successfully, but prior to that they gave up a tip-in goal from Emily West after Kelly Seeler rifled a shot from the point 1:05 into the period. Monique Lamoureux assisted on the goal as well, and also would become a factor on a goal later in the game.

Despite being outshot 19-11 in the first two periods, a strong effort from a fiesty BSU squad gave the home team just a 1-0 deficit.

Unfortunately, the third period was when the wheels came off.

Minnesota fired shot after seemingly endless shot to the tune of 20 in the third, and were able to sneak two past BSU’s Zuzana Tomcikova (Fr., Bratislava, Slovakia). Terra Rasmussen netted her second goal of the season 6:47 into the frame off assists from Melanie Gagnon and Kelli Blankenship, and Lamoureux trickled an unassisted shot through Tomcikova’s five-hole at the 8:44 mark.

The two teams skated out the rest of the period with clean sheets, and the Gophers left with the 3-0 win in front of a season-high crowd of 561.

Bemidji State allowed three goals, but left the game with some positives. For instance, three of UM’s four leading scorers this season - Jocelyne Lamoureux, Gigi Marvin and Bemidji native Sarah Erickson - were all held pointless despite combining for 18 shots. BSU also did not concede a power-play goal for the first time in conference action this season. The Gophers were 0-for-4 on the power play and Bemidji State went 0-for-2 with a man advantage.

Tomcikova, a recent qualifier for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, was one shy off her career-high with 46 saves, and fell to 1-6-1 this season.

Lexy Parenteau (So., Franconia, Minn.) led the Beavers in shots with three, and four other members of the home squad were able to get off multiple looks on net.

The two teams will wrap up the series at 2:07 p.m. Saturday at the Glas.

--bsu--