MANKATO, Minn. - The Bemidji State University women’s hockey team received two power-play goals from
Annie Bauerfeld
(Fr., Woodbury, Minn.) against Minnesota State University, Mankato, but
the Beavers were unable to hold on to the early advantage, falling 5-2
to the Mavericks Saturday afternoon at All Seasons Arena.
Bauerfeld got Bemidji State on the board early with a goal just 4:58 into the first frame. BSU was on the power play, and Erin Cody
(Fr., Roseville, Minn.) was controlling the puck behind the MSU goal.
She passed it up the boards, who whipped it to the top of the zone to Ashley Leopold
(So., Afton, Minn.). Leopold faked out a defender, and passed it over
to Bauerfeld, who rifled a shot into the back of the net.
The
Beavers came out of the gates on fire Saturday, not giving the
Mavericks many decent looks on net. They only attempted five
opening-period shots and were unable to get on the board.
Bemidji
State looked like a team ready to come away with a victory, and
Bauerfeld added an insurance goal 2:48 into the second on a 5-on-3
opportunity. There was a scrap at the goal after one of the Beavers
took a shot, and Bauerfeld was able to find the puck and beat the MSU
goaltender for the second time in the game. Julie Rising (Fr., Millbrae, Calif.) and Erin Johnson
(Fr., Farmington, Minn.) assisted on the goal that gave BSU a 2-0 lead.
It was also Bauerfeld’s first career two-goal game.
That was pretty much when the wheels came off for the Beavers.
Kala
Buganski, Christina Lee and Maggie Fisher all scored goals in the last
five minutes of the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Amanda Stohr,
Nina Tikkinen, Fisher, Kristina Bunker and Ashley Young all had assists
on the three goals.
Bauerfeld had another
breakaway opportunity midway through the third period to try and tie
the game up, but her shot hit the left leg of the goaltender, and BSU
was unable to find a game-tying goal.
Lee
scored two more goals late in the game to give the Mavericks (10-17-1,
9-14-1 WCHA) the 5-2 victory, and send the Beavers back home with a
seven-game losing streak. Lee recorded the first hat trick for MSU
since Oct. 17, 2003, and it was the second hat trick allowed this year
for Bemidji State. Tikkinen and Lisa Edman (2) had assists on
Lee’s two third-period goals.
Jennifer Bauer
(Fr., St. Catharines, Ontario) received her second career start in
Western Collegiate Hockey Association play. She shut out the Mavericks
before giving up the three second period goals, and the two late goals.
Bauer had 17 saves in her second WCHA start. Bauerfeld made MSU
goaltender Britni Kehler look bad early in the game, but she was still
able to pull out the victory, saving 19 shots.
The
Beavers scored twice on the power play, which equaled the number of
power-play goals they had all season in conference play coming into the
game. Both teams went 2-for-6 on the man-advantage.
MSU outshot BSU 22-21 and won faceoffs 39-32.
The
Beavers (4-23-3, 1-21-2 WCHA) will look for a victory next weekend when
they travel to Madison, Wisc., to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. The
last time these two teams hooked up, they played to a 0-0 tie at John
Glas Fieldhouse when the Badgers were ranked No. 2 in the country. The
first game will be played in Madison at the Kohl Center with a start
time of 7:07 p.m. The second game will be played in Verona, Wisc., and
the puck will drop on that contest at 3:07 p.m. The game will be
broadcast by Kelly Schultz on ListentotheBeavers.com.
--bsu--
