BEMIDJI, Minn. - Seniors Monica Rawlings (C, Maplewood, Minn.) and Brooke Collins (D, Pilot Mound, Manitoba) played their final game at John Glas Fieldhouse, but the Bemidji State University women’s hockey team lost its home finale 4-1 to St. Cloud State University Saturday afternoon.

The Huskies (14-14-4, 11-12-3-2 WCHA) jumped out to a quick lead just 2:14 into the contest when Kelly Meierhofer found the back of the net off an assist to Amy Currier. With 1:09 remaining in the first stanza, Megan McCarthy scored an unassisted goal and SCSU took a 2-0 advantage into the first intermission.

Thirteen minutes into the second, Sammy Nixon scored off an assist to Caitlin Hogan, and Bemidji State (6-21-5, 3-20-3-2 WCHA) found itself in a 3-0 hole.

After a high sticking call late in the second, the Beavers were able to cut into the deficit when Erin Johnson (So., LW, Farmington, Minn.) took a blistering pass through the crease from Erin Cody (So., RW, Roseville, Minn.) and lit the lamp for her ninth marker of the season. Annie Bauerfeld (So., LW, Woodbury, Minn.) recorded the second assist after she initially touched the puck to Cody down in the corner.

Bemidji State turned a 3-1 deficit into a 3-3 tie Friday, but the team would not be so lucky this day on the Beaver pond. Hogan scored 13:42 into the third with an assist to Brita Schroeder, and the home team was never able to find the net again.

BSU netminder Zuzana Tomcikova (Fr., Bratislava, Slovakia) played 57:40, saving 28 shots and allowing four goals to fall to 5-18-4 on the year. Ashley Nixon (10-11-3) was steady between the pipes for St. Cloud State, and she recorded the win on the strength of 28 saves and only one goal allowed.

Cody has now recorded double digit goals (11) and assists (10) in conference play this season, and she becomes just the third player in school history to accomplish this feat. Amber Fryklund (2000-01 and 2001-02) and Kerri McEwen (1999-00) are the only other players to have done this.

Cody and Johnson are the first Beaver tandem to reach the 20-point plateau since the 2005-06 season.

The Beavers have now scored 16 power-play goals this season, which doubles the man-advantage production from last year.

Bemidji State has now secured the eighth spot in the WCHA this season with one week remaining in the regular season, and the team will travel in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs to play whoever finishes in the top spot in the regular season. Minnesota currently holds that position, but Wisconsin trails by only one point.

The Beavers will return to action next weekend (Feb. 20-21) when they travel to Madison, Wisc., to do battle with the No. 2-ranked Badgers. Both games will begin at 2:07 p.m. and will be played at the Kohl Center.

2009 SENIOR CLASS CAREER INFORMATION
Monica Rawlings -
WCHA Scholar Athlete (2007-08, 2006-07) - Academic All-WCHA (2007-08, 2006-07)
131 career games, 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points

Brooke Collins -
WCHA Scholar Athlete (2007-08, 2006-07) - Academic All-WCHA (2007-08, 2006-07) - WCHA All-Rookie Team (2005-06)
140 career games, 6 goals, 21 assists, 27 points
Collins holds the school record for most consecutive games played and is four games shy of breaking the school record for games played in a career.
Fourth all-time in goals by a defenseman, third all-time in points by a defenseman, second all-time in assists by a defenseman.

 

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