MADISON, Wis. (Kohl Center) -- Up 2-0 after just 2:30 of play Friday at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team saw the University of Wisconsin score three unanswered goals, one in each period, to gain a 3-2 victory and snap the team’s wining streak at three games.

“We took it to them in the first, said BSU head coach Tom Serratore. The second period, I think territorially, we had an advantage even though we shot ourselves in the foot in the last 2:30, but the third period wasn’t very good.

“It’s a little disappointing, but I thought, overall, we played pretty well.”

The Beavers jumped out to a lead just 2:01 after the drop of the puck.  UW’s Jordy Murray was called for interference, but before the Badgers could gain control of the puck, BSU skated an extra attacker onto the ice and Radoslav Illo (Fr., F, Bystrica, Slovakia) took passes from Dan MacIntyre (Sr., D, Fort Frances, Ontario) and Shea Walters (Jr., F, Hibbing, Minn.) and flipped a backhand over the Wisconsin goaltender Scott Gudmandson and into the net.  

The marker marked the second game in BSU’s last three that the team has potted an extra-attacker goal.

With Murray in the penalty box it took the Beavers just 29 seconds to build a two-goal lead, 2-0.  In his first collegiate visit to his hometown, Jordan George (So., F, Madison, Wis.) got his friends and family on their feet when he netted a power-play goal from Ian Lowe (Sr., F, Bradwardine, Manitoba) and the Beavers’ Division I-era all-time leading scorer Matt Read (Sr., F, Ilderton, Ontario), who pulled ahead of Luke Erickson (2003-07) with the helper.  Read now has 50-72=122 points during 125 games of his collegiate career.

But the celebration was short-lived. The Badgers cut the lead in half, 2-1, before the end of the first period. Craig Smith capitalized on a penalty to Read at the 12:16 mark as he netted the first power-play goal allowed by BSU in 37:46 of penalty time--a streak stretching 20 opponent opportunities in six games since Nov. 20.

Despite being out played for most of the second period, and out shot 7-1 in the first 10 minutes of the frame, the Badgers got the only goal of the session setting up a 20 minute race to the victory.   

Pogde Turnbull knotted the game at 2-2 with an even-strength marker on a wrist shot from the blue line that went off the fingertips of BSU netminder and reigning WCHA Defensive Player of the Week Dan Bakala (Jr., G, Calgary, Alberta) at the 12:12 mark.

The goal would stand as the fulcrum point of the game as momentum would swing in favor of Wisconsin.

The Badgers caught a break with 2:32 to play in the period when Walters was whistled for a five-minute checking from behind penalty, serving the nation’s second-ranked power-play up with a five-minute man advantage.  BSU snuffed out the first 2:33 of penalty-time before the end of the second, but the Badgers still have over two minutes on the man advantage to open the third period.

The Beavers would kill off the rest of major, but before the BSU player escape the box and get back into play, and with Brad Hunt (Jr., D, Ridge Meadows, British Columbia) just 30 seconds into interference penalty, Smith would net his second power-play goal of the night to give the Badgers a 3-2 lead.

From that point, UW packed it in limiting Bemidji State’s quality looks.  Gudmandson and the Badgers held off a late BSU charge as the Beavers elected to pull Bakala late, but Bemidji State was unable to find the net and dropped the first half of the series by one goal, 3-2.

Wisconsin tallied a pair of goals on five (2-5) power-play opportunities, while it held BSU to one marker on three (1-3) chances on the man advantage.

Gudmandson turned away 25 BSU shots and allowed two goals in 60 minutes between the pipes to improve to 6-5-1 on the season, while Bakala made 25 saves in 58:39 in net, but conceded three goals, saw his personal three-game winning streak in net come to an end and fell to 4-5-0 in 2010-11.

The win gives the Badgers a 2-0-0 edge in the all-time series.  Wisconsin also earned a 4-0 victory in the first meeting between the teams, Mar. 25, 2006, in the semifinal game of the NCAA Midwest Regional.  The Badgers now hold a 1-0-0 edge in games played in Madison, Wis.

BSU, 5-9-1 overall and 4-8-1 in WCHA play, looks to salvage a series split tomorrow as the same two teams meet.  The Badgers, now 9-7-3; 5-6-2 WCHA, host the Beavers at the Kohl Center for the series finale beginning at 7:07 p.m.

--bsu--