HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Von Braun Center) -- The result may not match the desires of the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team, but the Beavers got a third-period, power-play goal from Ian Lowe (Jr., F, Bradwardine, Manitoba) to knot the score at 2-2 and force overtime. Unable to score in the extra frame, BSU escaped the Von Braun Center with a tie versus University of Ala.-Huntsville to cap the 2009-10 College Hockey America regular season.

“Obviously you want to win,” said BSU head coach Tom Serratore.  “But a tie is better than a loss and I think that is how we have to look at it because I think we were very fortunate to get a tie tonight.  We couldn’t get anything generated and we couldn’t get anything going no matter what we tried.  We just had no legs.”

Trailing, 2-1, with 10:19 to go in the game, Bemidji State got the break it needed in spite of its struggles.  The Chargers’ Ruffini was called for a hooking penalty to set up the Beavers’ second power-play opportunity of the contest.  Ian Lowe (Jr., F, Bradwardine, Manitoba) converted the chance into a game-tying goal with 9:01 remaining in regulation one-timing a heady pass from Brad Hunt (So., D, Ridge Meadows, British Columbia).  

Urgency then kicked in for Bemidji State and the Beavers applied tremendous pressure in the game’s final nine minutes and throughout overtime, but were unable to produce the game-winner settling for their first draw of the 18-game CHA season.

With the tie, the Beavers close out the regular season with a 23-8-3 overall record and a 14-3-1 mark in conference play.  BSU, the league’s regular-season champion and No. 1 seed, enters next weekend’s CHA Tournament riding a two-game unbeaten streak.

Bemidji State, which dominated play early in the game, skated to the locker room after the first period of play, gripping a 1-0 lead.

Junior forward Matt Read (Ilderton, Ontario) extended his scoring streak to a season-high six games 9:57 into the first.  He skated the puck into the zone, threw a shot on net and bounced his team-leading 19th goal of the season off the arm of the UAH goaltender Cameron Talbot to give the Beavers the first lead of the game, 1-0.

During the second period, the Chargers had their way with BSU.  Ala.-Huntsville out shot the Beavers 17-6, potting a pair of goals to carry a 2-1 advantage into the final 20 minutes of regulation.

Neil Ruffini tied the game, 1-1, in the final moments of a power-play chance, just 2:58 into the period, slipping a shot through traffic and between the legs of BSU’s netminder Dan Bakala (So., G, Calgary, Alberta).  

The Chargers got a tap in from Chris Fairbanks with 4:19 left to bookend the second period with goals and give the hosts a one-goal cushion  with a period to play.

The Beavers remained unable to generate any scoring through the first 10 minutes of the third stanza before Lowe and Hunt capitalized on the Charger penalty to push the score to a 2-2 deadlock and force overtime.

Setting up the game-tying goal, Hunt’s assists total swells to 24, establishing a new BSU Division I-era record.  He surpasses his own BSU standard for assists by a defenseman set last winter (23).

The BSU penalty-kill continues to stand tall, holding UAH scoreless on four power-play opportunities, while BSU was 1-for-2 in its chances up a man.

Moving to 19-6-3 on the season, Bakala stopped 25 UAH shots and allowed two goals in 65:00 between the pipes for BSU.

In the other goal, Talbot turned away 30 shots in 65 minutes to garner the tie.

The Beavers now hold a 35-27-4 lead in the all-time series including a 5-0-1 mark versus UAH in 2009-10. Since Mar. 3, 2006, BSU is an impressive 23-2-3 versus UAH and is unbeaten by the Chargers in 18 of the last 19 meetings with includes the last 12 consecutively (11-0-1).

Bemidji State opens the “second season” next weekend as it competes for an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament in the 2010 CHA Tournament at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.  The top-seeded Beavers will play No. 4 Niagara University at 6 p.m. (CST), while Robert Morris University, the second seed, will battle No. 3 Ala.-Huntsville in the other semifinal at 2 p.m. (CST) Friday.  Semifinal winners will advance to the CHA Championship at 7 p.m. Saturday.  

--bsu--