OMAHA, Neb. (Quest Center Omaha) -- Senior Ryan Cramer (F, International Falls, Minn.) recorded his first goal of the season along with an assist to figure in on both BSU goals as the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team battled back to gain a 2-2 tie versus No. 10 University Nebraska Omaha Friday at the Quest Center Omaha.  Cramer’s goal with 3:58 left in the second period erased a BSU deficit and put the Beavers in position to gain a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) point and improve to 8-11-2 overall and 4-9-2 in league play.

The Beavers were first to light the scoreboard, taking a 1-0 lead just 6:14 into the game. 

Cramer started the play with a backhanded centering pass from deep in the zone.  The pass ended up on the stick of rookie Radoslav Illo (F, Bystrica, Slovakia), who tucked the shot passed the Maverick goaltender John Falkner.

UNO battled back to knot the score at 1-1 before the period expired. 

With 6:38 left in the frame, UNO’s leading scorer Matt Ambroz took advantage of a Rich Purslow rebound kicked aside by BSU netminder Dan Bakala (Jr., Calgary, Alberta).  The senior collected the puck on the right post and as he was being pushed beyond the goal line, he flicked a shot back towards the crease and deflected off Bakala and into the back of the net. Eric Olimb was also credited with an assist on the play.

With 3:29 left in the frame, Tony Turgeon was whistled for contact to the head, took and early exit and set the Beavers up with a power-play opportunity for the remainder of the first and the first 91 seconds of the second period. 

The Mavericks’ penalty-kill stood tall on the major penalty killing all five minutes to keep the score 1-1.

An Emil Billberg (Sr., F, Stockholm, Sweden) hooking infraction at the 6:40 mark of the second gave UNO its fourth chance on the man advantage and the Mavericks converted.  Just 15 seconds into the penalty, the trio of Ambroz, Purslow and Olimb again combined for a power-play goal to give the home team the lead, 2-1.

The Beavers were out played for a large portion of the second period and were out shot 8-4 in the stanza, but BSU made good on one of four shots on net to keep the score even after 40 minutes of play.

The Beavers came back to tie the game, 2-2 just over 16 minutes into the second stanza.  Aaron McLeod (So., F, Ottawa, Ontario) started the play by corralling the puck behind the Beavers’ goal before hitting Cramer with a long pass up the center of the rink.  Cramer then got a step on the UNO defensive pair and flipped a backhand top shelf for his first goal since Mar. 13, 2010.

Each team bucked down in the third period and despite a total of 20 shots on net, 10 for each team, the score remained locked 2-2 and for the fourth time of the 2010-11 season the Beavers needed extra time to decide the game.

BSU failed to record a shot on net in the overtime period, but Bakala turned away both Maverick attempts to come out of the game with a 2-2 tie and a point in the WCHA standings.

Bakala finished the game with 30 saves, while conceding both UNO goals in 65:00 minutes.  His record moves to 7-6-1 on the season, while he has been unbeaten in seven of his last nine starts (6-2-1).  Falkner, now 12-6-2, stopped 24 shots in the tie.

For the third straight game, the BSU power-play unit was held scoreless (0-for-2), while its penalty-kill unit allowed a UNO goal on five man advantage opportunities.

The Mavericks now own a 5-3-2 record versus the Beavers all-time, while the Beavers are unbeaten in four of the last five games between the teams (3-1-1) and are 2-0-1 versus UNO as WCHA foes.

Bemidji State, now 8-11-2 overall and 4-9-2 in WCHA play, wraps up a six-game road trip to open the calendar year tomorrow versus Nebraska Omaha.  The teams will take the ice at the Quest Center for a 7:07 p.m. opening face-off.

--bsu--