GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Ralph Engelstad Arena) -- Trailing 2-0 with 6:55 left in the third period, Aaron McLeod (Jr., F, Ottawa, Ontario) potted his ninth goal of the season on the power-play to draw the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team to within a goal, but University of North Dakota would respond 63 seconds later to put the game out of reach and take the first of the best-of-three Western Collegiate Hockey Association opening-round playoff series 4-1 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
In a game that was much closer than the final score indicated, the Beavers out shot the Fighting Sioux 29-23, which included a 13-5 margin in the second period alone, and had as many quality scoring chances as they have in a game all season.
Trailing 1-0 to open the second after a power-play goal by Connor Gaarder at the 17:10 mark of the first, the Beavers carried play in the frame but would have little to show for it.
The Beavers began the period short a man for 1:21 due to a Jordan George (Jr., F, Madison, Wis.) penalty that carried into the second. BSU not only kept the Fighting Sioux off the scoreboard, it had a pair of scoring opportunities, including one of two shots that senior defenseman Brad Hunt (Sr., D, Ridge Meadows, British Columbia) rung of the post on the night.
The BSU bench used the momentum gained from its penalty-kill unit to set the tone for the period.
Midway through the second UND was called for back-to-back penalties supplying the Beavers with two power-play opportunities just 46 seconds apart sandwiching a goal by Corban Knight that put UND up 2-0 at the 13:47 mark.
Although BSU created several scoring chances on the man advantage, North Dakota goaltender Aaron Dell stood tall turning aside all 13 of BSU’s second-period shots to send the Fighting Sioux into the third period owning a two-goal lead.
BSU would get the break it needed 11:24 into the third period when Stephane Pattyn was called for tripping. The penalty set the Beavers up with their third power-play chance of the night and with 20 seconds left on the man advantage, McLeod found the back of the net on a wrist shot set up nicely by Danny Mattson (Fr., F, Minneapolis, Minn.) and Brady Wacker (Jr., D, Jansen, Saskatchewan).
Down just a goal with all the momentum, BSU seemed poised for an upset, but MacMillian and UND would end those hopes with a goal at the 14:05 mark and would follow with an empty-net tally with 55 seconds to play to settle the score at 4-1.
The Beavers finished the night 1-for-3 on the power-play, while the Fighting Sioux scored on two of their four man advantage opportunities.
Dell won the goaltending duel making 28 stops and allowing just the McLeod goal in 60:00 minutes of play. On the other end Dan Bakala (Sr., G, Calgary, Alberta) matched Dell highlight save for highlight save, posting a total of 19 stops, but fell to 11-12-2 on the season after allowing three UND goals in 59:11 between the pipes.
North Dakota continued its dominance in the all-time series. Dating back to 1970, the Fighting Sioux have now won 23 of 26 meetings (23-2-1) and hold a 15-1-1 record when hosting the Beavers in Grand Forks, N.D.
Now 17-17-3 overall, the ninth-seeded Beavers have their backs against the wall and will take to the ice versus nationally-ranked North Dakota (21-12-3) tomorrow in a win-or-home contest. The opening face off of game two is set for 7:07 p.m.
The winner of the opening-round series earns a berth into the WCHA/Red Baron Final Five at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. March 15-17.
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