BEMIDJI, Minn. – The No. 7 Bemidji State women's hockey team lost a tight contest to No. 3 University of Minnesota, 2-1 Friday night. Sophomore Ciscely Nelson scored the lone Beaver goal and junior Brittni Mowat made 25 saves as the Beavers fall to 17-8-2 (12-8-1 WCHA).

The Gophers opened the scoring when Sydney Baldwin threw the puck in front of the net and bounced in off a Beaver defender midway through the first period. However, the Beavers weren’t phased and responded 4:21 later when Nelson put home a rebound off of a shot by Alexis Joyce.

Both teams were sound defensively throughout the game and entered the final period tied 1-1. After receiving a power play with 16 seconds left in the second, Minnesota started the third with 1:44 left of a power play. The nations top power play unit capitalized and scored when Cara Piazza deflected a shot by Milica McMillen from the point.

Bemidji State battled with the Gophers for the remainder of the period but Amanda Leveille and the Gopher defense turned aside every Beaver attempt at an equalizer.

Mowat stopped 25-of-27 shots by Minnesota and earned her eighth loss of the season to push her record to 17-8-1 while Leveille made 16 saves to improve her record to 17-3-0.

Bemidji State and Minnesota will play their final regular season meeting tomorrow at 4:07 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates with them and participate in a free skate with the Beavers following the game.

For more information on the Bemidji State hockey program, follow the Beavers on Twitter (@BSUBeavers), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers) or sign up for the TXTUpdates from BSUBeavers.com text-messaging system through the "Multimedia" pull down menu on the main page of BSUBeavers.com.

Nestled in Northern Minnesota’s wooden region and located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, BSU sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

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