BEMIDJI, Minn. - The Bemidji State University men's hockey team earned a 3-1 victory over Bowling Green State University Sunday evening (March 6) to earn the best-of-three series victory over the Falcons and earn a trip to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association semifinals. Freshman goaltender Mattias Sholl turned aside 23-of-24 shots by Bowling Green to lead the Beavers to victory.

Bemidji State will now travel to Houghton, Mich., to face-off with second-seed Michigan Technological University Saturday, March 12 for a one-game, do-or-die battle for a trip to the CCHA Championship game.

Fans knew they were in for a defensive minded game after the first period went scoreless between the two teams. However, just 1:54 into the second period the Beavers broke through the Falcons' defenses after a tic-tac-toe passing play between Owen Sillinger and Eric Martin propelled Ethan Somoza to a great scoring opportunity and he fired the puck past goaltender Christian Stoever for his 10^th goal of the season.

Bemidji State would carry the one-goal lead into the final period in thanks to some tremendous saves by Sholl including stopping Bowling Green's Alex Barber on two breakaway chances. However, 7:43 into the third period, the Falcons finally bested the freshman netminder when Evan Dougherty scored his third goal of the season to tie the game at one. The Beavers remained unfazed and just 2:30 later, sophomore Lukas Sillinger tapped in a cross-crease pass from senior Alex Ierullo after he forced a neutral zone turnover. The goal was Sillinger's 15^th of the season and Ierullo's 25^th assist.

Bemidji State's defense was tremendous all game long and that continued for the remaining 10 minutes of the game. The Beavers held the Falcons to just three shots on goal after the Falcons' marker and the Beavers' defenders also stepped up to block five shots during that span. Bemidji State then clinched the victory when Owen Sillinger forced a turnover after losing a rare face-off and threw the puck into the empty net with just 32 seconds remaining and send the Beavers to the next round of the CCHA Playoffs.

Bemidji State's defense totaled 18 blocked shots in the game including three from senior Brad Johnson. That led to the Beavers finishing with more shots on goal and earned a 28-24 advantage over the Falcons.

Sholl earned his 12^th win of the season for the Beavers to improve to 12-12-0 this season while his counterpart, Stoever, ends his season with a 9-18-1 record after stopping 25-of-27 shots.

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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 hockey in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and women's hockey in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

--bsu--