Jan. 18, 2008

[box score]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (World Arena) - Bemidji State University sophomore forward Chris McKelvie (New Brighton, Minn.) recorded the first pure hat trick at BSU in more than 50 years, but it was not enough as No. 3 Colorado College erased a 4-2 deficit with a trio of third-period goals to escape with a 5-4 victory.

The loss may have come to one of the elite teams in college hockey, but the Beavers didn’t make the trip to Colorado to concede wins and see how they measured up to the nationally-ranked. They made the trip with the intention of gaining wins. The last time the Beavers faced the Tigers was just a year ago. BSU split with the then-ranked No. 8 Tigers.

Disappointed in the outcome, BSU head coach Tom Serratore commented, “Sure its disappointing. Anytime you lose a 4-2 lead going into the third period, it is unacceptable...I don’t care who you are playing.”

However, there was a bright spot in the game for the Beavers. Heading into the second period, the Beavers trailed 2-1, but 5:31 into the stanza, McKelvie would net his fourth goal of the season to kick-start the three-goal outing. He would add two more before the 19:19 mark of the second to record the fastest pure hat trick in BSU hockey history since Rich Budge scored three goals in a span of 11:25 Jan. 30, 1966.

“Chris played well,” commented Serratore on the second-period play of his sophomore. “His goals were all gutty goals, well-earned and well deserved. He had a heck of a game.”

From the opening drop, BSU showed it wasn’t backing down from CC. In fact, the Beavers set the tone early.

Aided by a pair of early CC penalties, the Beavers held a 5-2 edge in shots on goal through the first 10 minutes of play. Blaine Jarvis (Sr., F, Gladstone, Manitoba) got the hosts attention when he rang a power-play shot off the post as BSU was on the attack early, but it was Emil Billberg (Fr., F, Stockholm, Sweden) that got the Beavers on the board netting an even-strength marker, the second of his career, with 10:32 gone in the period. Tyler Lehrke (So., F, Park Rapids, Minn.) and Matt Francis (Jr., F, Surrey, British Columbia) were credited with assists on the play as the duo found Billberg in front of the net with a nifty centering pass. The assist extended Francis’s scoring streak to five games.

The Tigers bounced back quickly as Andreas Vlassopoulos found the back of the net with 6:45 on the clock.

CC’s leading scorer, Chad Rau, put the Tigers in front for the first time with 1:58 to go in the period sliding his 18th goal of the season past BSU freshman goaltender Matt Dalton (Clinton, Ontario).

A penalty on Chris Peluso (So., D, Wadena, Minn.) with Ian Lowe (Fr., F, Bradwardine, Manitoba) already in the box, gave the Tigers a 5-on-3 advantage for 53 seconds to bridge the first and second periods as 29 seconds carried into the second stanza.

Entering the third period down a goal and short two men, BSU successfully stymied both CC power-plays and it was the Beavers that lit the lamp first.

With 5:31 gone, the Beavers won a face-off deep in their own offensive zone and Cody Bostock (Jr., D, Salmon Arm, British Columbia) managed to direct the puck toward the net and McKelvie tipped No. 1 on the night passed Drew O’Connell to knot the score at 2-2.

The goal sparked the Beavers who unleashed a flurry of shots mid-way through the period as a precursor to the finish of the record-setting second stanza that sent the Tigers scrambling.

After a pair of BSU penalties were killed, it was McKelvie who scored again to put the Beavers ahead, 3-2, with just over five minutes to go in the second. Joey Moggach (So., F, Brandon, Manitoba) and Lowe were credited with helpers on the play making it easy on McKelvie allowing to tip it past the Tiger goaltender.

McKelvie would put himself in select company during the last minute of the period with No. 3. He went to the backhand to score a short-handed goal and record the first hat trick since Ryan Miller (2003-07) netted three goals versus Western Michigan Feb. 10, 2006, the 206th in BSU history and the first natural hat trick since Dec. 13, 1986. The goal capped a superb period by the Beavers and gave the visitors a 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

The No. 3 Tigers came out in the third with something to prove. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s top team entering the game was a perfect 9-0-0 during the regular season on their home ice this season. They responded well, netting three unanswered third-period markers to claim the victory.

CC jumped on the Beavers just 23 seconds into the third capitalizing on a BSU penalty. Rau netted his second goal of the game with assists from Jack Hillen and Bill Sweatt. The goal was the first power-play marker allowed by Bemidji State, whose penalty-kill entered the weekend ranked 10th in the country at 88.4 percent, since the first period of the Jan. 4th contest at University of Minnesota Duluth--a streak spanning over three games and 18 opponent power-play opportunities.

The goal was also the only power-play goal of the game. The Tigers were 1-of-6 on the man advantage while BSU failed to score on three opportunities.

Midway through the final period Brain Connelly evened the score at 4-4 with an even-strength goal on a pass from Vlassopoulos and it was Vlassopoulos who registered his third point of the game during the 13th minute of the period finding Sweatt for the game-winner.

The victory allows Colorado College to take a 3-1 lead in the all-time series with BSU as the Beavers fall to 1-7 in one-goal games in 2007-08.

Dalton posted 24 saves in 58:37 between the pipes, but allowed five goals and was tagged with the loss pushing his season record to 1-3-0.

With BSU out shooting the Tigers, 32-29 in the game, O’Connell turned 28 Beaver shots away, allowing four goals in the win. He improves to 2-3-0 on the year.

Bemidji State, now 11-10-2 overall, continues its Colorado road swing tomorrow evening when it travels to the Mile High City for a match up with No. 4 University of Denver (17-6-0). The road trip finale is set for an 8 p.m. opening face off.

--bsu--