Feb. 7, 2009

Bemidji, Minn. --The Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team got a pair of goals from both Tyler Scofield (Sr., F, Prince George, British Columbia) and Ben Kinne (Fr., F, St. Paul. Minn.) as it completed a College Hockey America sweep over University of Alabama-Huntsville, 4-2, and extended its current winning streak to five games Saturday at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse.

Out shooting the Chargers 15-6 in the opening period while going 2-for-2 on the power play, the Beavers dominated the opening 20 minutes of play. When the horn sounded to end the first frame, BSU skated off the ice owning a 3-1 lead.

Kinne got the Beavers on the scoreboard netting his fifth goal of the season four-minutes and 25 seconds into the game. Ryan Cramer (So., F, International Falls, Minn.) collected his first helper of the year on the play. Cramer found Kinne with a cross-ice pass near the red line and the rookie forward took care the rest. He skated the puck into the zone, cut through the Charger defense and slipped the puck between the legs of Blake MacNicol.

Less than four minutes later (8:03), the Beavers made good on the first of 10 power-play opportunities they would get on the night. Matt Francis (Sr., F, Surrey, British Columbia) got the play started picking the puck out of a scrum along the boards in front of the UAH bench. He skated deep into the zone and slid the puck across the front of the crease to Scofield who place it just below the outstretched blocker of MacNicol for his team-leading 11th goal of the season. Hunt was credited with his second assist of the night after freeing the puck from the boards.

Scofield made it 3-0, five minutes later (13:10) cleaning up a Read rebound from the right post 1:19 into the Beavers’ second power-play chance of the evening.

The goal would mark the end of MacNicol’s night after stopping just 11 of 14 shots faced during the first 13:10. Charger head coach Danton Cole pulled the junior and replace him with Cameron Talbot. MacNicol was tagged with the loss falling to 3-4-1 on the season.

Ala.-Huntsville broke through the seal over the Beavers’ net to score their first goal of the series with 2:57 remaining in the first. Andrew Coburn was credited with the goal with help from Matt Sweazey and Matt Baxter.

After a first period during which an aggressive Beaver team could do no wrong, Bemidji State seemed to be a bit more passive for the bulk of the final 40 minutes and struggled to retain the constant offensive pressure and momentum it held throughout the opening frame.

Sweazey potted his 10th marker of the season 3:49 into the second reeling the hosts with within a goal, 3-2, but that was as close as the Chargers would come. Sweazey’s goal was the beginning and end to the scoring during the second period as the teams went into the second intermission with BSU on top 3-2.

In the final moments third period, Kinne put BSU up 4-2 and secure the sweep with an empty-net goal. The tally not only marks the freshman’s first collegiate multi-goal effort, it also stands as his first multi-point game.

Matt Dalton (So., G, Clinton, Ontario) was again sharp in net for BSU. He stopped 17 UAH scoring attempts en route to his 13th victory of the season (13-8-0). He also backstopped a penalty-kill unit that stymied the UAH power-play for the second consecutive night. The Bemidji State penalty-kill has not allowed a goal in over eight periods of play as it held the Chargers to 0-for-7 on the night and a meager 0-for-16 in the series.

The Beavers had a total of 10 power-play opportunities in the game but after netting goals on their first two chances, the team came up dry to finish 2-for-10 in the game.

Bemidji State’s fifth win over UAH in six tries this season helped it to improve to 29-27-3 all time versus the Chargers and got the Beavers back to .500 for the first time since Dec. 28.

Bemidji State now 13-13-0 over all and 9-3-0 in CHA play keeps it focus on league as it hits the road for a four-game CHA road trip. The Beavers are set to battle Robert Morris University (5-17-4; 1-7-2 CHA) next Saturday and Sunday only to continue on to Niagara University (14-10-2; 7-2-1 CHA) for a rare Thursday-Friday series versus the Purple Eagles. Feb. 14-15 game times are set for 6:35 p.m. Saturday before a 4 pm matinee Sunday.

--bsu--