Nov. 15, 2002
Beavers post first shutout of College Hockey America foe since 1999
BEMIDJI, Minn. - [box score] In a series billed as a battle of perhaps the two premier goaltenders in College Hockey America, the Bemidji State Beavers and Wayne State Warriors delivered a game that was everything it could have been advertised to be. Bemidji State’s Grady Hunt and Wayne State’s David Guerrera, the defending CHA Player of the Year and 2002-03 league Pre-Season Player of the Year, battled save-for-save for more than two periods until BSU finally broke through in the third en route to a 2-0 victory tonight at the John Glas Fieldhouse.

The teams battled to a scoreless tie through two periods on the combined strength of the two goaltenders. Hunt and Guerrera combined to stop all 41 shots they faced in the first two periods.

BSU finally broke the scoring drought when Bill Methven tapped home his second goal of the season from the left edge of the crease off a pass from Jean-Guy Gervais and Donnie DeMars, both of which earned their first assist of the season. Wayne State’s Marc St. Jean was then called for a boarding penatly at 12:05 of the third, and BSU needed just 43 seconds to make the Warriors pay for their transgression as Myles Kuharski would dent the nets with his second goal of the season at 12:48. He was helped by Wade Chiodo.

Wayne State’s Jack Redwood had several opportunities stolen away by Hunt, as he stopped no fewer than three of Redwood’s shots when the Warrior senior had Hunt in one-on-one situations in the open ice. Hunt body-saved a Redwood shot at 13:25 of the first, stopped Redwood on a short-handed breakaway after BSU turned the puck over at its own blue line with 30 seconds to play in the first and stoned him again one-on-one at 5:52 of the second. Hunt also made an acrobatic back-handed save on Chris Vail, as Vail took a pass across the crease and got behind Hunt, who was able to reach back and make the save.

“We played as a team, worked the power-play as a team, played offense as a team and played defense as a team,” BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. “It’s tough to score goals in college hockey, and tonight was a game between two great teams with two great goaltenders. This game was emotional and intense. Grady played excellent, and our team defense had their ‘A’ game.”

Hunt’s heroics helped BSU post just its second-ever shutout in a College Hockey America game and its first since blanking Army, 2-0, on Oct. 16, 1999 - the second game of the league’s existence. It was Hunt’s second career shutout and BSU’s first-ever shutout of Wayne State.

The win moved Hunt’s record to 2-0-2; in four starts this season, Hunt has allowed just four goals in 250:00 of work (0.96 GAA) and has saved nearly 97% of the shots he has faced (125 of 129; .969).

“The guys played a full 60 minutes tonight,” Hunt said. “I couldn’t have played well without my team defense in front of me. The last two minutes were tough; Wayne State collapsed well down low. It felt like a Stanley Cup game. I give all the credit to my teammates.”

Hunt’s outstanding effort overshadowed a 36-save effort by Guerrera. He stopped all 16 BSU shot attempts in the first period and all nine in the second, but allowed two goals on 13 shots in the third as BSU made its move. Guerrera also had several impressive saves on the night, including a stick-side pad save against BSU freshman Ryan Huddy midway through the first and a kick-save one-on-one against Bill Methven with four minutes to go in the first. Guerrera also caught a break when Jeff McGill beat him over the left shoulder 30 seconds into the third period, but McGill’s shot drew a pipe.

“Grady Hunt played outstanding,” Wayne State head coach Bill Wilkinson said. “David played good as well. We were 0-for-4 on the power play, and that was a critical area. They had their chances and lucked out; we hope to have better chances tomorrow.”

The win improves BSU to 2-2-5 on the season and 2-0-1 in the CHA; the Beavers retain first place in the league with five points. Wayne State falls to 3-4-0 and 0-1-0 in CHA play. The teams wrap up their two-game series tomorrow night at the John Glas Fieldhouse; opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Central time.

3/6:37/B - Bill Methven (2, GW) (Jean-Guy Gervais/1, Donnie DeMars/1) // 1-0
3/12:48/B - Myles Kuharski (2, PP) (Wade Chiodo/4) // 2-0

BSU: Grady Hunt (60:00/7-9-12=28 saves/SHO/W, 2-0-2)
WSU: David Guerrera (57:32/16-9-11=36 saves/2 GA/L, 3-3-0); empty net (2:26, 0 GA)
Three stars: 1: BSU Grady Hunt; 2: BSU Bill Methven; 3: WSU David Guerrera
penalties/power plays: WSU: 4-8/0-4; BSU: 4-8/1-4.