Jan. 16, 2003
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - [box
score] Bemidji State’s
men’s hockey
team kicked off the second half of its 2002-03 campaign just
as
it started
the
season back on Oct. 18 - in overtime. Brendan Cook scored with
less than five minutes to play in regulation to force the extra
period, but Alabama-Huntsville’s Joel Bresciani pushed
home the game-winner with 58 seconds to play in the extra period,
giving the Chargers a 3-2 victory in what was a critical CHA
game for Bemidji State.
Cook’s goal ran his streak of
consecutive games with a goal to four, the second-longest
streak by a BSU player in the team’s
Division I era. Stefan Bjork scored a goal in six consecutive
games for BSU from Jan. 21, 2000 against Findlay to Feb.
19, 2000 against Wayne State.
Riley Riddell broke out of his season-long scoring
slump for BSU, scoring a goal and an assist. Riddell, who
had scored
just four points coming into the game and was on a career-long
six-game scoreless streak, picked up BSU’s first goal
at 5:21 of the first period and assisted on Cook’s game-tying
goal in the third. It was his first multi-point game since
Oct. 26, 2002 vs Union College (1-1=2 points).
The Chargers
responded to Riddell’s first goal with two
unanswered lamp-lighters, the first coming short-handed off
the stick of Karlis Zirnis at 8:52 of the second period. The
Chargers needed until midway through the third to take their
first lead, getting the fourth goal of the season from Craig
Bushey at 10:11 to take a 2-1 lead.
Cook’s equalizer forced
overtime, and Bresciani gave Huntsville the win 4:02 into the
extra frame.
Myles Kuharski assisted on Riddell’s first goal, his
fifth assist of the season. It was Kuharski’s first point
since a goal at Minn.-Duluth on Dec. 6, 2002. Grady Hunt took
the loss for BSU. He saved 36 shots in 64:02 of work, falling
to 5-4-3 on the year.
The overtime game was BSU’s 10th
of the season, extending the school record. BSU is in pursuit
of the all-time NCAA record
for overtime games played in a season of 13, held by five different
programs. The 2001-02 Maine Black Bears are the most recent
program to skate to 13 overtimes in a season. BSU has already
set the school record for most ties in a season (6) and the
school and CHA record for consecutive overtime games (5). BSU
is 2-2-6 in overtime this year.
With the win, Huntsville keeps
intact the nation’s longest
unbeaten streak, which is now at 12 consecutive games and now
includes eight consecutive wins. Huntsville’s last defeat
came 5-4 in overtime loss at Wayne State on Nov. 22, 2002.
The
Beavers fall to 5-18 all-time against the Chargers, including
2-11 since the series moved to the Division I ranks for the
19999-2000 season. BSU also falls to 1-6 in regular-season
Division I play at the Von Braun Center; its last win at
Huntsville came on Feb. 4, 2000, a 5-4 overtime decision.
With tonight’s
loss, Bemidji State drops to 5-7-6 on the season while Alabama-Huntsville
improves to 12-7-2. The
Beavers drop to 3-2-2 in College Hockey America play and remains
in third place with eight points, while the Chargers improve
to 7-1-1 in CHA play and improve to 15 points. The Chargers
now hold a five-point cushion on second-place Niagara, which
opens a two-game CHA series with Findlay on Jan. 17.
The Beavers
and Chargers wrap up their two-game series tomorrow night
at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Opening faceoff
is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Central time. SCORING SUMMARY
1/5:21/B - Riley Riddell (2) (Myles Kuharski/5) / 1-0
2/8:52/A - Karlis Zirnis (9, SH) (unassisted) / 1-1
3/10:11/A - Craig Bushey (4) (Ryan Leasa, Jared Ross) /
1-2
3/15:57/B - Brendan Cook (5) (Riley Riddell/5) / 2-2
OT/4:02/A - Joel Bresciani (10) (Steve Charlebois, Ryan
Leasa) / 3-2 / GW
BSU: Grady Hunt (64:02 / 7-15-12-2=36 saves / 3 GA / OTL;
5-4-3)
UAH: Scott Munroe (63:56 / 9-16-5-1=31 saves / 2 GA / OTW);
empty net (0:06/0 GA)
Penalties/Power Plays: BSU: 5-10/0-8; UND 8-16/0-4 |
