DATE: FEB. 14, 2004
Beavers out-shoot Huskies in third period, but unable to force overtime

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - [box score] A spirited Bemidji State men’s ice hockey squad turned up its effort after last night’s 5-2 loss to the St. Cloud State Huskies, but that effort came up a goal short in a 3-2 loss tonight at the National Hockey Center.

The game was decided on special teams. After falling behind 1-0 on a power-play goal by Dave Iannazzo at 5:49 of the first period, the Beavers used a five-on-three power-play goal after Husky penalties against Grant Clifton and T.J. McElroy to draw even. Andrew Murray ran his scoring streak to four games with the power-play marker, lighting the lamp at 6:59 with helpers from Luke Erickson and Peter Jonsson to draw the Beavers even with the Huskies at a goal apiece. Murray’s goal came on BSU’s first shot on net in the contest.

The Beavers then grabbed a 2-1 lead at 9:16 of the first period, their first lead over St. Cloud State since a 1-0 cushion in an eventual 3-1 loss on Oct. 20, 2000. Lou Garritan picked up his third goal of the season at 9:16 after an odd-man rush with assists from Myles Kuharski and John Haider.

Bemidji State had a prime opportunity to pad its lead in the second period when St. Cloud State’s Peter Szabo drew a five-minute spearing major and a game misconduct. But the Beavers were unable to capitalize on the five-minute major, and Iannazzo scored an unassisted short-handed marker during the penalty to draw the game even, 2-2, at 17:24 of the second. It was just the second short-handed goal allowed by BSU this season.

The penalty expired, and the Huskies would net the go-ahead marker with just 36 seconds to play in the second period. BSU goaltender Grady Hunt was unable to corral a shot off the stick of Andy Lundbohm, and Garrett Larson hung around to clean up the rebound and give the Huskies what would be the game-winning goal.

The teams played even in the third, with Bemidji State holding a 13-9 shot advantage and putting together a strong run at the end of the game. The Beavers played with an empty net for the game’s final 1:20 to support their comeback effort, but Husky netminder Tim Boron held and allowed the hosts to escape with the 3-2 victory.

For the game, Bemidji State out-shot the Huskies 31-27.

Bemidji State was unable to capitalize on nine Husky penalties, going just 1-for-8 on the power play. St. Cloud State went 1-for-5 with the man advantage and used Iannazzo’s second-period short-handed goal to claw back into the game.

Senior defenseman Bryce Methven played in his 132nd career game tonight, pulling even with Mark Phenow for the program’s career record for games played by a defenseman.

Hunt took the loss in goal for Bemidji State. He allowed three goals in 58:23 of work while saving 24 of 27 shots faced. The loss dropped Hunt to 10-7-0 on the year and is his third consecutive defeat after going undefeated in his previous five starts.

Boron picked up the win in net for the hosts, saving 29 of 31 shots faced to improve his season mark to 5-2-1.

Tonight’s loss was Bemidji State’s 11th consecutive defeat at the hands of the Huskies and sees BSU’s winless streak in the series reach 13 consecutive games since 1986. Yet BSU still leads the all-time series by a 42-33-4 margin. The Huskies have beaten BSU by a combined score of 26-7 in the last four games between the programs at the National Hockey Center.

The loss leaves BSU at 15-11-2 on the season while St. Cloud State improves to 18-9-3. The contest wrapped up non-conference play for Bemidji State, which takes a two-point lead for first place in College Hockey America into the final three weekends of its regular season. BSU hosts third-place Alabama-Huntsville in a crucial series, Feb. 20-21 in Bemidji. Opening face-off for the Feb. 20 opener is set for 7:35 p.m. Central time at BSU’s John S. Glas Fieldhouse.

NOTES: BSU has scored just six total goals in its last four games after averaging 4.6 goals per game in its previous 20 games... Brendan Cook missed his first game since Nov. 9, 2001 against Findlay, snapping a streak of 96 consecutive games played... Luke Erickson’s assist gives him 27 points for the season; he needs three points to become just the CHA’s sixth 30-point freshman scorer... Andrew Murray’s power-play goal gives him a point in each of the four games he has played since returning from a leg injury.