DATE: Jan. 7, 2005
Matt Climie, first line of forwards spark ninth consecutive win over Falcons

BEMIDJI, Minn. (John Glas Fieldhouse) [stats][game notes] - For 38 seconds, the Air Force Academy had the Bemidji State men’s ice hockey team on the ropes. The Falcons scored goals on their first two shots of the game off the sticks of Brian Gineo 18 seconds into the contest and from Seth Pelletier just 20 seconds later, stunning a John Glas Fieldhouse crowd into silence.

But those 38 seconds were all Air Force could muster. Bemidji State yanked starting goaltender Layne Sedevie (So.; Bismarck, N.D.) in favor of freshman Matt Climie (Leduc, Alberta) after the second goal, and Climie allowed BSU to slowly claw back into the game.

The freshman stopped the next three Air Force shots of the period, and allowed the Beavers to catch their breath down only 2-0 at the first intermission.

In the second period, BSU rode a dominant performance from its first line of forwards to retake control of the game.

Senior left wing Brendan Cook (Reston, Manitoba) needed just 26 seconds of the second period to get BSU on the board. Senior center Andrew Murray (Selkirk, Manitoba) picked up a loose puck on an Air Force power-play and charged Falcon netminder Peter Foster. At the top of the crease, he flicked the puck to his left and found Cook. Cook scored his ninth career short-handed goal behind Foster to get the Beavers on the board, 2-1.

Murray helped the Beavers pull even at two goals apiece with his 10th marker of the season at 13:25 of the second. With BSU on the power play following a charging penalty to the Falcons’ Brian Reese, Cook took a pass from Rob Sirianni (Jr.; Edmonton, Alberta) and fired on Foster, who was unable to control the rebound. Murray picked up the loose puck and hammered it home to tie the game, 2-2.

Cook picked up his third point of the period, scoring his 10th goal of the season on a power-play opportunity just 39 seconds later. He was assisted by Sirianni, who picked up his third career multi-assist game, and Peter Jonsson (Sr.; Astorp, Sweden).

The 3-2 lead held until late in the third period. Cook was called for high sticking with 1:06 to play in regulation, and Air Force took the opportunity to lift Foster for an extra attacker and a two-man advantage in an effort to force overtime.

The gambit failed, as Lou Garritan (Jr.; Pittsburgh, Pa.), playing his first game since Nov. 20 due to injury, scored short-handed against the emtpy net for the game’s final 4-2 margin.

“It came down to special teams,” BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. “We were opportunistic with our short-handed and power-play goals. We dodged a bullet and found a way to win.”

Murray finished with a goal and an assist and moved into the BSU recordbooks. He overtook Marty Goulet and became BSU’s career Division I-era scoring leader with 40-61=101 points. Goulet scored 47-53=100 points for BSU from 1999-2003. Murray is just the second player in BSU’s Division I era, in addition to Goulet, and 10th player in College Hockey America history to reach 100 career points. His 101 points are tied for 49th on BSU’s all-time career scoring list and moved him past Goulet into ninth on the CHA career list.

Murray’s 61 career assists extended his own BSU Division I-era record and moved him past Ala.-Huntsville’s Tyler Butler into eighth on the CHA career list.

The two-point night also extended Murray’s personal scoring streak to a career-high eight games.

Sedevie earned no decision in goal, allowing two goals on two shots in just 38 seconds of work. Climie earned the win in relief, saving all 17 shots he faced to even his season record at 2-2-0.

Foster saved 24 of 27 shots for the Falcons in 59:17 of work. He took the loss and saw his season record even at 8-8-2.

The victory was Bemidji State’s ninth in a row over Air Force and extended its unbeaten streak over the Falcons to 12. BSU has not lost to Air Force since Jan. 13, 2001. It improved to 16-5-2 all-time against the Falcons. Serratore remains undefeated (11-0-1) in 12 career games against his older brother, Air Force head coach Frank Serratore.

With the victory, Bemidji State improved to 10-7-0, 5-2-0 in CHA play. Air Force fell to 9-8-2 and dipped under .500 in CHA play at 3-4-0. The teams wrap up their two-game series tomorrow night with a 7:05 p.m. faceoff at the John Glas Fieldhouse.

--bsu--