DATE: Jan. 21, 2005
Shane Holman’s first career goal helps Beavers extend CHA lead to five points

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Von Braun Center) [stats] - Bemidji State men’s ice hockey set a Division I-era record by posting its sixth consecutive victory, using the first career goal from sophomore Shane Holman (Hibbing, Minn.) to slip past the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers, 3-1, in College Hockey America play.

Holman broke a 1-1 tie with his first career lamp-lighter at 10:00 of the third period, taking advantage of a holding the stick penalty to Alabama-Huntsville’s Jeff Winchester. Holman’s goal put BSU ahead 2-1 and was the eventual game-winner. Senior Andrew Murray (Selkirk, Manitoba) iced the game with his 12th goal of the season, also on the power play, at 15:41 of the third, for the game’s final 3-1 margin.

The third-period goals by Holman and Murray helped support a stellar defensive effort by Bemidji State. Alabama-Huntsville entered the game second in CHA in per-game scoring and had two individuals ranked amongst the nation’s top seven in scoring. The Chargers managed just one goal - a lamp-lighter by Craig Bushey from Jeff Winchester just 59 seconds into the second period - and were out-shot 42-29 for the game. BSU held the Charger trio of Jared Ross, the nation’s leading scorer, Bruce Mulherin, who entered as the nation’s seventh-leading scorer, and Jeremy Schrieber, CHA’s leading scorer amongst defensemen, scoreless.

Rob Sirianni (Edmonton, Alberta) pulled BSU even with his eighth goal of the season with assists from Murray and Brendan Cook (Reston, Manitoba) at 15:44 of the second.

Freshman Matt Climie (Leduc, Alberta) won his fourth consecutive start and improved to 5-0-0 in his last five decisions, saving a career-high 28 shots against just one goal allowed. He has earned the win in each of BSU’s last five games and improved to 6-2-0 on the season. He lowered his CHA-leading season goals-against average to 2.14 and will remain the CHA’s leader in winning percentage at .750.

Scott Munroe saved 39 shots for the Chargers, but allowed three goals in the losing effort. He saw his season record fall to 8-6-4.

The Beavers held the Chargers, a program which traditionally has dominated them on the power play, to 0-for-5 with the man advantage. Coming into tonight’s game, Ala.-Huntsville had been 32-for-126 (.254) against BSU on the power-play.

Conversely, BSU scored twice with the man advantage on six chances. The Beavers opened the game going scoreless on their first four power-play opportunities of the game, dropping them to 4-for-43 (.093) in a span of eight-plus games dating back to Dec. 10. The power play unit came alive when it mattered, though, scoring two goals in a span of just 5:41 in the third period to blow open a 1-1 game.

Murray extended his BSU Division I-era record scoring streak to 12 consecutive games, scoring on all three BSU goals and finishing with 1-2=3 points. It marked Murray’s 10 multi-point game of the season, including his third in the last three games, and his ninth during his 12-game scoring streak. Murray has rolled up 10-16=26 points during his scoring streak - an average of 2.17 points per game. Murray has also recorded two assists in each of his last three games.

The three points gives Murray 42-67=109 points for his career, extending his own BSU Division I-era scoring record. Murray’s 109 points have him seventh place on the College Hockey America career leaderboards and vault him into 35th place on BSU’s career all-time scoring list. His 67 career assists are a BSU Division I-era record and have him sixth in CHA history.

With the victory, Bemidji State improved to 14-7-0, 9-2-0 in CHA play, and now lead College Hockey America by five points over the second-place Chargers. Ala.-Huntsville fell to 9-6-4, 6-2-1 in CHA play. The teams wrap up their two-game series tomorrow afternoon at the Von Braun Center. Opening face-off is slated for 4:05 p.m. Central time.

--bsu--