DATE: Jan. 22, 2005
Hat trick from Bruce Mulherin leads Chargers to series split

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Von Braun Center) [stats] - A hat trick by Alabama-Huntsville’s Bruce Mulherin and four special-teams goals helped propel the Chargers past Bemidji State, 5-1, in College Hockey America action tonight. The victory helped the Chargers split the two-game weekend series after a 3-1 BSU victory last night in Game 1.

Mulherin’s first goal evened the score at 1-1 at the 14:00 mark of the first period, and he scored two power-play goals in the third period at 6:45 and 12:49 to complete the hat trick.

The Chargers, whom BSU held to 0-for-5 on the power play last night, won the game on special teams tonight. The Chargers netted three power-play goals on six chances and scored a short-handed, with their four total special teams goals tied for third-most by an opponent in BSU’s Division I era. The performance improved the Chargers to 35-for-137 (.255) against BSU on the power-play since the teams joined CHA in 1999.

Bemidji State’s only goal came when Brendan Cook (Sr.; Reston, Manitoba) scored an unassisted power-play marker at 9:37 of the first period to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead. Cook’s goal was one of just four shots on goal mustered by the Beavers in the first period, where they were out-shot 20-4 by the Chargers.

For the game, the Chargers out-shot Bemidji State, 50-25. BSU managed as many as 10 shots in a period just once, with a 15-shot second period. It is just the sixth time in BSU’s Division I era it has surrendered 50 shots on net to an opponent, and first time since Minnesota rolled up 56 shots on Jan. 27, 2001. With tonight’s performance Ala.-Huntsville has done it three times, getting 50 shots on March 11, 2000 and 53 on Feb. 5, 2000.

Layne Sedevie (So.; Bismarck, N.D.) set a career high with 45 saves in the losing effort. He saved 19 of 20 shots in the first period, nine of 11 shots in the second and 17 of 19 in the third period. He took the loss and fell to 8-6-0 on the season.

Sedevie falls to 1-3-0 in his last five starts against College Hockey America opposition after posting a 9-0-1 record in his first 10 starts against CHA teams.

Scott Munroe picked up the win for the Chargers. He stopped 24 of 25 shots faced, including all 21 shots in the second and third periods as the Chargers pulled away. He improved to 9-6-4 on the season.

Andrew Murray (Sr., Selkirk, Manitoba) missed essentially the entire third period with an injury, and saw his BSU Division I-era record scoring streak at 12 consecutive games.

BSU held Ala.-Huntsville’s Jared Ross, who entered the series as the nation’s leading per-game point scorer, to just a single assist in the weekend series. Ross was scoreless last night and assisted on Mulherin’s first-period goal tonight for his only point of the weekend. Jeff Winchester had three assists for the Chargers, and Craig Bushey, the opposite wing on Mulherin’s line, had two assists in the winning effort.

The loss snaps BSU’s four-game unbeaten streak against Ala.-Huntsville and snapped BSU’s Division I-era record six-game winning streak. The Chargers picked up their 22nd all-time win against Bemidji State, improving to 22-10-1 in the series. Huntsville’s 22 all-time wins over Bemidji State are fifth-most by any opponent in the history of the program; only Wisconsin-Superior (33 wins over BSU), St. Cloud State (30), Wisconsin-Stevens Point (30) and Minnesota State (27) have more.

With the loss, Bemidji State fell to 14-8-0, 9-3-0 in CHA play, and saw its lead in College Hockey America sliced to three points. Ala.-Huntsville improved to 10-6-4, 7-2-1 in CHA play. Bemidji State is in non-conference action next weekend, traveling to Grand Forks, N.D. for a two-game weekend series against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Opening face-offs from the Ralph Engelstad Arena are slated for 7:35 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. Central time.

--bsu--