DATE: Oct. 7, 2005
Beavers survive Bulldog rally in the third period to capture season opener

DULUTH, Minn. (D.E.C.C.) - Bemidji State men’s ice hockey skated out to a 3-0 lead, then survived a two-goal Minnesota, Duluth rally which covered a span of one minute in the third period, holding on for a 3-2 victory in its 2005-06 season opener.

Bemidji State’s veterans led the team to a 3-0 lead through two periods. Senior captain Jean-Guy Gervais (Winnipeg, Manitoba) needed less than six minutes to pick up his first goal of the season and the 22nd of his career, scoring from Shane Holman (Hibbing, Minn.) and Ryan Huddy (Edmonton, Alberta).

Jake Bluhm (Red Wing, Minn.) staked BSU to a 2-0 lead with his first career goal at 6:57 of the second. He cleaned up a rebound off a shot from defenseman Riley Weselowski (Pilot Mound, Manitoba) to put the visitors up by two goals.

Minn.-Duluth had a prime opportunity to chew into the BSU lead in the second period, when freshman Cody Bostock (Salmon Arm, British Columbia) was whistled for a five-minute major penalty for roughing at 16:35. But rather than cutting into BSU’s lead on the major penalty, the Bulldogs instead made a crucial mistake which surrendered what ultimately became the game-winning goal.

With seconds to play in the second period, Bulldog netminder Isaac Reichmuth went into the corner to play a loose puck and lost control. The puck went directly to senior defenseman Andrew Martens (Friendswood, Texas), who flipped an unassisted, short-handed marker into an empty net to give BSU a 3-0 lead - its largest-ever in its series with the Bulldogs.

The UMD defense clamped down in the third period and limited the Beavers to just four shots on net while peppering BSU goaltender Matt Climie (Leduc, Alberta) with 21 shots. Michael Gergen solved Climie at 7:42 of the third period, taking assists from Jeff McFarland and Tim Stapleton, to break up the shutout. The Bulldogs needed just 1:06 to score again, as Bryan McGregor picked up his first goal of the season from Mason Raymond and Travis Gawryletz.

But UMD could not force across the tying goal as time ran out on the third period, playing the game’s final 1:26 with an empty net.

Minn.-Duluth went 0-for-6 on the power play, extending BSU’s streak of consecutive minutes without allowing a power-play goal to 392:59 - the third-longest streak in the program’s Division I era. The Beaver penalty-killing units have not allowed a power-play goal since 10:27 of the second period of a Feb. 26, 2005 loss to Minn.-Duluth and have killed each the last 27 opponent power-play chances.

BSU went 0-for-5 on the power play.

Minn.-Duluth out-shot BSU 43-18, including a 21-4 margin in the third period as UMD attempted its comeback. But Climie was up to the task, recording 41 saves in a 60:00 complete-game win. He improved to 1-0-0 on the year and 13-5-1 for his career. It marked Climie’s second consecutive start with 40 or more saves after saving a career-high 45 shots in BSU’s NCAA Tournament loss to Denver.

Climie out-duelled Reichmuth, who saved 15 of 18 shots faced in 58:34 of work. He fell to 0-1.

The win was Bemidji State’s third in 18 all-time meetings with Minn.-Duluth, and marked just its fourth victory over a Western Collegiate Hockey Association program since it moved to the Division I level in 1999. The victory snapped an 11-game winless streak (0-10-1) for BSU against WCHA opposition.

The Bulldogs entered tonight’s contest receiving votes in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 poll; tonight’s win marked BSU’s third victory in 36 Division I-era starts against opponents ranked or receiving votes in that poll.

Bemidji State improves to 1-0-0 on the season with the victory, while Minn.-Duluth falls to 0-1-0. The teams wrap up their two-game non-conference series tomorrow night; opening face-off is slated for 7:07 p.m. Central time at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center in Duluth, Minn.

NOTES: Andrew Martens scored his first career game-winning goal... Martens’ goal gave BSU a 3-0 lead, its biggest lead ever over UMD in the 18-game series... Bemidji State extended several team streaks with tonight’s victory: 34 consecutive games with a goal scored (2nd longest in BSU’s Division I era); seven consecutive games with a power-play goal (3rd); seven consecutive games with a special-teams goal (t-3rd); six consecutive games without surrendering a power-play goal (t-2nd).

--bsu--