DATE: Dec. 9, 2005
Game’s only three goals come during wild seven-minute span in third period

BEMIDJI, Minn. (John Glas Fieldhouse) - Bemidji State and Lake Superior State played 47:30 of scoreless hockey, then traded punches during a wild seven-minute stretch midway through the third period with the Lakers eventually coming out on top, 2-1, in a non-conference men’s ice hockey contest.

Lake Superior State ended the deadlock with the game’s first goal at 7:30 of the third. BSU’s Tyler Scofield (Prince George, B.C.) was penalized for cross checking at 6:49 of the third, and Trent Campbell fed Marty Gurnoe 41 seconds into the ensuing power play to help get the Lakers on the board. Gurnoe fired a rocket from the right point high over the right shoulder of BSU netminder Matt Climie (Leduc, Alberta), which deflected off the crossbar and into the net for the game’s first goal.

BSU evened the scoreboard with a power-play goal of its own five minutes later. Campbell drew a diving penalty at 10:34 to put BSU on a power play, and the Beavers scored with 13 seconds left in the power play. After taking a pass from Riley Weselowski (Pilot Mound, Manitoba), Ryan Huddy (Stony Plain, Alberta) feinted a shot and forced Laker goaltender Jeff Jakaitis to commit. Instead of shooting on goal, Huddy found Rob Sirianni (Edmonton, Alberta) just outside the crease, and Sirianni scored his 10th career power-play goal to pull BSU even at 12:21.

Lake Superior State needed less than two minutes to recapture the lead for good. Josh Sim picked up a loose puck in the BSU zone and led a two-man breakaway with Mike Adamek. He fed Adamek at the BSU blue line, and he skated one-on-one on Climie and forced the puck past him to put the Lakers ahead, 2-1, at 14:19 of the period.

BSU played the final 1:10 with an empty net, and despite getting pressure on Jakaitis was unable to force across the tying goal.

“We missed a lot of open opportunities tonight, but you have to give credit to Lake Superior,” BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. “When you’re playing up in our faces and you’ve got your stick on ours, it’s tough. They played a good game tonight and obviously deserved to win.

“We’ve got to do more of the little things right and battle for that extra inch on the ice,” Serratore said. “We’re a much faster team than they are and we didn’t utilize that tonight.”

Climie took the loss for Bemidji State, his third loss in as many starts, allowing two goals with 21 saves in 58:50 of work. He fell to 3-4-0 on the season.

Jakaitis saved 25 of 26 shots faced for the Lakers, allowing only Sirianni’s third-period power-play marker, and improved to 8-5-3.

Bemidji State skated to just its third scoreless tie through two periods since making the jump to Division I in 1999. The teams combined for just 17 shots on net in the first period, with BSU holding a 10-7 edge. The teams then slogged through a second period which saw just 12 shots on net, including just three by the Beavers. BSU rebounded to out-shoot the Lakers, 13-7, in the third.

The teams combined for six minor penalties in the first period - including four on BSU alone - but settled to commit just six total penalties in the second and third periods combined. Lake Superior State went 1-for-7 with the man advantage, while BSU went 1-for-3.

Bemidji State fell to 16-21-1 all-time against Lake Superior State, and has lost each of the last three meetings between the programs in Bemidji and six of the last eight dating back to Feb. 28, 1971.

Bemidji State fell to 9-4-0 with the loss, while Lake Superior State picked up its fifth consecutive victory and improved to 9-5-3.

The teams wrap up their two-game non-conference series tomorrow night with a 7:05 p.m. opening faceoff at BSU’s John Glas Fieldhouse.

NOTES: Jean-Guy Gervais tied BSU’s career Division I-era record for penalty minutes (184) with a misconduct minor in the third period... BSU has lost each of its last three Friday games, and all four of its losses this season have been in Game 1 of a weekend series.

--bsu--