DATE: Dec. 16, 2005
Fighting Sioux score two unanswered goals to rally from first-period deficit

BEMIDJI, Minn. (John Glas Fieldhouse) - Playing in front of its largest home-ice crowd in the program’s Division I era, Bemidji State grabbed an early one-goal lead against the No. 9/10 North Dakota Fighting Sioux, but could not hold on in a 2-1 non-conference loss.

BSU’s announced attendance of 2,413 was its largest since moving to Division I in 1999 and is just the sixth crowd of more than 2,000 in that span.

Bemidji State drew first blood, as the team’s fourth line lit the lamps on a power-play opportunity at 5:09 of the first period. Travis Winter (St. Cloud, Minn.) took a pass from Blaine Jarvis (Gladstone, Manitoba) and fired on Fighting Sioux goaltender Phillipe Lamoureux from atop the crease. Lamoureux saved the shot but could not contain the rebound, which escaped to his right and onto the waiting stick of BSU’s Matt Allen (New Westminster, B.C.). Allen flipped the puck past Lamoureux to give BSU the one-goal advantage with his first collegiate point.

BSU spent much of the next six minutes on the penalty kill. Dave Deterding (Alexandria, Minn.) was called for holding the stick just 48 seconds after Allen’s marker, and Shane Holman (Hibbing, Minn.) was whistled for slashing less than a minute later. BSU survived the five-on-three without allowing a shot on goal, and Jarvis was caught hooking just seven seconds after the Beavers had killed the Holman penalty at 9:01.

North Dakota drew even on Drew Stafford’s 12th goal of the season at 12:07 of the frame.

BSU held North Dakota to just six shots on goal in the second period, but the Fighting Sioux were able to take advantage of a flurry of penalties in the final half of the frame to grab a 2-1 advantage.

North Dakota was caught for two penalties in a span of 46 seconds, but BSU was unable to convert on the 1:14 of five-on-three power play time. Cody Bostock (Salmon Arm, B.C.) was called for roughing at 14:21, and that infraction led to the goal which gave North Dakota the lead on its fifth power-play chance of the contest.

Off a pass from Travis Zajac and Kyle Radke, the Fighting Sioux grabbed the lead at 15:38 of the second. T.J. Oshie picked up his eighth goal of the season on a power-play opportunity for the eventual game-winning goal.

The teams combined for six penalties in the final 4:22 of the period following the Oshie marker, including two minors each to BSU’s Ryan Miller (Fergus Falls, Minn.) and UND’s Zach Jones following a scuffle behind the Fighting Sioux net at 18:09.

Andrew Martens (Friendswood, Texas) drew his first career major penalties on a five-minute checking-from-behind major and a game misconduct, leaving BSU on the penalty kill for the final 2:23 of the game. BSU was able to get goaltender Matt Climie (Leduc, Alberta) off the ice for the final 22 seconds of regulation, and despite intense pressure on Lamoureux with 10 seconds to play in the game could not draw the score even.

“We played a hard game tonight,” BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. “I thought our kids played a full 60 minutes and that’s really all you can ask for. We made too many mistakes and if we want to win we’ve got to minimize that.

“We had chances in the second period but we couldn’t get the puck to bounce the right way.”

The Beavers out-shot the Fighting Sioux, 35-30, marking the first time in eight Division I-era meetings BSU has won the shot battle with North Dakota. In the previous seven meetings since 1999, the Fighting Sioux had out-shot BSU by a combined total of 273-158, or a margin of nearly 16 and a half shots per game. North Dakota’s 30 shots on goal tied for its fewest against BSU since 1999, while BSU’s 35 shots were its most in eight meetings with the Fighting Sioux since 1999.

Climie took his second consecutive hard-luck loss, saving 28 of 30 shots faced. He fell to 3-5-0 on the season and saw his career-long losing streak reach four consecutive starts. However, he has allowed just four goals in his last 125:01 of work (1.92 goals-against average) but has received just two total goals of support from the BSU offense.

Lamoureux earned first-star honors with a 34-save effort for the Fighting Sioux. He stopped 11 of 12 shots faced in the first period and was a perfect 23-for-23 in the second and third periods as North Dakota grabbed the lead and held on for the win. Lamoureux improved his season record to 2-3-0 with the victory.

The loss drops Bemidji State to 1-10-1 in 12 all-time meetings with North Dakota, and the Fighting Sioux are now a perfect 3-0-0 all-time in Bemidji. BSU saw its season record fall to 9-5-1 and lost Game 1 of a weekend series for the fourth consecutive time this season. North Dakota improved to 11-7-1 overall. The teams wrap up their two-game non-conference series tomorrow night in Grand Forks, N.D. Opening faceoff from UND’s Ralph Engelstad Arena is slated for 7:07 p.m. Central time.

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