DATE: Jan. 14, 2006
Luke Erickson becomes fourth Division I-era skater at BSU to reach 90 career points

BEMIDJI, Minn. (John Glas Fieldhouse) - Bemidji State built a 4-0 lead early in the third period, then piled on two insurance goals after Wayne State had broken up the shutout to pick up a 6-2 victory going away in College Hockey America play. Twelve different BSU skaters scored at least one point in the rout, with five players having multi-point efforts.

BSU came out strong, picking up three shots on goal in the game’s first 1:53, at which time Wayne State’s Jason Baclig was called for a hooking penalty to give BSU an early power-play opportunity. The Beavers needed just 22 seconds to take advantage, as Tyler Scofield (Prince George, British Columbia) fed Luke Erickson (Roseau, Minn.) who was standing just outside the crease to the right of Wayne State netminder Matt Kelly. Erickson fired on Kelly, who saved the shot but could not contain the rebound. The carom found its way to Matt Pope (Langley, British Columbia), who was waiting atop the crease. He put the loose puck away to give BSU the early one-goal advantage.

BSU’s first line staked the Beavers to a 2-0 lead late in the first period. Pope centered a pass to Scofield, and Kelly committed to his left in an attempt to save the shot. Scofield, falling down, fed the puck to a waiting Erickson who fired behind Kelly on a wide-open net to give the Beavers a 2-0 edge at 17:46 of the frame.

Erickson’s goal was his 10th of the season and made him just the fourth skater in BSU’s Division I era to reach 90 career points scored.

“I’m really happy for our guys,” BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. “Erickson, Pope and Scofield have really struggled of late and they really worked hard and played well together tonight. Things started to happen for them.”

The Beavers pushed their lead to 3-0 early in the second period, as Ryan Miller (Fergus Falls, Minn.) found the back of the nets for his eighth goal of the season at 2:48 of the period. He was assisted by Jake Bluhm (Red Wing, Minn.) and Rob Sirianni (Edmonton, Alberta); the helper gave Sirianni a three-game scoring streak. Sirianni has scored a goal or assist on five of BSU’s last 11 goals scored dating back to Dec. 31, 2005 against Dartmouth.

This night, however, there would be no rally for Wayne State. BSU’s 3-0 lead held into the second intermission, and the Beavers pushed their lead to 4-0 with Sirianni’s 10th goal of the season on a power-play opportunity 1:07 into the third period.

Wayne State broke up the shutout with a short-handed goal at 6:06 of the third, marking the fifth short-handed goal surrendered by BSU’s power-play unit in the team’s last eight games, but BSU retaliated with two goals in a span of 53 seconds later in the frame to put the game away.

Jean-Guy Gervais (Winnipeg, Manitoba) picked up his ninth goal of the season at 9:52 of the third on a play which stemmed from an outlet pass by BSU goaltender Layne Sedevie (Bismarck, N.D.). Sedevie picked up an assist on the play, the third of his career to set a BSU Division I-era record. Grady Hunt (1999-2004) held the previous record with two assists.

Matt Allen (New Westminster, British Columbia) put BSU ahead 6-1 with his second power-play goal of the season 53 seconds later.

Sedevie, who became the 14th goaltender in BSU history to reach 1,000 career saves in the third period, stopped 23 of 25 shots faced to pick up the victory in goal. The win pushed his season record to 7-3-1.

Kelly saved 20 shots and allowed all six BSU goals in 50:49 of work for the Warriors. He took the loss, falling to 3-7-3 on the season, and yielded to Will Hooper for the game’s final 9:11. Hooper saved all six shots he faced.

“It’s been a tough stretch for us and scoring all these goals tonight really helps bring the confidence level of this team back up to where it ought to be,” Serratore said. “Our young guys played really well tonight. I always tell the guys that after break there are no freshmen on the team because by now they know how everything works in our program. We got really good play across the board tonight.”

Bemidji State continued its historic domination of Wayne State’s power-play units. The Warriors went 0-for-6 on the power play tonight and 0-for-13 in the two-game weekend series, extending their streak of consecutive failed power-play opportunities against Bemidji State to 44. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, Wayne State is 7-for-110 against BSU with the man advantage (.064).

BSU saw its season record improve to 11-8-3 with the draw and moved to 6-3-1 for 13 points in College Hockey America play. Wayne State fell to 4-13-3 on the season, 1-5-2 in CHA play for four points. BSU is back in action Friday, Jan. 20 when it opens a two-game home CHA series against Air Force. It will mark the second - and final - time this season BSU will play consecutive series on its home ice.

NOTES: The Beavers have scored the game’s first goal in back-to-back games for the first time since a four-game streak to open the season... BSU improves to 51-0-2 in its Division I era when holding a three-goal lead at any point of a game... Sedevie’s assist in the third period is the eighth point by a goaltender in BSU’s Division I era.

--bsu--