DATE: November 3, 2006
Overtime win gives Beavers their first road victory over Mavericks since 1996

MANKATO, Minn. (Midwest Wireless Civic Center) - Bemidji State’s Garrett Roth (Cary, Ill.) picked up his first goal of the season at the most opportune moment, scoring at 2:20 of overtime to lift the Beavers past Minnesota State, 4-3, in a non-conference men’s hockey contest. Roth’s marker secured BSU’s first road win over Minnesota State in a decade and gave the Beavers their first win of the 2006-07 season.

BSU scored one goal in each period, and rallied from a 2-1 second-period deficit to secure the win. In each of the first two periods, BSU was able to answer Minnesota State goals within less than three minutes and twice equalized the scoreboard.

In the first period, Travis Winter (St. Cloud, Minn.) picked up his first goal of the season, even-strength, with an assist from Tyler Scofield (Prince George, British Columbia) at 19:20 of the period after James Gaulrapp had put the Mavericks on the board with his first goal of the year at 18:46.

Mick Berge put the Mavericks on top, 2-1, with his sixth goal of the young season at 12:40 of the second period, but again BSU would respond quickly. Luke Erickson  (Roseau, Minn.) continued the blazing start to his season, picking up his team-leading fifth goal of the season at 15:13 of the second to balance the scoreboard at two goals apiece. He was assisted by Roth and Winter and ran his scoring streak to five games to open the season.

Riley Weselowski (Pilot Mound, Manitoba) picked up a cross-checking penalty at 19:53 of the second period, and the ensuing Minnesota State power play carried over into the third frame. Shane Holman (Hibbing, Minn.) took advantage, and helped BSU grab its first lead of the contest. With help from Matt Pope (Langley, British Columbia), Holman picked up the first short-handed goal of his career to put the Beavers on top, 3-2, 57 seconds into the third.

This time, it was Minnesota State’s turn to respond, as Steve Wagner pulled the Mavericks even with his first goal of the campaign at 7:20. The 3-3 draw held through the end of regulation, setting up Roth’s overtime heroics which led to the first BSU victory of the season.

Matt Climie (Leduc, Alberta) was strong in goal, picking up his first win of the season with a 31-save effort. He yielded three goals in 62:20 of work, but turned aside 17 of 18 shots faced in the second period to keep BSU within striking distance. The win evened his season record at 1-1-1.

He out-duelled Dan Tormey, who saved 28 shots in goal in a losing effort for the Mavericks. Tormey started strong, saving 14 of 15 shots faced in the first period, then saved nine of 10 in the second period and five of six in the third, but yielded Roth’s goal on the first overtime shot he faced. Tormey fell to 2-5-0 with the loss.

Minnesota State out-shot BSU 34-32 in the contest, but garnered just six shots in the first period and did not manage a shot on Climie in the overtime period.

The teams combined for 16 penalties for 32 minutes - nine for 18 against BSU alone - but neither team was able to solve the other’s penalty kill. BSU went 0-for-5 with the man advantage, while the Mavericks went scoreless on seven power-play chances. The Beaver penalty kill has now taken care of nine consecutive opponent power-play opportunities and 18 of its last 19 after allowing 14 goals on its first 31 chances this season.

The victory improved BSU to 43-19-3 all-time in its series against Minnesota State, and marked BSU’s first win in Mankato since Nov. 30, 1996. It was BSU’s first road win in the series since elevating its program to Division I in 1999; BSU had been 0-7-1 at Minnesota State prior to tonight. BSU also improved to 8-46-3 in its Division I era against Western Collegiate Hockey Association opposition and snapped a three-game losing streak. BSU is 5-3 in its last eight meetings with WCHA foes dating back to Oct. 7, 2005.

Tonight’s win also ended BSU’s history of difficulty on Olympic-sized ice sheets, marking its first win in 22 tries (1-19-2) on oversized ice since the start of the 1999-2000 season.

Bemidji State (1-3-1 / 0-1-1 CHA) and Minnesota State (2-5-0 / 1-3-0 WCHA) wrap up their two-game non-conference series tomorrow evening. Opening faceoff is slated for 7:07 p.m. Central time at the Midwest Wireless Civic Center in Mankato, Minn.

NOTES: BSU played its second overtime game this season and its second in as many games... BSU is 1-0-1 in overtime this year... Winter’s first-period goal snapped BSU’s scoreless streak at Minnesota State at 191:24; BSU had not scored a goal at Minnesota State since 8:16 of the first period on Nov. 2, 2002 - a span of eight periods over three games.

--beavers--