Buoyed by a three-point night from senior captain Matt Read (F, Ilderton, Ontario) and a 16-save shutout by sophomore goaltender Mathieu Dugas (L’Assomption, Quebec), the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team gained a 4-0 victory over University of Alaska Anchorage Saturday at the Bemidji Regional Event Center.
The win not only allowed the Beavers to salvage a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series split, it also stood as BSU’s first win over the Seawolves and the inaugural victory in its new hockey home.
“This was a good win for us,” commented BSU Head Coach Tom Serraotre. “We really needed a win.” He continued, “I am happy for our fans and I am happy for our guys.”
“I thought this was the best game we’ve played this year,” said Read. “Words can’t describe the feeling of finally winning a game after struggling here for the first couple weeks. Knowing that you’ve just out played a team for the whole 60 minutes, playing a great game. Now we know we can do it and want to keep that momentum rolling.”
For the second consecutive evening, the Beavers jumped to an early two-goal lead.
Read got Bemidji State on the board just 17 seconds into the game. A pair of nifty passes from Jake Areshenko (So., D, Port Cocquitlan, British Columbia) and Jordan George (So., F, Madison, Wis.) set Read up with the puck behind the UAA defense and the Ilderton, Ontario native beat the Seawolves’ goaltender Rob Gunderson high from the left face off dot on a tremendous individual effort.
Midway through the period (11:19) Jamie MacQueen (Jr., F, St. Thomas, Ontario) put Bemidji State up 2-0 when he redirected a Brad Hunt (Jr., D, Ridge Meadows, British Columbia) from the point past Gunderson and into the back of the net.
After a scoreless second period of play, BSU caught a break in the third when UAA was whistled for a pair of minor penalties just 28 seconds apart (12:27). The Beavers capitalized scoring 1:11 into the 5-on-3 power-play. Ian Lowe (Sr., F, Bradwardine, Manitoba) was the beneficiary of quick perimeter passing by the Beavers as Read and Hunt found the senior in the high slot for a one-timer and Lowe connected for his fourth goal of the season.
As the visiting Seawolves pressed to make up some of the deficit, UAA pulled their goalie en leu of an extra attacker, but Read stepped in front of an Alaska Anchorage shot and posted his second marker of the evening to stretch the Beavers’ lead to 4-0 with 3:32 to play.
The lead would hold as Dugas denied all eight of UAA’s third period scoring opportunities to preserve the victory and collect the second shutout of his collegiate career.
The Beavers finished the night scoring on one of three power-play opportunities, while their penalty-kill unit held the Seawolves scoreless on five chances on the man advantage.
Bemidji State (2-5-1; 2-5-1 WCHA) is back in action next week as it heads west for a series a University of Denver (6-4-2; 5-2-1 WCHA). The inaugural WCHA game between the teams is set for 8:37 p.m. at Magness Arena in Denver, Colo.
For highlights, and our gameday blog about this game, CLICK HERE