The Bemidji State men’s ice hockey team posted a 4-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Minnesota State University, Mankato Friday at Sanford Center.
Locked in a scoreless tie after 20 minutes of play, the Beavers buried three goals in less than seven minutes during the second frame to take what would be an insurmountable lead over the visiting Mavericks.
Bob Kinne (F, Fr., St. Paul, Minn.) put the Beavers up 1-0 at the 8:59 mark of the period. The rookie took a pass from Mitch Cain (F, So., Fort Frances, Ontario) in the neutral zone and beat the Mavericks’ defensive pair before taking the MSU goaltender Stephon Williams one-on-one and sliding the puck between the Maverick’s pads for his first collegiate goal.
At the 11:35 mark, Graeme McCormack (D, So., Thunder Bay, Ontario) took a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle and Matt Hartmann (F, Sr., Hugo, Minn.) was on the right post to redirect the shot five hole for the first goal of his career. The goal supplied the Beavers a 2-0 lead.
Minnesota State was whistled for a pair of penalties 20 seconds apart setting the Beavers up with 1:40 of 5-on-3 play. BSU converted with just one second left on the first penalty. Ruslan Pedan (D, Fr., Moscow, Russia) unleashed a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle for his inaugural goal in the green and white at the 15:26 mark.
The Pedan tally would stand as the Beavers’ only power-play goal as BSU finished the night 1-for-5 on the man advantage.
The Mavericks trimmed the BSU lead back to two goals, 3-1, 59 seconds later (16:25). Jordan Nelson found the back of the net to break BSU netminder Andrew Walsh’s shutout with help from Zach Stepan.
Leading 3-1 to open the third stanza, BSU kept the ball rolling. Cory Ward (F, So., Las Vegas, Nev.) posted his team-leading fifth goal of the season at the 10:15 mark to bring the score to 4-1.
Walsh finished the night making stops on 27 of 28 shots faced, which included 14 in the first period alone, and backstopped a penalty-kill unit that held the Mavericks scoreless on five power-play opportunities to even his record to 3-3-1 on the season.
Bemidji State, now 3-3-1 on the season and 3-0-0 in WCHA play, will attempt to complete its second league sweep of the season tomorrow when it hosts the same Maverick team. The series finale is set for a 7:07 p.m. opening faceoff.