Saturday Reading – At Denver

Bemidji State’s 3-1 loss to the No. 14 Pioneers last night in Denver leaves the Beavers winless on Fridays (0-5-0) as they fall to 2-6-1 overall and 2-6-1 WCHA play.
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Denver takes now owns a 6-0-0 lead in the all-time series leaving BSU seeking its first win versus the Pioneers tonight.
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BSU looks for a win tonight to avoid being swept on the road for the first time in nearly two years. The last time an opponent swept the Beavers on the road was Minnesota Duluth Jan. 16-17, 2009.
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After last night’s loss to No. 14 Denver, BSU is now 0-4-1 versus nationally-ranked teams this season. Since the BSU made the jump to the NCAA Division I ranks for the 1999-2000 season, the Beavers are 7-41-3 versus teams ranked in the top 15 according to the USAToday/USA Hockey Magazine weekly poll.
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With the first goal again last night, the Beavers have now scored first in six of their first nine games and are 2-4-0 in those contests.
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The Beavers have not only scored first in their last four games, they have buried their first shot on net for a goal in those games.
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The line of Matt Read, Jordan George and Ian L owe have been a scoring force for BSU this season accounting for 50 percent of its total scoring (30 pts), 15 of 22 goals (68%) and 15 of 39 assists (38%). Last night the trio was held without a point marking just the second game this season the Beavers’ most potent line has been held scoreless.
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With his second goal of the season Friday, freshman Sam Rendle leads all BSU blueliners in goal scoring and tops the BSU rookies scoring list. Matt Read (7-4=11) and Jordan George (4-7=11) share top spot on BSU’s 2010-11 scoring list with 11 points apiece. They are also tied for 30th in the country in scoring.
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Matt Read has scored seven goals in the first nine games of 2010-11–a stat that places him ninth in the country in goals per game (0.78).
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With 0-8=8 points this season, Brad Hunt ranks 11th in the nation among blueliners and 23rd among all players in assist scoring.
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With 119 points (50-69=119) Matt Read sits just two points from matching BSU great Luke Erickson (2003-07) atop BSU’s Division I scoring list (52-69=121). In addition, he stands along in 29th among BSU career scoring leaders.
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The Beavers got and assist from Sam Rendle last night marking the third consecutive game, and seventh of 2010-11, that the BSU defensive unit has generated at least a point. BSU blueliners have contributed 2-16-18 points (2.00 ppg) in the Beavers’ first nine games of the season.
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Out shot 29-15 by DU last night, BSU has now been out shot in seven of its first nine games correlating to a 249-197 shots-on-goal deficit this season.
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Senior Ryan Cramer made his return to the line up last night, after missing three games due to injury, and contributed an assist to BSU’s lone goal. It was his third assist of the season. Three seems to be a magical thresh hold for BSU opponents in 2010-11. BSU is 0-6-0, including a 3-1 loss to DU last night, when its opponents have scored three or more goals in a game. BSU is 2-0-1 when holding its opponents to two or fewer goals this season.
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Rookies Jeff Jubinville, Anton Racklin and Garrett Ladd are all still in search of their first collegiate points. Veterans Matt Carlson (0-1=1), Drew Fisher (0-4=4) and Jake  Areshenko (0-4=4) are also looking for their first collegiate goals.
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BSU’s penalty-kill unit has allowed 12 power-play goals on 52 opponent chances (.769) to sit 45th in the nation, but the unit has been lights out as of late. Since Nov. 6, BSU has snuffed out 22 of its opponents’ last 24 power-play opportunities (.917), which includes holding the opposition scoreless on the man advantage in three of its last four games.
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BSU’s penalty-kill has been tested often this season as the Beavers have been whistled for five or more penalties in eight of nine games. Averaging nearly 15 minutes in the box per game, the Beavers rank 25th in the country in penalty minutes per game.
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Brad Hunt continues to be a force on the Beavers power-play. He leads the team in power-play point production posting six of his eight assists on the man advantage.
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Matt Read will make his 120 consecutive appearance for the Beavers tonight. Read has not missed a game since he stepped on campus at BSU in the fall of 2007. He remains 23 games behind Matt Pope and John Haider for the BSU Division I-era record for games played (143). Brad Hunt, who is also set to play tonight, has been in the Beavers’ line up 83 straight games to rank second on the team.
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The Beavers posted a record of 10-6-3 a year ago when playing on Saturday and are 2-2-1 in 2010-11.
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BSU has compiled an all-time record of 968-474-87 (.662) in 1,529 games.