Oct. 29 — Pop quiz: Who’s the hottest college hockey team in Minnesota right now?
Sorry, Gophers, but you need to score goals to even be considered.
Duluth? Nah.
Minnesota State? Try again.
St. Cloud State? Nupe.
Ladies and gentlemen, Bemidji State is the hottest college hockey team in Minnesota right now after getting a hard-fought tie and a dominating win on the road last weekend at Northern Michigan.
After BSU’s 5-0 whitewash Saturday night, which also saw Mathieu Dugas become just the third BSU goaltender to post a shutout in his collegiate debut, coach Tom Serratore called the game one of the best wins in the program’s storied history.
“This was a great effort — I am very proud of the way we played,” Serratore said. “You look back, over the course of the last 10 years in Division I, at some of our most gratifying wins, and this ranks right up there. This is not an easy place to play. It’s tough to get one point out of Marquette, let alone three.
“We were stingy defensively and our guys played with a ton of jam. I am very proud of our guys.”
Dugas needed to make just 13 saves for the victory. He joined Jim Scanlan and Matt Climie as BSU netminders with shutouts in their first games.
“This was great for Mathieu,” Serratore said. “We’ve got a lot of inexperience this year, but I think we’ve had some great goaltending. Danny Bakala has been outstanding and Mathieu played great. I thought he was very poised in the net.”
BSU captain Chris McKelvie scored twice and Tyler Lehrke, Ryan Cramer and Ian Lowe also tallied. Matt Read chipped in with two assists.
Friday night, Ben Kinne’s goal with 10.6 seconds left in the third period pulled the Beavers into a 3-3 tie and that’s how the game ended after overtime.
Jordan George scored a power-play goal early in the third after NMU’s Andrew Cherniwchan was given five minutes for checking from behind late in the second period.
“I think it would have been mothballs if we would not have scored there,” Serratore said. “That can really deflate you if you don’t score (on a five-minute major) when you are down 2-1 in the third period on the road.”
Jamie MacQueen rang up BSU’s first goal of the night and Brad Hunt recorded a pair of assists.
Bakala finished with 25 saves and is still unbeaten (2-0-1) in this young season.
“Northern Michigan is a good team, boy,” Serratore said. “There is no question there were times that we were a little flat-footed, but overall I thought it was a great tie (and) a terrific night. I am very proud of the guys. I thought they played with a lot of heart and a lot of want-to in the third period.”
BSU opens CHA play this weekend down in Huntsville for a rare Saturday-Sunday series.
