Bemidji State came out a completely different team than it was on Saturday and dictated play for sixty minutes to down North Dakota 6-1 and gain the split on the road.
BSU (4-12-2, 3-11-0 WCHA) came out firing and got two first period goals, while outshooting UND (3-13-2, 1-11-2 WCHA) 11-6. UND took two penalties in the first minute to put Bemidji on a 5-on-3 power play right away but killed them both. The Beavers got their first goal at 2:55 of the first, just after their power play was over, when junior Helena Tageson put a rebound from the low slot into the back of the net for her fifth of the year.
The game-winner came just 3:30 later on a shot by senior Sarah Zuelke that found its way through traffic in front and past UND senior goaltender Margaret-Ann Hinkley for a 2-0 lead.
The Beavers spent much of the second and third periods on the power play. A
total of 15 BSU power plays would yield 28 of their 42 shots in the game. At on point early in the second BSU was on the power play for nearly five minutes straight.
Bemidji took advantage of the Sioux’s lack of discipline by scoring three power-play goals. Freshman Brooke Collins got her first goal of the year at 6:31 of the second on the power play and added two assists in the game for a three-point game.
Tageson ended up with a two-point game, adding a power-play goal in the
third at 4:05.
Other Beavers to score were senior Melissa Schaeffer, her second, and junior
Nikki Eckebrecht, her sixth.
Beaver senior goalie Jill Luebke played well allowing only one goal, a power-play tally by UND freshman Melissa Jaques, on twenty shots. The win upped her record to 3-5-1 this season.
At the other end, Hinkley finished with 36 saves in the loss. Her record dropped to 1-4-0 this year. BSU finished 3-for-15 on the power play, while North Dakota was 1-for-5.
UND tied a team-record for penalties, with 18, and penalty minutes, with 44, set on Jan 15, 2000 against Minnesota State.
Bemidji State next sees action at Cornell on Dec 30, while North Dakota
won’t see action until Jan. 6 at Vermont.
