Bemidji State had a two-goal lead going into the third also started the period on a power play.
By 3:04 of the third, their lead was five goals, as Bemidji scored three goals on four shots, ushering Kent Patterson from the game. The Gophers brought back Alex Kangas, who had started the game and allowed two goals on four shots in the first.
It was the first win for Bemidji State against Minnesota in the school’s history.
“It’s a monumental win; this is a premier program (Minnesota),” said Bemidji coach Tom Serratore on the program’s first win over Minnesota.
“Coming in this weekend, we thought we had a good chance of getting our first win,” said Bemidji forward Matt Read.
The third period scoring outburst started at 1:38 when Brad Hunt’s wrister on a screened shot found the upper corner on the power play, beating Patterson.
Just 14 seconds later, Jamie MacQueen notched his second goal of the game on an offensive zone turnover that resulted in the second breakaway goal for the Beavers
A soft backhand shot by Aaron McLeod capped the three-goal outburst by the Beavers and ended Patterson’s night at 3:04 of the third.
“It just spiraled. Some pucks landed our way early in the third period,” added Serratore.
One positive note for Minnesota was scoring two power-play goals for the second night in a row, but the penalty kill they have relied on all season was not up to the task.
“We made some mistakes… Quite frankly, we had some guys that had bad nights back to back,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia.
Minnesota scored its final goal on a tip shot by Jake Hansen on the power play.
Jordan Schroeder scored a power-play goal on a one-timer midway through the second period. Kevin Wehrs set the play up with a pass from the middle blue line.
For the second night in a row, Minnesota found themselves killing an extended power play in the second period. This time it was not four minors, but a major on Zack Budish for checking from behind.
The first scoring chance of the major came when Tony Lucia hit the upper cross bar on a short-handed rush.
Less than a minute later, at 16:11, MacQueen scored on a one-timer form the top of the right circle on a feed from the blue line by Brady Wacker. The officials took a look at Lucia’s cross bar shot to make sure it had not gone in.
“They hit that pipe; all we wanted to do was get one on that five-minute major,” added Serratore.
Shea Walters’ opened the scoring on a breakaway goal caused by an errant pass by David Fischer. Fischer had the puck at the top of his own circle and tried a quick pass that found Walters’ stick just outside the zone. Shea skated in the zone and let a slap shot rip from 60 feet to beat Kangas.
Matt Read made it 2-0 with 49 seconds left in the period when he wristed a shot in the upper corner. The play was reviewed for a man in the crease. The player was clearly in the crease, but did not interfere with Kangas. The goal stood, and the Beavers led 2-0 after one, despite being outshot 10-4.
Next weekend, Bemidji hosts Alabama-Huntsville and Minnesota host Minnesota-Duluth.
