BEMIDJI, Minn. — The Bemidji State fan base must have been just sickened during this seven-game losing streak.
Their Beavers had been playing their opponents tough, and yet they had that empty feeling when the opposition beat them, which included No. 16 St. Cloud State Saturday night.
But not this time.
Thanks to another strong effort and scoring to back it up, the Beavers gave their fan base something to smile about.
Gerry Fitzgerald scored in the third period to break a tie, and Bemidji State got a brilliant performance between the pipes from Adam Walsh as the Beavers defeated the Huskies 4-1 at the Sanford Center.
It was the first victory for BSU since Nov. 1, a 4-3 overtime win at home over Alaska. It was also their first victory over SCSU since Dec. 3, 2011.
“We played good hockey,” said Beavers’ coach Tom Serratore.
Huskies’ coach Bob Motzko thought his team played well, too, despite the final score.
“We had lots of chances,” he said. “The right guys had the puck in the right spots.”
The game started out back and forth, but SCSU started putting on the pressure toward the end of the 1st, and it paid off with Joey Benik’s second goal of the series. Following a missed opportunity by Bemidji State, St. Cloud State led a 3-on-2 rush with its top line. Jonny Brodzinski dished the puck from the slot to Benik in the left circle, and his wrister beat Walsh at 17:16 for his eighth goal of the season. That made it 1-0 Huskies after one.
Bemidji State refused to quit and the Beavers were finally awarded for a good early effort when they managed to tie the game early in the second. Following a faceoff win to the left of St. Cloud State goaltender Rasmus Reijola, Ruslan Pedan ripped one home from high in the slot to knot the game at 1. It was the first goal of the season and the fourth career goal for the sophomore defenseman from Moscow and it was the only goal of the period.
“We were sick of losing,” Fitzgerald said when asked about what the Beavers were thinking during the second intermission. “We told each other to keep working hard. We all did it out there.”
The Huskies were unable to capitalize on four power plays in the game, which included three in the second period.
“In between the second and third, Coach was saying, ‘Don’t get frustrated,'” said Huskies’ senior defenseman Andrew Prochno. “Keep doing what we’re doing.”
The Beavers finally got exactly what they needed in the third period. Gerry scored for the second time in the series after his triplet brothers Myles and Leo assisted him at 8:13. Charlie O’Connor made it a 3-1 lead 37 seconds later with his fourth goal.
The Huskies just couldn’t solve Walsh, and the senior finished with 34 saves.
“[Walsh] played great,” said Gerry. “He stood tall in net. He played his best game of the year, I’d say.”
Reijola, who was making his first start of the season, had 21 saves of his own, but he was off the ice for an extra attacker when Phil Brewer sealed it with an empty-netter with 22 seconds left.
As the final horn went off, Bemidji State celebrated their first victory in nearly a month. But they knew they were working hard throughout that time, and it’s still puzzling to Serratore why the Beavers didn’t win a few more games.
“We played good hockey seven of the last eight games,” Serratore said. “The craziest thing in the world, how we’re 1-7 in our last eight and we shouldn’t be. But we are.”
SCSU lost despite outshooting BSU 35-25.
“[Bemidji State] weathered the storm,” Motzko said. “Third period, we make a couple of blatant mistakes and they end up in the back of our net.”
“Their goalie played very well,” Prochno added. “Their defense and their forwards, they played well in their own end when they had to, and the result was a win for them.”
