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The last time Minnesota faced Bemidji State, Gophers goalie Sidney Peters suffered the only loss on her collegiate ledger.
Saturday, the junior got a measure of revenge by saving 18 shots as the Gophers (12-1-2, 10-1-2-2 WCHA) posted a 4-0 shutout win in front of 2,080 fans.
“We don’t score any; it comes down to that,” BSU (5-9-1, 3-9-1-0 WCHA) coach Jim Scanlan said. “It doesn’t matter if Brit [Mowat] stands on her head like she did. If you don’t score, you’re not going to win.”
Dani Cameranesi, the country’s top goal scorer, finally broke through at 13:44 of the middle period. Bemidji State got a partial clear against the Gophers’ second power-play unit, but only one Beaver was able to make the long change before Minnesota reentered the attacking zone, swapped in the top power play, and exploited the tired killers.
“[Defenseman Madison Hutchinson] was in good position on Cameranesi, but instead of keeping body position between her and the net, she kind of got on the side of her, and Dani made a nice play rolling off of her, and there’s the puck,” Scanlan said.
After a fairly even opening 20 minutes, Minnesota took over.
“Proud of the way our kids stayed with it,” coach Brad Frost said. “They didn’t get frustrated; they kept battling.”
The Gophers held the visitors without a shot in the second period and finished with a 51-18 advantage.
“The power play had some nice chances and a couple nice goals,” Frost said.
Minnesota clicked on two of its three opportunities with the extra skater, with Kelly Pannek assisting on both and scoring an even-strength goal of her own, but the prettiest goal came when she wasn’t on the ice.
“The third goal was just an incredible play by some incredible players,” Scanlan said.
“[Nicole Schammel] just saw me coming on the ice and we made some eye contact,” Cameranesi said. “She made a great play and battled the person off of her and just laid out in front of her for me, and she gets all the credit for that one. She did all the work.”
Cameranesi threaded a bad-angle shot over Mowat’s shoulder for her second goal of the contest and 16th of the season.
Kate Schipper’s second goal of the season completed the scoring.
“Points haven’t been easy for a lot of people on our team,” Schipper said. “Getting the chances is one thing, and it shows that we’re in the right spot and doing the right things.”
The teams wrap up their season series on Sunday at 2:07 p.m. CST with Minnesota’s annual Teddy Bear Toss.
“I think the Teddy Bear Toss is a great thing for us,” Cameranesi said. “It brings a whole other aspect to the game and is really exciting.”
