On a weekend where Alabama-Huntsville was honoring the 1997-98 team who won the NCAA Division II national title, the school they had to beat to win it just so happened to be their opponent.
Despite being outshot 31-24, the hometown Chargers (9-16-2, 8-11-2 WCHA) downed their rival Bemidji State (13-8-6, 10-5-4 WCHA) by a 5-1 final.
The Chargers and Beavers, longtime rivals in Division II, faced each other three times for the DII title in the 1990s. Their rivalry carried over to DI, when they both played in the now-defunct men’s division of College Hockey America. After spending time as an independent, the two schools were reunited in 2013 when the Chargers joined the WCHA.
Josh Kestner scored his 17th goal of the season to start things off. Madison Dunn and Hans Gorowsky each added goals, making it 3-0 Chargers after 40 minutes.
Tyler Poulsen put Alabama-Huntsville up by four before Aaron Miller got a puck behind Jordan Uhelski. A late empty netter courtesy of Dunn wrapped up the scoring.
In goal, Uhelski stopped 30 of 31 in picking up the win. Bemidji’s Michael Bitzer allowed 4 goals on 23 shots in defeat.
