Beaver hockey left Grand Forks this past weekend with a victory against the number one ranked team, Miami (Ohio) University Redhawks, and an overtime loss to the Ohio State University Buckeyes.
The Bemidji State University (BSU) men's hockey travelled to Grand Forks, ND to participate in the Subway Holiday Classic.
Friday’s game was one for the books. The sixth ranked Beavers were the statistical underdogs for the first time this season, against the top ranked Redhawks.
The Beavers were held to just two shots in the first period, but sophomore forward Darcy Findlay only needed one of those to put the Beavers in the lead. Findlay put the puck just over the Redhawk’s goaltender, assisted by freshmen forward Aaron McLeod.
The Beavers struck again, six minutes into the second period, when junior forward Tyler Lehrke, buried a rebound from a shot fired by senior forward Chris McKelvie, and found the back of the net. This was only the third time this season that the Redhawk’s were down by two goals.
The Redhawks put a lot of pressure on sophomore goaltender Dan Bakala in the second period, but Bakala was solid, stopping all 17 shots in the first 40 minutes. The Beavers scored the two goals on just 8 shots in the first two periods.
The Redhawks finally solved Bakala when Carter Camper scored a power play goal, 5:24 minutes into the period. Camper would strike again, 4 minutes later, tying the score at two.
The game looked like it was heading into overtime when junior forward Matt Read fired a backhand on the Redhawks goalie. McKelvie picked up the rebound once again, giving the Beavers a 3-2 lead, with 3:19 minutes to go.
McKelvie’s goal would be enough, as the Beavers took down the number one team in the nation, 3-2. The victory pushed the Beavers record to 11-1-1, and 9-0-0 when they lead by two to start the third period.
“We didn’t get a ton of shots, but we capitalized on the good ones we did get, and it paid off for us,” said McKelvie.
Saturday afternoon the Beavers took on the Buckeyes of Ohio State University.
McLeod got the Beavers on the board late in the first period, assisted by Findlay and junior defender Ryan Adams. The goal was McLeod's third goal of the season.
The Buckeyes scored their lone goal of regulation almost a full period later when Ian Boots got a shot past freshmen goaltender Mathieu Dugas.
Both goalies played solid in the third period, not allowing any goals scored. McKelvie got called on a cross checking penalty with 1:15 minutes remaining in the game. The penalty carried to overtime.
Ohio State came out firing in overtime, putting three quick shots on Dugas in 48 seconds. The last of those three tipped off of Ohio States Kyle Reed, and past Dugas, to win the game 2-1.
The loss made the Beavers record 11-2-1. BSU will take on Niagra University this Friday Dec. 7 at 7:35 p.m., and Saturday Dec. 8 at 7:05 p.m..
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