Bemidji State found itself in a position which has spelled certain doom so far in its four-year history — trailing at the second intermission — Saturday afternoon in nonconference against the Wayne State Warriors.
But for the first time in the program’s history, the Beavers rallied to win a game when trailing at the second intermission, using a four-goal third period to rally past the Warriors, 5-3.
Bemidji State, had been 0-61-4 all-time when trailing at the second intermission, trailed 2-1, and was down 3-2 just 4:01 into the third period. But BSU scored three unanswered goals in the game’s final 12:14, including an empty-net goal with 1:02 to play, to earn its first-ever third-period rally victory.
The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the game as Kelly Zamora scored the first Warrior goal in more than a month just 33 seconds into the game, and Kelly Meech tallied her fourth goal of the year at 9:21 of the second before BSU would get on the board.
BSU’s first goal came from the blade of Caesare Stimson, who scored her ninth goal of the season, unassisted, at the 13:01 mark of the second, but the Warriors would hold for the remainder of the period and take their 2-1 lead into the third period.
Freshman Katie Ward evened the score at 2-2 with her eighth goal of the year at 1:49 of the third, but the Warriors would strike quickly to regain the upper hand. Just 2:12 later, Katie Jones netted her sixth goal of the season to put Wayne State back on top, 3-2.
From there, it was all BSU. Amber Fryklund picked up her 12th goal of the year on a power-play at 7:47 of the third period, and Kerri McEwen would net her 11th goal of the season., the eventual game-winner, at the 16:20 mark of the third. The Warriors yanked starting goaltender Tinna-Anne Thibideau for an extra attacker with 1:23 to play, but Guylaine Hache iced the win for BSU with an empty-net goal just 23 seconds later.
“The 1 p.m. start hurt us,” BSU head coach Jason Lesteberg said. “We just didn’t have any jump in our step. Katie Ward gave us a jump-start in the third, but we just didn’t play very well.”
Katie Anderson, making her first appearance in net for BSU since Feb. 11, 2001, picked up her first win in more than two years with a 17-save effort. She allowed three goals in the complete-game win.
“Katie played well,” Lesteberg said. “She made some nice saves.”
Wayne State’s goal just 33 seconds into the first period snapped a streak of four consecutive games in which the Warriors had been shut out, ending its scoreless streak at 244:19. Prior to tonight, Wayne State had not scored a goal since Dec. 8.
Bemidji State improves to 10-8-5 with the win, surpassing last season’s win total of nine, while Wayne State fell to 3-17-2.
