In front of the largest crowd in Bemidji State’s Division I era, the host Beavers grabbed an early lead, but visiting North Dakota rallied for a 2-1 victory in a nonconference matchup Friday at John Glas Fieldhouse.
Bemidji State drew first blood as the team’s fourth line lit the lamps on a power play at 5:09 of the first period. Travis Winter took a pass from Blaine Jarvis and fired on Fighting Sioux goaltender Philippe Lamoureux, who saved the shot but could not contain the rebound, which escaped onto the waiting stick of BSU’s Matt Allen. Allen flipped the puck past Lamoureux for his first collegiate point.
BSU spent much of the next six minutes on the penalty kill. Dave Deterding was called for holding the stick just 48 seconds after Allen’s marker, and Shane Holman was whistled for slashing less than a minute later. BSU survived the five-on-three without allowing a shot on goal, and Jarvis was caught hooking just seven seconds after the Beavers had killed the Holman penalty at 9:01.
North Dakota drew even on Drew Stafford’s 12th goal of the season at 12:07 of the frame.
BSU held North Dakota to just six shots on goal in the second period, but the Fighting Sioux were able to take advantage of a flurry of penalties in the final half of the frame to grab a 2-1 advantage.
North Dakota was caught for two penalties in a span of 46 seconds, but BSU was unable to convert on 1:14 of five-on-three. Instead, Cody Bostock was called for roughing at 14:21, leading to the goal which gave North Dakota the lead on its fifth power play of the contest.
Off a pass from Travis Zajac and Kyle Radke, the Fighting Sioux grabbed the lead at 15:38 of the second. T.J. Oshie picked up his eighth goal of the season for the eventual game winner.
The teams combined for six penalties in the final 4:22 of the period following the Oshie marker, including two minors each to BSU’s Ryan Miller and UND’s Zach Jones following a scuffle behind the Fighting Sioux net at 18:09.
Andrew Martens drew his first career major penalties on a five-minute checking-from-behind major and a game misconduct, leaving BSU on the penalty kill for the final 2:23 of the game. BSU was able to get goaltender Matt Climie off the ice for the final 22 seconds of regulation, and despite intense pressure on Lamoureux with 10 seconds to play in the game could not draw the score even.
“We played a hard game tonight,” BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. “I thought our kids played a full 60 minutes and that’s really all you can ask for. We made too many mistakes and if we want to win we’ve got to minimize that.
“We had chances in the second period but we couldn’t get the puck to bounce the right way.”
The Beavers outshot the Fighting Sioux, 35-30, marking the first time in eight Division I-era meetings BSU has won the shot battle with North Dakota.
Climie took his second consecutive hard-luck loss, saving 28 of 30 shots. He fell to 3-5-0 on the season and saw his career-long losing streak reach four consecutive starts. However, he has allowed just four goals in his last 125:01 of work (1.92 goals-against average) but has received just two total goals of support from the BSU offense.
Lamoureux earned first-star honors with a 34-save effort for the Fighting Sioux. He stopped 11 of 12 shots in the first period and was a perfect 23-for-23 in the second and third periods as North Dakota grabbed the lead and held on for the win. Lamoureux improved his season record to 2-3-0.
The loss drops Bemidji State to 1-10-1 in 12 all-time meetings with North Dakota, and the Fighting Sioux are now a perfect 3-0-0 all-time in Bemidji.
BSU saw its season record fall to 9-5-1 and lost Game 1 of a weekend series for the fourth consecutive time this season. North Dakota improved to 11-7-1 overall. The teams wrap up their two-game series Saturday night in Grand Forks, N.D. Opening faceoff from UND’s Ralph Engelstad Arena is slated for 7:07 p.m. Central time.
