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Bemidji State routs U for split of series
The Beavers came back from Saturday night's loss, using three quick goals to put Sunday's game out of reach.
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Gophers coach Don Lucia was a strong supporter of Bemidji State's bid to become a WCHA member next season. This past week he kept repeating the Beavers were ready to join arguably the nation's toughest conference.
Exhibit A could be Sunday's game at Mariucci Arena. The No. 7 Beavers showed their strong bite, embarrassing the Gophers 6-2 before an announced crowd of 9,913. Twice Lucia switched goalies, pulling starter Alex Kangas after the first period and then putting him back in at 3 minutes, 4 seconds of the third when Kent Patterson was being shelled.
Patterson departed after giving up three goals in a 2 1/2-minute span that ballooned the Beavers' 3-1 lead to 6-1.
"They counter-attack well. They were waiting for us to make some mistakes, and we made some mistakes," Lucia said. "We had some guys who, quite frankly, had a bad weekend on back-to-back nights. We overcame it [Saturday] night but we didn't tonight."
Bemidji State (8-1-1) had not beaten the Gophers in seven previous meetings since becoming a Division I program in 1999-2000. Minnesota won Saturday's series opener 4-1.
"It's a monumental win," Beavers coach Tom Serratore said. "This is Minnesota pride on ice. It's a great program. Any time you can win in this building you take it. It's a very difficult place to play."
The Beavers looked very comfortable, though, as the third period began.
Defenseman Brad Hunt got the Beavers rolling with a power-play goal at 1:38 from 45 feet straight out. Jamie MacQueen scored his second goal of the game unassisted 14 seconds later on a breakaway and then Aaron McLeod joined the BSU spree with a short backhander.
"We got some breaks and some pucks landed our way early in the third," Serratore said. "Obviously I am surprised by the margin, but again things happen. It's a weird game, hockey, no question."
The Beavers took a 2-0 lead in the first period by scoring on half their shots on net. Shea Walters scored an unassisted goal from 30 feet out at 8:00 after intercepting a pass at midice. Matt Read, one of the nation's top scorers, made it 2-0 BSU with a shot from the right dot with 50 seconds left in the period.
The Gophers (4-5-1) outshot the Beavers 10-4 and had their chances in the opening period, too, but nothing clicked.
Jordan Schroeder's power-play goal midway through the second period cut the Beavers' lead to 2-1. Mathieu Dugas, a 21-year-old freshman from L'Assomption, Quebec, had shut out Northern Michigan in his only other college start and held the Gophers scoreless for 1 1/2 periods.
A five-minute major penalty on Zach Budish for checking from behind at 13:50 of the middle period got the Gophers in more trouble. Their streak of killing off 24 consecutive penalties ended when MacQueen scored 2:21 into the power play to put the Beavers ahead 3-1. His shot glanced off the inside post.
A minute before MacQueen's goal, the Gophers' Tony Lucia had a breakaway but his shot hit the crossbar.
"If that goes in, it is 2-2," coach Lucia said. "But you still got to make plays and finish out the game."
The visitors did.
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