In a game of comebacks between Minnesota State and Bemidji State, it was the visiting Beavers who scored the final goal and escaped the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center with a 7-6 victory in CCHA hockey action Saturday night. The BSU victory avenged a 5-1 loss to the Mavericks Friday night.
The game started ominously for the Mavericks. At 2:34, MSU goalie Alex Tracy stopped a shot that dropped down behind him where he couldn’t find it. An alert Jere Vaisanen of BSU skated around behind Tracy, popped the loose puck into the net, giving his team a 1-0 lead. About a minute later, the Beavers’ Austin Jouppl converted a slap shot from the right circle for a 2-0 advantage.
Before the visitors could get comfortable, however, MSU answered with a five-goal blitz over a 9:38 span. The barrage began with a goal by Brandon Koch from the top of the left circle at 4:17. A short time later, the Mavericks converted a power play as Lucas Sowder slid a cross-ice pass to Sam Morton who one-timed it past goaltender Raythan Robbins at 7:55.
MSU continued its assault at 10:43 as Sowder wristed a shot from between the circles that found the top shelf for a 3-2 lead. And the home team wasn’t done as Morton and Kaden Bohlsen scored goals just 13 seconds apart for a 5-2 MSU advantage at 12:55. That was it for Beavers’ goaltender Robbins, as he was replaced by Gavin Enright.
BSU responded just 12 seconds later when Jake McLean found the net through heavy traffic in front to close the gap to 5-3. That score held up until the first break.
“As the momentum swings throughout you try to get a maturity out of our group that’s not going to be too high, too low,” MSU coach Luke Strand said. “You’ve got to find center again. I thought we did for a bit and then we kind of seeped air out of our tires.”
The team’s exchanged power-play goals in the second. Eric Pohlkamp split the pipes for BSU at 8:27 and MSU’s Tyler Haskins did the same at 16:14. That left the score 6-4 in favor of MSU.
The third proved to be all BSU. The Beavers’ leading scorer Lleyton Roed sandwiched a goal between two scores by senior Jackson Jutting, the nephew of former MSU head coach Troy Jutting. The younger Jutting’s second goal was the game-winner and came off a rebound that bounced into the left circle where he slammed it home with just over four minutes to play.
The Mavericks had a golden opportunity to tie it up when Bemidji took a tripping penalty with 1:22 left. A few seconds into the infraction, MSU pulled Tracy for a 6-on-4 advantage. The Mavericks mounted numerous chances with some quality shots but BSU’s Enright stopped them all and the Beavers held on for the 7-6 win.
“Basically, as a group, we didn’t get the job done,” Strand said. “We had way too many breakout turnovers, credit Bemidji on their pressure.
“At the 8-minute mark we’re feeling pretty good in a 6-4 game and we didn’t get the job done. The 8-minute mark is winning hockey time we didn’t get it done.”
Morton led MSU with two goals and an assist. Lucas Sowder had a goal and an assist and the right wing on that line, Luc Wilson, ended up with two assists.
Morton, however, was far from satisfied with his line or his team’s performance.
“Our power play’s been working well but we’re just too inconsistent with our 5-on-5 play,” he said. “We have to learn to play the whole 60 minutes. Not just parts of the game, the whole 60 minutes.
“We have to compete better 5-on-5. We have to do a better job taking care of the puck.”
Shots on goal favored MSU 27-20.
The win lifts Bemidji State to 5-7 overall, 4-4 in the CCHA. The Mavericks fall to 5-4-1 and 3-1 in league play.
MSU stays at home to host Michigan Tech next weekend.