• Photo Showcase: Bemidji State 3, UNO 1

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Bemidji State didn't give the UNO hockey team many opportunities.

The chances the Mavs did get, they simply couldn't do enough with them.

The No. 6 Beavers looked like a team capable of making a return trip to the Frozen Four on Friday night as they worked out a suffocating 3-1 win against 19th-ranked UNO. Matt Read and Jamie MacQueen scored for Bemidji State, and standout goalie Dan Bakala cooled a Mavericks team that had been averaging 4.18 goals since Jan. 16.

“If that's the sixth-best team in the country — and I think they are — than I guess it's a good sign that we're not that far behind,” UNO coach Dean Blais said. “When you're playing a team like that, you've got to bury your chances. We didn't.”

Tyler Lehrke added an empty-net goal with 28 seconds left in regulation. That iced the win for the Beavers, who overcame a UNO team that entered the series with a 13-2-2 record at home and a 7-2-1 mark in its past 10 games.

“I can't say enough about how the boys responded, and I think our guys emptied the tank tonight, that's for sure,” said Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore, whose squad will play the Mavs again at 8:05 tonight. “We know how good Omaha is, and they obviously had a territorial advantage in this game right here.

“We have to be ready to respond again tomorrow, and right now in college hockey you have to treat every game like it's Game 7 of the Stanley Cup.”

There were stretches when the Mavs looked like the better team Friday. At the same time, Bemidji State rarely was out of position, and seldom did Serratore's skaters suffer any major lapses. And when UNO did apply pressure, Bakala was there. The sophomore stopped 24 of 25 shots and improved to 18-5-2. He also had a hand in preventing the Mavs from scoring on any of their five power-play opportunities.

“We had a couple of missed chances, but give credit to them,” UNO captain Mark Bernier said. “Their goalie played well, and they have kind of a lock-down defense.”

Junior forward Rich Purslow scored UNO's only goal as Bemidji State spoiled the Mavs' Senior Night in front of a crowd of 7,031. The team honored Bernier, Eddie Del Grosso, Jeric Agosta, JJ Koehler, Nick Fanto, Dan Swanson and goalie Jeremie Dupont before the game. Dupont, who was in net last week when UNO upended No. 1 Miami, stopped 14 of the 16 shots.

“I thought we played well in the third and just peppered their goaltender,” said Purslow, who put away his 13th goal of the season. “But we just waited too long to really get going.”

UNO produced an 8-2 shot advantage during the first 20 minutes. But Bakala had an answer for each attempt, and the Bemidji State goalie made a critical save to deny Terry Broadhurst on a breakaway. That stop might have been the turning point, and it loomed even larger in the second period as the Beavers took their 2-0 lead.

At the 2:40 mark of the second, with the puck in Bemidji State's zone, Jordan George blocked a UNO shot and raced free with Read on a 2-on-1 rush. George slid a pass to Read, who easily tipped the puck past a helpless Dupont.

The Beavers went on their first power play 13:12 into the second, and MacQueen quickly made it 2-0 at 14:00. After Bemidji State worked the puck around the perimeter, MacQueen took control at the point, skated through some open territory in the slot and beat Dupont with a nice wrist shot.

The Mavs came out flying to open the third, and Purslow cut Bemidji State's lead in half just 89 seconds into the period. Agosta got a stick on the puck during a Bemidji State clearing attempt. That allowed Purslow to pick up the turnover just inside the blueline, and he zipped a high wrister that barely sailed under Bakala's crossbar.

Later in the third, a fortunate bounce for Bemidji State resulted in UNO missing a tying goal as the puck skittered through the crease after Bakala had left his net. UNO pulled Dupont for the game's final 40 seconds, and Lehrke's empty-netter sealed it for the Beavers.

“It wasn't that we didn't have the effort. We just didn't have the execution,” Blais said. “They didn't give us a whole lot, and their goaltender made two or three good saves that were the difference.”

Bemidji State (22-7-2).....................0 2 1—3

At UNO (17-14-6)..................0 0 1—1

First period: None.

Second period: 1, BSU, Read 17 (George), 2:40. 2, BSU, MacQueen 8 (Wacker, Lehrke), 14:00 (pp).

Third period: 3, UNO, Purslow 13 (Agosta), 1:29. 4, BSU, Lehrke 9 (Hunt), 19:32 (en).

Shots on goal:

BSU...................2 7 8—17

At UNO .....................8 6 11—25

Power plays: BSU 1 for 3; UNO 0 for 5.

Penalties-minutes: BSU 5-10; UNO .

Goalies: BSU, Bakala (25 shots, 24 saves, 60:00). UNO, Dupont (16 shots, 14 saves, 59:20).

Three stars: 1, Bakala. 2, MacQueen. 3, Purslow.

Attendance: 7,031.

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

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