Bemidji State closed out the Glas Fieldhouse in style last weekend by sweeping aside Niagara and in the process, won the Peters Cup as CHA regular season champions.
The Beavers have been on top of the league all season and by last weekend, it seemed winning the regular season was a mere formality.
“It was a great victory,” BSU coach Tom Serratore said to the Bemidji Pioneer Saturday night. “[It was] fitting for the last game to be played at The Glas. We got the three-goal cushion right away in the first period, which was great since we played so flat the night before. Getting those early goals was huge and they were all nice goals. That set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Darcy Findlay scored twice in BSU’s 6-1 win Saturday night to go along with single goals from Ian Lowe, Ben Kinne, Matt Read and Ryan Cramer. Dan Bakala made 32 saves in goal.
C.J. Chartrain tallied NU’s lone goal, while Andrew Hare and Adam Avramenko combined for 33 stops.
“We didn’t get many breaks or bounces tonight,” Purple Eagles coach Dave Burkholder said. “Our guys never quit and competed like champions in the third.”
Pregame ceremonies included a tribute to the rink’s namesake, the late John S. Glas, who had nearly 30 family members in attendance, including his widow, his sons and several grandchildren. Captains representing all 13 of the Bemidji State Division II national championship teams were also part of the festivities.
Legendary BSU coach and former CHA commissioner R.H. “Bob” Peters dropped the ceremonial first puck. After resurfacing the ice for the final time, rink manager Vance Balstad was given a standing ovation.
Following the game, a passing of the torch ceremony went down. John Emkovick, a captain more than 60 years ago during the 1948-49 season, and John Whiting, a captain the following season, passed the torch to Ric Anderson, captain of the first team at the Glas in 1967-68. Anderson then passed the torch to current Beavers captain Chris McKelvie.
Friday night, Read’s third period goal, his 100th career point, stood as the game-winner in the 3-2 win. Lowe and Jamie MacQueen also tallied to back Bakala’s 25-save performance.
Bryan Haczyk and Paul Zanette scored for NU and Avramenko stopped 22 shots.
“It was a great road game for us,” Burkholder said. “But in the end, we didn’t help ourselves on the power play. Tonight was a game between two equal teams battling it out. In the end, they made just one more play than we did.”
Niagara has Alabama-Huntsville for three this weekend, with the game Sunday being the makeup of the game two weeks ago that was postponed in light of the shooting on the UAH campus.
The Beavers head to Nebraska-Omaha for a series with the Mavericks, who are also joining the WCHA next season.
UAH, RMU Play to Spirited Split
Robert Morris traveled to Alabama-Huntsville last weekend and both teams played well enough to win, and that’s what happened in the series split.
Trailing by two goals entering the final period on Saturday afternoon, the Chargers fought back with a three-goal third period to defeat the Colonials, 4-3.
Stefan Salituro, Trevor Lewis and Ron Cramer scored for RMU
Cody Campbell scored early for the Chargers, but then Neil Ruffini, Curtis deBruyn (first NCAA goal) and Jamie Easton (game-winner at 16:13) forged the comeback in the third period.
Cameron Talbot picked up the win with a 25-save effort, while Brooks Ostergard took the loss for the Colonials making 26 stops.
Sunday afternoon was all Robert Morris in its 4-2 victory.
Nick Chiavetta scored 1:42 into the game and the Colonials rolled from there.
Scott Kobialko, J.C. Velasquez and Denny Urban scored for the victors, who got 27 saves out of Ostergard.
Chris Fairbanks and Matti Järvinen were the UAH goal-scorers. Talbot played well making 24 saves, but took the loss.
RMU is off this weekend.
Arizona Netminder Commits to Robert Morris
The Colonials picked up a recent commitment from Arizona-born goalie Eric Ferber, currently with the Bridgewater Bandits of the Eastern Junior Hockey League.
The Scottsdale native will be just the third Arizona-born goalie to play Division I hockey — yet all three instances have happened in the past four years.
“It really has become more of a common thing lately to see Arizona goalies in Division I,” Ferber said to Arizona Rubber Magazine. “With quality goalie coaches in the state like Jeff Tecca and Sean Gauthier, there is no question there will be many more D-I goalies in the future.”
Scottsdale’s Matt Federico (Western Michigan) and Gilbert’s Matt Grogan (Connecticut) are the other two goalies from the desert playing D-I.
“Arizona hockey really changed since I first began playing hockey,” Ferber added in the same article. “You can see it with guys committing to Division I programs and others playing juniors that are definitely going to play Division I.”
Ferber moved on to the EJHL when he was 16 and played for the Baystate Breakers for two seasons. This season with Bridgewater, he’s 9-15-1 with a .892 save percentage and a 4.54 goals-against average.
“I had been hearing from a couple other schools in Atlantic Hockey and also the CCHA and Hockey East,” Ferber continued. “But ultimately, Robert Morris offered me an opportunity to play for an up and coming program — something I couldn’t pass up.
“Robert Morris really has everything I could ever ask for in a school: A quality education mixed with a great Division I hockey program. I know a couple guys on the team and they had nothing but great things to say about the program and coach (Derek Schooley). I had been speaking with Robert Morris for well over a year before I committed and I knew it was where I wanted to be, as I felt very comfortable with the coaching staff and the education I will receive.”
Niagara Recruit Profiled on USHL.com
Incoming Purple Eagles’ forward Patrick Divjak was recently the subject of a Q & A on the United States Hockey League Web site.
Nothing Earth-shattering of note, though the Austrian-born Divjak admitted he watches “Prison Break,” likes to wakeboard and tan, and that his most embarrassing hockey moment was putting on his jersey backwards and no one noticing until the opening faceoff when the referee noticed.
Oh, and it’s pronounced DIV-ee-ack.
