Bemidji St. had played Minnesota 29 times with only three ties to show for their efforts. This afternoon the thirtieth time was the charm.
Emily Brookshaw sparkled in net for Bemidji (5-15-2, 4-12-0 WCHA), stopping 28 of 29 shots. A pair of second period power play goals by sophomore forward Jessica Pullar proved to be enough offense for the Beavers to celebrate a 2-1 victory over the No. 5 Gophers.
“It means a lot,” said Bemidji co-coach Jim Ingman. “They’ve been through a rough season so far, ups and downs, and I think this will be the turning point.”
Pullar tallied the game winner in the final half-minute of the second period, jamming home a puck as goaltender Kim Hanlon attempted to freeze it with her glove.
“Allie Johanson either passed it or shot it–I couldn’t tell because it was in the air,” Pullar said. “Kate [Robinson] knocked it down with her stick, it hit her skate, and went towards the net. The goalie couldn’t really find it. Then she saw it, and I got my stick on it and so did Kate, so we got a kind of double push on it and it went in.”
“Jessica Pullar, who scored those goals, she’s had her whole life a knack around the net of scoring,” Ingman said. “You can’t really explain why they are pure goal scorers, but they are, and she’s one of them. She just did a great job of being patient on the back door and waiting for the puck to come to her.”
Minnesota (13-6-1, 8-5-1 WCHA) looked to be on its way to a series sweep early in the second period. Already up 1-0, the Gophers had back-to-back power play opportunities. But Brookshaw and the BSU penalty kill held firm.
“Our penalty killers, Aimee Collins, Carly Napier, Melissa Schaeffer, and Tara Hiscock up on the front, they did a great job of breaking down off the shots and covering people,” Ingman said. “We only run four D the entire game, and half our penalties were by defensemen. So at those times, we only have three D to rotate in there. They did just a great job of knowing when to make their changes. When they had a chance to get the puck out, they got the puck out.”
When the Beavers gained an advantage of their own, Pullar tied it at 5:08 when a deflected shot bounced to her. Hiscock and Brooke Collins assisted on the goal.
“That was a weird angle shot, because it was kind of by the goal line,” she said. “I was so surprised when that one went in, because I just shot. I thought, ‘Anything can go in.'”
Bemidji outscored Minnesota 2-0 in the second period, despite being outshot 14-3.
Once her team provided her with the lead, Brookshaw made it stand. As the Gophers tried to knot the score, leading scorer Erica McKenzie had the best scoring chances. The Bemidji goalie stoned the Gopher forward on a third-period breakaway.
“I wasn’t sure what she was going to do,” Brookshaw said. “I expected a rebound from her in the game, but I just watched the puck.”
“She has long pads,” McKenzie said. “I saw Krista Johnson do pretty much the same exact move, and she stretched her pad over. It was one of those things where I should have probably shot it up in the corner, but it didn’t go in.”
Brookshaw agreed that it helped that McKenzie didn’t have a full head of steam on the rush.
“It gives you a little more time to read it,” she said.
The two squared off again later in the period, this time with McKenzie attempting a shot from the slot.
“It actually hit her stick,” McKenzie said. “She started sliding, like I was going that way. I went upper corner and it hit the knob of her stick and went up against the glass. Just one of those things.”
Minnesota captain Andrea Nichols had another great scoring chance on a late power play, when she found herself alone with the puck at point blank range.
“I got a piece of it with the pad, and then the defense got it out,” Brookshaw said. “I thought our defense and forwards did a really good job of clearing the zone, getting the rebound out, and picking people up. We also blocked a lot of shots.”
The only shot to beat the sophomore goalie resulted from a picture-perfect rush by McKenzie, Bobbi Ross, and Gigi Marvin, with Marvin roofing a goal-mouth setup over a sprawled Brookshaw.
“Their goalie played really, really well,” said Gopher coach Laura Halldorson. “I congratulate them, because that’s a huge win for them. On the other hand, it’s disappointing, because I was hoping that we’d find a way to score another goal or two, and find a way to win.”
Minnesota won the special teams battle on Friday, but the Beavers had the better specialty units in the rematch.
“I thought today was about special teams,” Halldorson said. “I thought the fact that we were 0 for 7 and they were 2 for 5–right there, that tells the story. We couldn’t come up with a power play goal, we allowed two against us, and that was all they needed.”
“They just beat us in front of our net,” she said. “They had an advantage on the power play, but we have to win those battles.”
The Gophers will have to rebound quickly for a home-and-home series with St. Cloud next Friday and Saturday.
“I’m sure [the Huskies] will be chomping at the bit to play us–we haven’t seen them yet this year,” said Halldorson. “It should be another battle.”
In the WCHA, there is little time to savor big wins, because the Beavers. must prepare to host No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth next weekend, another team they have never defeated.
“They knew they could play with Minnesota, now they know they can do it on the scoreboard,” Ingman said. “Next weekend is another thing – hey, you beat Minnesota, let’s take another game, let’s beat Duluth. We got them in our rink. Just keep going.”
His goaltender welcomes the challenge.
“We’re going to have to pick it up even more, and hopefully, take this momentum into next weekend,” Brookshaw said.
Another upset would require another full team effort.
“I’m just really proud,” Ingman said. “They came together as a team today. I just mentioned a couple names, but there are a lot of players who came through huge for us tonight.”
