Lee Stecklein’s shot from center point found the net 57 seconds into overtime to give Minnesota a come-from-behind, 2-1 win at Bemidji State.
“A big-time play by a big-time player,” Beavers coach Jim Scanlan said. “That was an unbelievable shot; I don’t know if anybody could have stopped it.”
If anybody could, it likely would have been goaltender Brittni Mowat of Bemidji State (17-9-2, 12-9-1-0 WCHA). The junior handled 42 of the 44 shots she faced.
“She came in this morning and wasn’t feeling very good,” Scanlan said. “She thought she had the flu coming on, so I said, wait and see how you feel when you get here. She gave me the thumbs up. She was outstanding, no doubt.”
Dani Cameranesi’s goal at 13:21 of the third period tied the game for the Gophers (24-3-0, 19-3-0-0 WCHA) on a power play, after Sydney Baldwin unleashed a wrist shot from between the circles.
“When you have a 47 percent power play, sometimes you get lucky goals, and I thought both their power-play goals were lucky ones, but they count, just as much as the pretty ones,” Scanlan said.
The Gophers will take it.
“It was one of those times where you just hope something goes in eventually,” coach Brad Frost said. “If it didn’t, I would have been really pleased with how we played in the second and third period.”
Minnesota had only one power play opportunity in each game of the series, converting the winning goal on Friday.
“How big were those power-play goals both nights?” Frost said. “It was really important for us to find a way to get one there.”
Halfway through the first period, a Minnesota pass hit a linesman at center ice and created a transition opportunity at center ice that Stephanie Anderson corralled and set Lauren Miller up for Bemidji State’s goal when her shot found its way through the five-hole.
“I just put it low, trying to get a rebound,” Miller said.
The Beavers were unable to increase the lead, despite some chances.
“We didn’t play real well in the first,” Frost said. “Gave up a couple breakaways, a couple three-on-twos.”
Although BSU couldn’t add on, it looked like one goal would be enough.
“That’s twice now in the second half where we’ve controlled play, but still been down 1-0 going into the third,” Frost said. “I love the belief of our team, to fight back in both of those games and find a way to win it.”
Bemidji State travels to St. Cloud State while the Gophers host North Dakota next weekend.
“We played the best we could, and obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but we just got to look forward to next weekend and getting six points and moving forward,” Miller said.
