Bemidji State's Mitch Cain, left, and Alabama-Huntsville's Tom Durnie, right, chase after a puck during the second period Friday at the Sanford Center. Pioneer Photo/Eric Stromgren
The Bemidji State men’s hockey team defeated Alabama-Huntsville 3-0 Friday night in front of 2,556 fans at the Sanford Center with what has become a familiar formula in recent weeks.
The Beavers defeated the Chargers with patience, a perfect penalty kill and defense.
“Definitely good goaltending, definitely good defense down low and I think we’re playing consistent hockey right now,” Bemidji State senior Shea Walters said. “We’re kind of playing to our game, which is get it in, grind it down low and work them off the wall. It’s really paying off for us right now.”
Jake Areshenko and Walters scored second period goals for BSU. Ben Kinne sealed the win on an empty-net goal with 56 seconds left in the game.
Areshenko was lost for the game in the second period on a major penalty, but the Beavers killed the ensuing Huntsville five-minute power play and killed all five Charger power plays in the game.
BSU freshman goalie Andrew Walsh made 20 saves in his second straight start for the shutout.
“Walshie had good looks on all the shots,” BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. “Our penalty killing had good jump and cleared a lot of pucks, which was good mostly during the five minute major.”
Huntsville goalie Clarke Saunders had 21 saves for the Chargers (1-18-1).
Bemidji State is 4-1-1 in the last six games and improved to 8-9-2 overall (5-7-2 WCHA). BSU and Huntsville conclude the weekend non-conference series Saturday at 7:07 p.m. at the Sanford Center.
The opening period between the two former College Hockey America conference rivals was defined by defense in a grind-it-out style of play. Offensive chances were few in the period where the teams combined for 10 shots.
“They clog up the neutral zone really good,” Walters said. “It’s tough at times because they put up a four or five man wall and it’s tough to get enough speed to break through that.”
The Beavers opened scoring on Areshenko’s goal 3:17 into the second period. His slap shot skipped off a Huntsville stick and under the crossbar for his second goal of the season.
Areshenko was assessed the checking from behind major penalty and game misconduct four minutes later. The BSU penalty kill, which entered the weekend with the No. 1 overall kill percentage (84.6) in the WCHA, limited the Chargers to three shots and Walsh made the saves.
Walters continued his breakout season by scoring his eighth goal of the year with 4:07 left in the second period. He took a drop pass from Brance Orban following a turnover at the blue line and beat Saunders glove side to give the Beavers a 2-0 lead after two periods.
“Tactically we executed pretty well the whole game, it’s just a couple plays here and there we would like differently,” UAH head coach Chris Luongo said. “That’s what Bemidji does. They take advantage of mistakes.”
Bemidji State closed out the game in control and put 10 shots on goal in the third period. Huntsville was unable to put a shot on goal during its two power plays in the third period.
“Not enough chances on the power play was the difference,” Luongo said. “Penalty killing is always a matter of the four guys out there have to work harder and so do the five guys. We didn’t get that. We did a better job on the penalty kill raising our work ethic and we didn’t do that on the power play.”
Bemidji State has killed 19 straight opposing power plays in a span lasting just over four games. The Beavers have not allowed a power play goal since the second period of the 6-6 tie against St. Cloud State on Dec. 2.
Scoring Summary
UAH 0 0 0 – 0
BSU 0 2 1 – 3
First period – No scoring.
Second period- 1, BSU Areshenko 2 (Wacker, Cain), 3:17. 2, Walters 8 (Orban, Prapavessis), 15:53.
Third period – 3, Kinne 6 (McLeod, George), 18:54, (en).
Shots on goal – UAH, 5-9-6-20. BSU, 5-9-10-24.
Goalies – UAH, Saunders (24-21). BSU, Walsh (20-20).
Power plays – UAH, 0-for-5. BSU, 0-for-3.
A- 2,556.
Photo Gallery
All photos by Eric Stromgren.
Mitch Cain checks Tom Durnie
David Boehm
From left: Aaron McLeod, Curtis deBruyn, goalie Clarke Saunders, Jordan George, Jamie Easton
Radoslav Illo and Clarke Saunders
Drew Fisher
Danny Mattson, Ben Reinhardt and Clarke Saunders
Brance Orban checks Ben Reinhardt
Ben Kinne and Jamie Easton
David Boehm and Nickolas Gatt
Shea Walters (not pictured) scores in the second period as Brance Orban watches
Shea Walters, center, celebrates the goal with Matt Prapavessis, left, and Danny Mattson, right.
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