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| Photo by Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer |
During the first period there was hope for the BSU Beavers. The Beaver came out and they were taking the game to the DU Pioneers, the Beavers had a strong forecheck and they were racing through the neutral zone with speed and they were getting pucks deep past the Denver Pioneers defenders. The Beavers were also generating chances down low and ended the first period with a 2-1 lead. Going into the second period it still looked like the Beavers were in the game and had a chance.
The Beavers had a great opportunity going into the third period as the Pioneers had two players whistled for minor penalties ( Nutini 18:31 and Maiani 19:57) in the closing minutes of the second period, the Beavers had a five-on-three power play for 29 seconds to open play in the third period. The Beavers couldn’t cash in on the five on three power play and it seemed to change the game around for the Pioneers. The Pioneers put the Beavers into hibernation as they scored four goals in third period to (Nick Shore, Jarroad Mermis, Luke Salazar and Kyle Ostrow) cruse to a 6-2 score and end the Beavers magical run in the WCHA playoffs.
[Box Score]
Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer
Post game quotes...
George Gwozdecky Head Coach, DU...
"First I want to compliment our opponent today. They had a tremendous postseason run. Sam Brittain made some tremendous saves in the first couple of periods to keep the game close for us and killing off the five-on-three to start the third period was an emotional boost for us and we fed off of that. [Bemidji State] was a challenging opponent for us."
On tomorrow's championship game and the importance of playing well heading into the NCAA Tourney...
"Both teams, CC and North Dakota, like to get up and down the ice. They like to attack from end to end. They're going to force you. They're going to forcheck you hard. Both have very good penalty units and both have very good power plays. They're very similar in a lot of ways. Whoever we face, we know it's going to be a major challenge for us.
Over the corse of the past 10-12 games, we've been counting this down as a team and trying to get all of us to realize how important [it is] to be ready to play, emotionally and physically, to the best of our ability at this time of year. The one thing that really helps is to be healthy."
Just for the record Gwozdecky said that 9 of the Pioneers has surgery after their season was over last year.
