UND beats BSU 4-2

Grand Forks, ND – The University of North Dakota entered Saturday’s game riding an eight-game unbeaten streak and looked to push it to nine-games with a win.

Mission accomplished. With the 4-2 win, UND has now won 8-of-9 games and hasn’t given up more than three goals, during that time. UND has been very stingy on defense, giving up an average of 1.77 goals per game.

Goaltending has been good as well. Sophomore goalie Zane Gothberg has started all nine games during UND’s unbeaten streak. Gothberg has been nothing short of amazing, posting an 8-0-1 record, with an impressive 1.76 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.

During the streak, UND has received balanced scoring from their forward lines. Tonight, players not normally known for their scoring chipped in goals for UND.  On the score sheet, forwards Derek Rodwell (4), Connor Gaarder (3), Andrew Panzarella (1) and Michael Parks (6) all scored for UND.

One of  tonight’s highlights was junior forward Andrew Panzarella, who scored the first goal of his UND career.

It feels definitely good,” Panzarella said. “It’s a long time coming. So, I don’t know, it couldn’t have been any easier. I was just driving to the net and Mark (MacMillan) put in on my tape, I don’t think I even moved my stick.”

The Beavers head coach Tom Serratore seemed a bit disappointed with the loss, but took it in stride.

“We just couldn’t get into a rhythm,” Serratore said. “They had a lot of offensive zone play. That was tough because we were down after one. They definitely won the time of possession battle. We just couldn’t get into a rhythm.”

“I think the biggest thing at this time of year is that you want to try to get better every game,” Serratore said. “We got a tie last night and came in here optimistic. You want to come in this building – which is a very, very difficult building to play in, but you want to respond. I thought there were some bright spots, but at the end of the day, we lost.”

UND head coach Dave Hakstol seemed pleased with the win tonight.

“We got a couple that found a hole early,” Hakstol said. “I think that was important. We put a lot of pucks to the net and this time we had something to show for it.”

One of the reoccurring storylines has been the play of forward Derek Rodwell and his linemates. That effort hasn’t gone unnoticed by the UND head coach.

“Derek played extremely well and there was chemistry there,” Hakstol said. “And that’s not just been this weekend. Those guys have been very good together over the last couple of months. Rods is playing very well right now.”

The forward line of Stephane Pattyn, Connor Gaarder and Derek Rodwell has been miserable to play against. It’s also been their calling card. Tonight, their hard work was rewarded with a couple of goals.

“I think it’s kind of starting from baseline things,” Rodwell said. “We’re kind of going out there and doing the same thing every day, going hard to the net, working (hard). They’re starting to go in for us now. We know going to the net the bounces are going to come and they kind of been coming for us lately.”

Now for the good news, UND hasn’t lost in eight-games.  With the tie, UND is (11-7-3, 7-5-0 NCHC). On the other end of the ice, the tie leaves Bemidji State Beavers with a record of (7-11-7, 7-7-4 WCHA). The Beavers now have seven ties on the season

Next weekend, UND travels to Denver, Colorado to play the University of Denver in an important two-game conference series, game time is at 7:37 Mountain Time.

[Box Score]

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• UND Hockey: Derek Rodwell Making an Impact for North Dakota (thehockeywriters.com)
• North Dakota Comes Back to Beat Colorado College (insidehockey.com)
• North Dakota Slips Past St. Lawrence (insidehockey.com)
• UND Beats C.C. in Grand Forks (insidehockey.com)

UND and BSU tie in Bemidji

emidji, MN – The University of North Dakota entered Friday’s game against the Bemidji State Beavers riding a seven-game winning streak. Unfortunately, that seven-game win streak would come to an end with a 1-1 tie against the Beavers.

Adam Walsh saves the Beavers from defeat  

I know it’s cliché, but you can cue the hot goalie reference. You have to give credit where credit is due. Junior goalie Adam Walsh was very good on Friday night. UND bombed the net with shots. UND did everything right, but score goals.

UND spent a lot of time in BSU’s end of the rink, but had nothing to show for it. The shots were very lopsided, as UND outshot BSU 38-14 through three-periods of play. UND threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Beavers, but Walsh did not bend. It just wasn’t meant to be, Bemidji State junior goalie Adam Walsh stood his ground stopping 37-of-38 shots during regulation. UND’s fortunes didn’t change in the overtime either, as Walsh was equally good, stopping five more shots.

Walsh unlikely starter

If Beavers freshman goalie Jesse Wilkins hadn’t been hurt, Walsh wouldn’t have been the starter. Currently, Wilkins is suffering from a groin injury and was unable to go. The Beavers coaching staff inserted Adam Walsh in his place and the junior goalie didn’t disappoint.

Close but no cigar

The Beavers would come close to winning the game in the overtime period. With 30 seconds left in overtime, Beaver forward Radoslav Illo rang a puck off the pipe. UND goalie Zane Gothberg had no idea where the puck was. The puck was cleared by a UND defender and Brendan O’Donnell had a chance going the other way that was saved by Walsh.

After the game, Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore sounded pleased with the tie against UND.

“We were on our heels,” Serratore said. “They played with great pace. Our puck management wasn’t very good in that first period and we allowed them to play a 200-foot game.”

“That’s not want you want them to do. You have to play a halfcourt game with them. You have to manage the puck, and possess the puck down low. The first period we neglected to do that.”

After the game, UND head coach Dave Hakstol didn’t seem all that satisfied with the tie.

“You can always do a little more,” Hakstol said. “We played well. We played hard for 60 minutes. We’ve got to, somewhere along the way, find a way to make one more play in a game like tonight.”

“We have to be a little better. We have to have a lot of the same, but a little bit better. We’re playing for a series (win). That’s what’s left on the table for us. We have to play a little bit better hockey game.”

To some the tie will seem like a loss, but I think we should look at it as a continuation of an eight-game unbeaten streak.

[Box Score]

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CC's Joe Marciano hits Minnesota's Tom Serratore from behind

Colorado College Tiger defenseman Joe Marciano received a five minute major for this cross-check on Minnesota Gopher forward Tom Serratore. I think Marciano was lucky to remain in the game and I am not sure what he was upset with. These are the kind of hits that I would like to see gone from "all" levels of hockey.

Related articles

• Tom Serratore the heart and sole of the Beavers (thehockeywriters.com)
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Tom Serratore the heart and soul of the Beavers

Having attended college at both BSU and UND, I have a fondness for the Bemidji State Beavershockey program.

Over the years, I have not found a lot of fans that dislike the Bemidji State Beavers. Sure you have a few.

I was there in the stands when the Beavers won the Division II National Title in 1993 against the Mercy Hurst Lakers, so I still have a few fond memories of the John S. Glas Fieldhouse on the BSU campus as well.

I also have a great respect for the Beavers head coach Tom Serratore, 12th year, 201–184–49, I think he brings a lot of energy to the room and if you run into him at Galen Nagel golf tourney at the Bemidji Town and Country, or see him at the postgame press conference, he’s the same person. Tom’s usually fired up.

Coach Serratore is what I classify as a high energy guy that brings a lot of enthusiasm to life and to the game of hockey. The Beavers play on the ice resembles the man behind the bench, tenacious, fiery, hardworking and up-tempo.

I also think that he’s a very good hockey coach, his teams are hard to play against and they play a high pressure fore-check that is incorrectly mistaken for the neutral zone trap.

This high pressure fore-check, if played to perfection, can lead to turn overs going the other way. This was the case on Friday night, as the Beaver’s and Gophers treated the fans to a great game of up and down the ice action.

Saturday night, not so much, the Gophers pretty much had their way with the Beavers and the Gophers never really gave the fans much doubt.

If you want to see what kind of coach Serratore is, go back and re-watch the 2009 NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Beavers had the Irish on their heels by scoring early and they forced the Irish to change their game plan. The Beavers would win the game 5-1, shocking the college hockey world.

The next night, the Beavers put the college hockey world into a coma by beating the Cornell Big Red 4-1 to send them to the Frozen Four in Washington D.C. at the Verizon Center, where their magical season would end two weeks later to the eventual runner up Miami.

This season, it’s been a rough year for the Beavers, but there will be better years ahead for the BSU hockey team. I don’t think any hockey program is going to be immune from it. The Minnesota Gophers just suffered through three rough seasons.

I love to go to the postgame press conferences and listen to Tom Serratore speak, last night he seemed very emotional in talking about his senior class. This was the last class to play in the John Glas Fieldhouse and then play at the new Sanford Center. This was also the senior class that made the move from the now defunct CHA to the WCHA.

“They’ve accomplished a lot here,” Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore said when discussing his senior class. “We have five years seniors, four year seniors and three year seniors. Some of them helped us go to a Frozen Four in 09. They were part of a team in 2010 that was a number two seed in the NCAA tournament. We received an at-large-bid and went to Fort Wayne, Indiana for the Midwest Regionals.  They were a big part of team that advanced to the WCHA Final Five as we transitioned into the WCHA that first year. Again, last year, we were basically a game from home ice in the WCHA, last year. You know what; they’ve done a lot of good things for this program. It’s tough to see those guys go. You can’t take away from their accomplishments.”

It’s no doubt that this class has had some big-time moments in BSU’s historic program and you can bet, it won’t be long before Bemidji is again standing in the lime light of another great run, thanks to its energetic head coach.

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine.

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The Weekend in Review; slugging through the snow in the north country (Sanford Center)

This past weekend, I went to Bemidji to watch the Bemidji State Beavers and the Minnesota Gophers play in a two game series at the Sanford Center. This was the last time the Beavers and the Gophers would play as members of the WCHA.

Obviously, most of us are aware of the upcoming realignment so we won’t review that again.

With UND out of town and in Mankato, it was an opportunity to go to another WCHA series within driving distant, that didn’t involve UND.

I also hadn’t seen the Gophers live this season, so I wanted to take a look, if you know what I mean.

I thought about driving to Mankato and watching UND and MSU, but after looking at the road conditions on the internet, it appears that was a good decision not to go. 

The Sanford Center experienced its biggest crowd ever on Saturday night, 4,415 fans showed up to watch UMN and BSU, and there were a lot of Gophers jersey’s in the crowd.

Next season, UND fans are going to have to help the BSU fans pack that place on January 17, 2014 when UND comes to town to play the BSU Beavers in a non-conference tilt, to break that record. 

I think this is what the City of Bemidji had in mind when they built the Sanford Center, I was down town getting gas on Saturday and even with all of the fresh snow, the downtown was hopping.

For me, this is the third series that I have been to at the Sanford Center and in comparing some of the other rinks around the WCHA that I have been to, the place is a nice facility. 

While the Sanford Center might not have the “bells and whistles” of the Ralph Engelstad Arena, not many places do, the Sanford Center is an awesome facility and probably one of the best in the new WCHA going forward.

Head coach Tom Serratore should be able to use the Sanford Center to his advantage to land some good recruiting classes.

In 2010, I got take a tour of the facility and it’s got a lot of things recruits look for when they look at hockey programs. I was very impressed with the weight room.

I would say that the Sanford Center is definitely a destination for college hockey fans. For those that are wondering, they serve beer and Dunn Brother’s Coffee.

While no one will ever accuse me of being Marilyn Hagerty, the Sanford Center’s   cheese burgers are phenomenal, and simply awesome and roughly about the same price as the ones at the Ralph. Size wise, their burgers are actually bigger in my opinion.

The bag of popcorn was reasonably priced and too big to consume in one sitting, I actually threw away about a third of it.

In comparing the Sanford Center to other arenas I have been to, it’s better than the National Hockey Center pre-renovations and it’s better than the old DECC or Amsoil Arena, in my opinion, to quote our favorite radio announcer Bruce Ciskie, “apologies to those arenas.”

I am sure there will be those fans that disagree with me on this, but hey, that’s just how I feel on the matter.

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Gophers ruin Beavers senior night

Bemidji State Beavers women's ice hockey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bemidji Minnesota—Last night, the Bemidji State Beavers came out of the gate and were a tough team to play against. The Beavers got in the shooting lanes and took away the Gophers time and space and made skating through the neutral zone difficult.

Last night I said, the Beavers were giving another team fits, this time that same tenacious fore-check was on display at the Sanford Center in Bemidji and the Beavers were getting in the Gophers shooting lanes and taking away their time and space. It was a beaut to watch as the Beavers were giving the highly touted Gophers forwards little room to roam.

Tonight, the roles were reversed; the Gophers were the team that was giving the Beavers fits. The Gophers were allowed to move through the neutral zone freely with speed and the Beavers had little room to roam.

The Gophers were behind the Beavers defenders all-night long and ruined the Bemidji Beavers senior night beating them 5-1 on their home ice securing a tie for first place in the WCHA and a share of  MacNaughton Cup.

As I mentioned above, it wasn’t a good night on the ice for the home team.

On two separate occasions, in the second period, the Gophers Nick Bjugstad and Erik Haula were left alone in the slot and they took that opportunity to bury the puck behind the senior Beaver goalie Mathieu Dugas. The Gophers would take a 2-0 into the first intermission.

The Gophers would outshoot the Beavers 10-6 in the first period.

At the 01:55 mark of the second period the Beavers were finally able to put a puck in the twine with a blast from Beaver Defenseman Matt Prapavessiss, to make the score 2-1 Gophers. That was all of the scoring the Gophers would get on the night as the Gophers would continue to make plays.

The Gophers would push the lead to 3-1 with a nice goal by Zach Budish.

After the two periods of hockey, the Gophers outshot the Beavers 33-16.

The Gophers put the icing on the cake in the third period, putting two more goals past the Beaver’s goalie in the third period with goals from Jake Parenteau and Christian Isackson.

The Gophers would outshoot the Beavers 40-24 for the game and the game never really in any doubt after the second period, as the Gophers ran over, through and around the Beavers. For their efforts the Beavers get to play the Gophers in Minneapolis next weekend.

Bemidji State Beavers head coach Tom Serratore was asked about the prospect of playing against the Gopher again next weekend.

“I would be lying to you, to sit there and say that we’re doing kart wheels that we’re going over there.” Serratore said. “There’s nothing you can do. That’s the draw that we have. We come to the rink on Monday with our heart in our head and we have to prepare for Minnesota.”

In the visitor’s locker room the Gophers were posing with the  MacNaughton Cup that just happened to be in the building.

While we were waiting for the Beavers head coach Tom Serratore, there was a buzz in the arena that the Wisconsin Badgers had beaten the Saint State Huskies 3-2 giving the Minnesota Gophers a share of the MacNaughton Cup.

Gophers get past Beavers

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bemidji, Minnesota – This weekend, is the last time the Gophers will ever play the Bemidji State Beavers as members of the WCHA, ever.

Two summers ago, the college hockey landscape changed forever. That discussion, however, is for another day.

Next season, the Gophers will come back to play the Beavers at the Sanford Center as members of Big Ten Hockey Conference. The Beavers will remain in the new version of the WCHA.

Last weekend, the Beavers defensive style of play kept UND bottled up and gave them fits.

Fast forward to this weekend, the Beavers again were giving another team fits, this time that same tenacious fore-check was on display at the Sanford Center in Bemidji and the Beavers were getting in the Gophers shooting lanes and taking away their time and space. It was a beaut to watch as the Beavers were giving the highly touted Gophers forwards little room to roam.

Through one period of hockey, the Gophers and Beavers exchanged goals and played an evenly matched game of hockey. The Beavers outshot the Gophers 13-10 in the first period

The second period would prove to be rough sledding in the early going for the Beavers, as they had to a kill a five-on-three power play. Unfortunately, the Beavers luck would run out at the 02:21 mark of the second period as Nick Bjudstad would score his first of two goals on the power play.

The Beavers would continue to work hard and beat the Gophers to the puck and that hard work would finally pay off as the Beavers would eventually tie the score at the 18:17 mark of the second period with a goal from Beaver freshman Cory Ward. Ward’s goal was an example of what happens when you go hard to the net.

The Gophers would out shoot the Beavers in the second period 9-8.

The opportunistic Cory Ward, would score his second of the game at the 2:30 mark of the second period, to give the Beavers a momentary 3-2 lead.

Freshman Cory Ward (Las Vegas, Nevada) has been hot as of late and has points in four of his last five games (3g-3a—6pts).

“The last couple of weeks we’ve played like that, we’ve played really well,” Ward said.  “I feel like everything is coming together. Playing against teams like that we’ve stepped our game up and that’s really important going into the playoffs in our position.”

The Beavers would miss a golden opportunity go up 4-2, on a breakaway by senior forward Jordan George.  That was a key play that would come back to haunt the Beavers.

The Gophers would tie the game four minutes later with a goal by Justin Holl.

The game wouldn’t stay tied for long as the Golden Gophers would go on the power play at the 14:54 mark of the third period with untimely and bad penalty from sophomore defenseman Sam Rendle.

The Gophers would make the Beavers pay 0:31 seconds later when Nick Bjudstad would get his second power play goal of the night.

The Gophers (23-7-4, 15-7-5 WCHA) would score two third-period goals in about seven minutes and 27 seconds to lead the Gophers to a heart breaking 4-3 loss.

The Beavers (6-19-8, 5-15-7 WCHA) gave the Gophers everything they could handle and at times they were the better of the two teams, but untimely penalties by the Beavers did them in. You cannot give the Beavers power play too many chances.

Bemidji State Beavers head coach Tom Serratore on his team’s play.

“I thought we played a pretty good 60 minute game,” Serratore said. “I thought we had good possession time. I thought we went to the net well. I thought we had good scoring chances. Guys made plays. Obviously, again the thing that tough to swallow is that third period lead and you give it up.  We’ve done that too much this year.”

[Box Score]

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine...