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.
