The last time Bemidji State defeated North Dakota in Grand Forks was in 1970.
Friday Night, the Beavers erased North Dakota’s home ice series-winning record it held for the past 44 years.
In a game of turnovers and odd-man rushes, Bemidji found a rhythm in its first game of the season to defeat North Dakota in a 5-1 battle in front of 11,865 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Both teams erupted with energy as the puck dropped, but Bemidji’s Brendan Harms set the tone with a short-handed goal at 11:26 of the first period that would only fuel a hungry Beavers team.
“That short-handed goal — obviously, it gives you a lot of momentum,” BSU coach Tom Serratore said. “We end up popping one right there. I think you could feel that energy right on the bench. It was nice to get the 1-0 lead on the road.”
The lead magnified when Harms caught a pass from Gerry Fitzgerald in front of the net and slipped a shot past Zane McIntyre (24 saves) at 9:09 of the second period
North Dakota struggled to create chances, giving away the puck and falling victim to an eruption of goals from Bemidji that began with a Markus Gerbrant goal on a rebound. Sam Rendle followed with a shot that beat McIntyre five-hole.
“I thought we had good patience with the puck,” Serratore said. “Sometimes, good fortune hits when you win races to loose pucks, and I think that’s what happened. Again, obviously we were a little puck lucky, but I think hard work allows you to be puck lucky at times.”
Cam Johnson (4 saves) replaced McIntyre in the net. Just 15 seconds into his collegiate career, Johnson let a puck slip behind him when Charlie O’Connor fired a bad-angle shot from the side of the net that put the Beavers up 5-0 at 17:50 of the second period.
Nick Schmaltz secured the lone goal for North Dakota when he dished in a rebound past Michael Bitzer (25 saves) at 13:08 of the third, but it wasn’t enough to match a determined BSU team.
“I think it’s a testament to our guys right there,” Serratore said. “I think the biggest thing is we rolled four lines and we had 40-second shifts and we got into a good groove. We got into a good rhythm and we really competed hard. We won a lot of races to loose pucks and we kept pucks alive. As the game wore on, I think we got better and better.”
It was a different story for North Dakota.
For the first time since a 7-5 home-opener loss against Minnesota in 2001 —- the first-ever game played at Ralph Engelstad Arena —- North Dakota opened its season without a victory.
“We got out-competed,” UND coach Dave Hakstol said. “They were a focused, hungry team and we were not tonight —- bottom line. That’s on me.”
Despite its winning performance in an 4-0 exhibition win less than a week prior to Friday, North Dakota will use Friday as a stepping stone to improve for Saturday’s match-up.
