Bemidji State shocks #3 Gopher men’s hockey 3-1, snapping 9-game win streak

BEMIDJI, Minn. – The third-ranked Golden Gophers fell behind early and could not recover in a 3-1 loss at Bemidji State, a team receiving votes in the national polls, Saturday night inside Sanford Center, snapping their nine-game win streak.

Minnesota (10-2-0 overall, 4-0-0 B1G) gave up a pair of first-period tallies for the first time this season and the Beavers (5-6-0 overall, 3-3-0 CCHA) defended to hold off a late rally. Matthew Wood’s extra-attacker goal with 2:12 remaining in regulation gave the visitors a chance late as it pulled within one and piled on pressure looking for the equalizer, but BSU secured the win via an empty-net goal.

It was a disastrous opening 10 minutes for the Maroon and Gold as the home side scored twice for a 2-0 advantage. The Beavers jumped in front just 21 seconds into the contest, skating alone on goal following a neutral-zone giveaway. At the 9:44 mark, the Gophers got pinned inside their own zone and could not get a breakout as BSU found the back of the net for the second time. The home side moved to a power play less than a minute after the goal, looking to break the game wide open, but Minnesota erased the opportunity, and it remained a 2-0 deficit at intermission.

Coming out of the locker room in the second period, the Gophers started to fight back and earned their second man advantage of the night. The power play was unsuccessful as the visitors were unable to get its shots on target before netminder Liam Souliere stopped a 2-on-1 when the teams skated even strength. Minnesota went right back to the power play and put on a passing clinic only to be denied again by BSU. The ice stayed tilted in the Gophers’ favor throughout the rest of stanza as they created chances, but failed to put one past the Beavers’ goalie, including a point-blank glove save on a shot from Mason Nevers.

For just the second time this season, Minnesota entered the final frame trailing its opposition and started the period on its heels as Souliere was asked to hold off a surge from BSU. The Gophers forced a turnover leading to an odd-man rush where Leo Gruba got a shot through that was stopped by the netminder’s mask. The Beavers negated the Minnesota attack and nearly made it a three-goal contest, stretching play on a counter and were content to slow the game with whistles. With less than five minutes to play, Jimmy Snuggerud and Brodie Ziemer sped past the BSU players for another quality look at goal.

The Maroon and Gold pulled its goalie as the clock read 2:35 and Wood promptly buried a cross-ice feed from Oliver Moore. With more than two minutes to play and down a goal, the Gophers continued to test the Beavers’ net before the home team closed out the game, 3-1, with an empty-net tally in the final 10 seconds.

Noteworthy
Wood put away his fourth goal of the year and moved into a three-way tie for the team’s scoring lead with his 15th point … For the second time in the series, Moore reached the scoresheet as the sophomore recorded his eighth point this season behind his sixth helper … Ryan Chesley picked up an assist on the late goal, matching his single-season career high of 10 points … The junior became the seventh Minnesota skater to reach double-digit scoring in 2024-25 … Souliere closed the night by making 18 saves, nine of which came in the first period … Nevers skated in the 150th game of his five-year Gophers’ career Saturday … Minnesota had scored 10 power-play goals over the previous nine outings entering the night, scoring in seven of those games, but were 0-for-3 in the series finale … The Gophers allowed two goals in the first period for the first time in 12 games this season.

Coach Motzko’s Comments
“This is a frustrating sport we play sometimes.” Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. “We made a blunder 10 seconds into the game and that happens, but for the next 58 minutes, we had many, many chances. I think the last two periods we had 65 shot attempts, but it took until just a couple of minutes to go before we could get one through.”

Next Up: Away at Notre Dame (Nov. 22-23)
Minnesota travels to South Bend, Ind., for a Big Ten Conference series against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame Nov. 22-23, closing a stretch where five of its last six contests have been on the road. The games will be streamed live on Peacock along with audio coverage via the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.

Courtesy: University of Minnesota Sports Information