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WOMEN'S HOCKEY: Beavers sweep Lindenwood with 6 goals, young talent

christian babcock, the bemidji pioneer, minn.
·4 min read

Sep. 25—BEMIDJI — Head coach Jim Scanlan often discusses his desire for the Bemidji State women's hockey team to continuously add on.

Consider that wish granted. The Beavers rang up six goals on Saturday at the Sanford Center, burying visiting Lindenwood 6-3 with an onslaught that included three scores in a five-minute span of the second period.

"We know we're not going to score six goals every time out," Scanlan said. "But if we keep getting pucks to the net like we did, we keep creating that traffic, that's going to be huge for us."

The Lions (0-2) managed to strike first in the contest, taking a 1-0 lead on Morgan Neitzke's goal 9:52 into the first period. BSU (2-0) powered up the scoring machine from there, though. Freshman Raeley Carney leveled the score with the first goal of her career from the right slot at 13:48, capitalizing on Bemidji State's first power play.

Carney didn't waste any time getting her second, paying off another man advantage 2:39 into the second period to put the Beavers up 2-1.

"It was huge," Carney said of getting herself on the board. "I've been putting some in in practice, but to do it in a game, it was a big thing for me. It was unreal. I still can't believe that it happened, honestly."

Claire Vekich added another power-play score at the 6:48 mark of the second period, notching BSU's third goal in 4:09 of game clock.

"We've kind of always been a team to struggle with putting the puck in the net," said defenseman Adriana Van De Leest, who assisted on Vekich's score and two others. "So it's really nice to get a crooked number up there."

Bemidji State looked like it might blaze to a blowout victory at that point, but Lindenwood had other intentions. Neitzke scored her second goal of the game and third of the series on a swift in-and-out move at 8:01 in the second period, then Ryan Perrett lit the lamp off a turnover at 13:04 to make it 4-3.

Scanlan called timeout with four minutes remaining in the period, hoping to settle down his tired bunch. It worked spectacularly, as the Lions didn't score again for the rest of the contest.

"With the score the way it was, we felt it was an important timeout," Scanlan said. "We told the group, 'We've just got to be better. We've got to get back to playing our game.' And I thought we managed the last part of that second period pretty good."

That carried into the third period, where the Beavers once again took control. Taylor Nelson scored her second goal of the weekend at 3:49, doubling the advantage to 5-3, then Gabbie Smith executed a picture-perfect wraparound at 11:34 to essentially seal the outcome.

"I loved the way we came out in the third," Scanlan said.

With the win on Saturday, BSU clinched an opening-weekend sweep of the Lions while converting all three of its power plays. Sophomore goaltender Abbie Thompson also picked up the first victory of her young career, finishing with 13 saves.

Julia Maguire started in net for Lindenwood and stopped nine shots. She was replaced mid-game by Emily Finach, who collected eight saves.

Bemidji State will next travel to face No. 9 Clarkson for a two-game series starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, in Potsdam, N.Y.

Bemidji State 6, Lindenwood 3

LU 1 2 0 — 3

BSU 1 3 2 — 6

First period — 1, LU GOAL, Neitzke (unassisted), 9:52; 2, BSU GOAL, Carney (Van De Leest, Hunt), 13:48, PP.

Second period — 3, BSU GOAL, Carney (Van De Leest, Headrick), 2:39, PP; 4, BSU GOAL, Hendrickson (Breiland), 4:19; 5, BSU GOAL, Vekich (Headrick, Van De Leest), 6:48, PP; 6, LU GOAL, Neitzke (Davies), 8:01; 7, LU GOAL, Perrett (Jorgensen), 13:04.

Third period — 8, BSU GOAL, Nelson (Forsberg), 3:49; 9, BSU GOAL, Smith (unassisted), 11:34.

Saves — Thompson (BSU) 13; Maguire (LU) 9; Finach (LU) 8.