St. Cloud State
11-13-3, 7-12-4
Bemidji State
17-9-3, 12-9-2WCHA
The St. Cloud State Huskies rally to 3-3 tie against the Bemidji State Beavers
2/5/2016 11:40:00 PM | Women's Hockey
St. Cloud, MN --- The St. Cloud State (11-13-3, 7-12-4 WCHA) Huskies battled the Bemidji State Beavers ( 17-9-3, 12-9-2 WCHA) to a 3-3 tie in WCHA play. Bemidji State gained the bonus point in the standings by winning the shootout 1-0.
Bemidji dominated the first period in jumping out to a 2-0 lead while outshooting the Huskies 16-5. Kristin Huber opened the scoring at the 11:28 mark beating SCSU goalie Katie Fitzgerald stick side. Fitzgerald, who recorded 35 saves, was only beaten cleanly once as the following two goals were assisted by traffic in front of the net.
Instead of folding, the Huskies came out and played their best period of the night. Brittney Anderson scored her third goal of the year to pull the Huskies within one at the 15:58 mark. Anderson's goal came on the power play with assists from Lexi Slattery and Molly Illikainen. The turning point of the period was soon after Anderson's goal when the Huskies killed off a lengthy 5 on 3 that was awarded to the Beavers late in the second period. Christa Moody, who had five blocks in the game, tallied three during the two man advantage, giving the Huskies momentum heading into the break.
The Huskies came into the third looking for the first goal, but it was Bemidji's, Ivana Bilic who beat a screened Fitzgerald from the point 40 seconds into the third period to give her team a 3-1 lead. Despite recording only three third period shots, the plucky Huskies came back, making two of the three count. Senior Molly Illikainen cashed in on another power play and scored her team leading 15th goal. It was the same combination that helped the Huskies register their first goal, as Slattery took a feed from Anderson, who then slid a pass over to Illikainen, who banged home the perfect set up.
Fitzgerald kept the Huskies in the game throughout the third period when SCSU tied it with 6:37 to go. Junior Alexandra Makaric and freshman Julia Tylke won a puck battle in their own zone by the and fed the puck up to sophomore Alyssa Erickson. Erickson sent a shot high from just inside the blue line to beat Beaver goalie Brittni Mowat and tie the game.
Fitzgerald faced a flurry of chances in overtime as the Beavers controlled the extra five minutes and tested St. Cloud defensively. While Bemidji had the better chances in the extra frame the Huskies again almost scored late, but Mowat came up big and saved the day.
The shootout comprised of a game of can you top this as Fitzgerald and Mowat traded saves. However, Reilly Fawcett for the Beavers from Proctor Minnesota recorded the lone shootout goal.
The same two teams will battle at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Saturday, February 6th at 3:07 p.m.
