Bemidji State downs No. 16 Minnesota State 4-1, overtakes CCHA lead

MANKATO -- The Bemidji State men’s hockey team put an exclamation mark on its best series of the season on Friday night.

The Beavers took down No. 16 Minnesota State 4-1 in Mankato, seizing five points from the series and sweeping MSU for the first time since 2006.

BSU (9-5-4, 7-2-3 CCHA) also overtook the Mavericks (10-9-1, 7-6-1 CCHA) for the outright points lead in the CCHA standings, still with one or two games in hand against the rest of the league’s top half.

Jakub Lewandowski kicked off Bemidji State’s festivities with the opening goal at the 19:01 mark of the first period.

Minnesota State spoiled that advantage with Ondrej Pavel’s equalizer at 4:54 of the second period, but Jere Vaisanen restored a Beaver lead for good on his strike midway through the middle frame.

BSU then piled on in the third period, scoring on the power play at 2:56 off the stick of Jackson Jutting and adding Adam Flammang’s empty-netter at 18:20.

The three-goal win also matches Bemidji State’s largest road victory against the Mavericks since 2011.

MSU out-shot the Beavers 74-29, including a 32-16 edge in shots on goal, but Mattias Sholl made 31 saves for BSU. Minnesota State’s Alex Tracy was 12-for-15 in save attempts.

Bemidji State will next host Minnesota for an exhibition at 5:07 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31, at the Sanford Center.

Bemidji State 4, Minnesota State 1

BSU 1 1 2 -- 4

MSU 0 1 0 -- 1

First period -- 1, BSU GOAL, Lewandowski (unassisted), 19:01.

Second period -- 2, MSU GOAL, Pavel (Bellini, Hirose), 4:54; 3, BSU GOAL, Vaisanen (Lewandowski), 10:40.

Third period -- 4, BSU GOAL, Jutting (Martan, Corcoran), 2:56, PP; 5, BSU GOAL, Flammang (unassisted), 18:20, EN.

Saves -- Sholl (BSU) 31; Tracy (MSU) 12.