BEMIDJI, Minn. - In two years, Bemidji State will finally get its long-awaited new hockey arena.
The University of North Dakota and its fans might not want that to happen, though.
The Sioux beat the Beavers 4-3 on Saturday night in yet another fast-paced, thrilling hockey game in a loud and packed John S. Glas Fieldhouse.
In a contest reminiscent to the previous games here, the 2,414 in attendance were on edge until the final seconds.
The Beavers, with a 6-on-4 advantage, buzzed the net and appeared to have an open look in the final seconds. Not even Sioux goaltender Brad Eidsness knows how the puck didn't go in the net.
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"It popped out in front of the net, and I'm not sure if I got a piece of it or it hit another stick or what," said Eidsness, who stopped 22 shots. "It just ended up behind the net and then the buzzer went off. It was pretty nice."
It was indeed a big win for the Sioux, who improved to 10-10-1 overall and 4-5 in nonconference play. Tonight's series finale with the Beavers in Ralph Engelstad Arena is UND's last chance to even up its out-of-league record.
The Sioux haven't released their 2009-10 schedule, but if Friday night's game was UND's last game in Glas Fieldhouse, it will be another one to remember.
"Every game in this building comes down to the wire," UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "You know it's going to be an exciting game. The games here have been great games to watch and great games to play in, that's for sure. It's old-school hockey in an old-school building."
It was a new line combination that got it done for the Sioux.
Evan Trupp scored a goal and added two assists while his center, Chris VandeVelde, had a goal and an assist and winger Matt Frattin had two assists.
Brett Hextall and Ryan Martens had the game-tying and game-winning goals in the second period to rally UND from a 3-2 deficit.
"It was a fun, hard-hitting game," Trupp said. "Both teams played really well tonight and it was definitely fun. I heard a lot about coming to this barn. It was a packed house and the crowd was into it. That definitely made it more fun."
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FIRST PERIOD: 1, UND, VandeVelde (Trupp, Frattin), 1:41. 2, BSU, Read (Scofield, Francis), 5:51. 3, BSU, Cramer (Walters, Kinne), 6:26. 4, UND, Trupp (VandeVelde, Frattin), 13:51. 5, BSU, Scofield (Read), 18:22.
SECOND PERIOD: 6, UND, Hextall (Malone, Kozek), 3:00. 7, UND, Martens (Gregoire, Trupp), 7:11 (pp).
THIRD PERIOD: No scoring.
SAVES: UND, Eidsness 6-6-10-22. BSU, Dalton 18-17-1-36.
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