Minnesota State-Mankato and Bemidji State will duke it out for the North Star College Cup title Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center.
The Bemidji State Beavers made their Cup debut in Friday’s afternoon contest against No. 7 Minnesota-Duluth and blanked the Bulldogs in a 4-0 upset.
Eight different Beavers made the score sheet, according to the BSU Beavers website.
Senior Matt Prapavessis had the game-winning goal – his sixth goal of the season, which is a new season high. He also had an assist. Sam Windle, Leo Fitzgerald and Kyle Bauman netted the other BSU goals.
Beaver Hockey fun fact of the day: The Beavs are 3-0-0 lifetime when big Sam Windle scores a goal #clutch #pointmonster #GoBeavs
— Bemidji State Men’s Hockey (@BSUBeaversMHKY) January 24, 2015
Goalie Michael Bitzer made a career-high 28 saves. This was BSU’s first road win since its season opener in October.
No. 1 Mavericks take out Gophers
The Gophers came into Friday’s night game looking to defend their 2014 title as the North Star College Cup champs, but the top-ranked Mavericks of Mankato took the 4-2 win.
Both teams had 22 shots on goal. The Gophers had an early lead on a Seth Ambroz goal at 17:54 in the first, but Minnesota State responded less than two minutes later with its own goal by Bryce Gervais, Gopher Sports reports.
Gervais netted his second goal in the second period. The Gophers’ Michael Brodzinski was next to score at 6:50 of the second.
The Mavericks regained the lead just over three minutes later on a breakaway goal by C.J. Franklin. The final goal came from Mankato’s Job Jutzi with less than five minutes remaining.
The Gophers will play Minnesota-Duluth in a consolation game at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Mavericks and Beavers face off for the cup at 7 p.m.
