Bitzer, Beavers shut down Bulldogs

The Beavers continued to run rampant through the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, securing their seventh straight win in league play to remain unbeaten in their last 10 conference games. The last loss in WCHA play for Bemidji State (12-7-6, 9-4-4-2 WCHA) came in a 3-1 defeat Dec. 1 at Bowling Green.

The Beavers peppered FSU goaltender Darren Smith with 46 shots, outshooting the Bulldogs (10-16-1, 7-11-1-0 WCHA) by wide margins in each period.

The game remained scoreless, however, until late in the middle frame when Jordan Heller put Bemidji State on the board after 34 minutes, 25 seconds of scoreless play. Ethan Somoza slid a centering pass across to a trailing Heller for the Bemidji native's third goal of the season at 14:25 of the second period.

Brendan Harris also notched his third goal of the season Friday, depositing a puck into the back of the net after a pass to the front by Dan Billett at 13:03 of the third period.

The nation's No. 2 penalty kill got the job done again Friday. BSU prevented Ferris from scoring on either of its two power plays. The Beavers' penalty kill unit has killed 88.89 percent of penalties to tie with Army for the second-best mark in NCAA Division I.

Bitzer's five shutouts this season, meanwhile, are the second most of any goalie in the country, behind only Clarkson netminder Jake Kielly's six.

The shutout also moves Bitzer out of a tie for second all-time in NCAA history. The Moorhead native had tied former Vermont goalie and Bemidji native Joe Fallon with his 20th shutout Jan. 5 at Lake Superior State. With 21 shutouts, Bitzer is now five back of all-time leader Ryan Miller, who posted 26 shutouts for Michigan State from 1999-2002.

The BSU goalie has posted a 2.16 goals against average and a .913 save percentage in 24 starts this season, but Bitzer has stepped it up since early December. He sports a 1.66 GAA in his last 12 games since Dec. 2, compared to a 2.66 GAA in his first 12 games.

Bitzer and the Beavers will return to Ewigleben Ice Arena at 6:07 tonight to go for the series sweep of Ferris State.

Bemidji State 2, Ferris State 0

BSU 0 1 1—2

FSU 0 0 0—0

First period—No scoring.

Second period—1, BSU, Heller (Somoza), 14:25.

Third period—2, BSU, Harris (Billett, Miller), 13:03.

Goaltending (Shots-Saves)—BSU, Bitzer (23-23); FSU, Smith (46-44).