SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – With an offensive-zone faceoff just 25 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime, Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore swapped out his two forwards.
Beavers defenseman Vince Corcoran, however, didn’t come off the ice.
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“That was all Wints,” Serratore said, gesturing to associate head coach Travis Winter beside him.
“He still had legs, not much more to say than that,” Winter said.
Jere Vaisnanen won the faceoff clean to Corcoran, who walked across the slot and beat Augustana goaltender Josh Kotai with the game-winning goal 28 seconds into the extra session. It lifted BSU to a 4-3 win in its debut at Midco Arena in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Friday night.
“We had a decent amount of time to walk through the play,” Corcoran said. “Me and Jere were going through our options. We said if he wins it clean then I’d take a step to the middle and get it to the net if no one comes to me. That’s what happened.”
Ultimately, Bemidji State led four times. Reilly Funk tipped in Isa Parekh’s shot from the point 1:55 into the first period to put the Beavers ahead 1-0. It was Funk’s first goal as a Beaver.
The next eight minutes belonged to Augustana. The Vikings hemmed BSU in its own zone for extended shifts. However, Bemidji State blocked six shots and Mattias Sholl made four saves before the first-period media timeout.
“The forwards block a lot of shots, but my gosh, our defensemen are so good at that,” Jackson Jutting said. “When you know that you’re going to get a lot of blocks out of them, it gives your team juice and energy. That’s one thing we’re trying to get better at – not getting those swings where they have five, six, seven minutes where we’re not in control. But when you have a D corps like we have, it’s so big.”
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The Vikings’ persistence paid off with 1:01 left in the opening frame when Luke Mobley redirected the tying goal past Sholl, with assists from Hayden Hennen and Hunter Bischoff.
The Beavers retook the lead midway through the second period. Donte Lawson sniped the top-right corner over Kotai’s shoulder with 11:15 left in the first period. Though, it came with another Augustana answer.
Joey DelGreco made BSU pay for a failed clearing attempt late in the second period. Will Svenddal held the zone on Mitch Wolfe’s clearing attempt. He fed a pass to DelGreco, who went bar-down to tie the game with three minutes before the second intermission.
The goal didn’t come without controversy. Bemidji State challenged the play for offsides, but it was ultimately ruled a good goal after a long review. Officials for Friday night’s game did not have the additional camera angle during the time of the review that proved the play to be offside.
Spoke with the head official after the game. They did not get this camera angle during the review. No, I’m not kidding. Bemidji State coaches weren’t happy about it
— Jared Rubado (@JaredRubadoBP)
For a third time, the Beavers scored the go-ahead goal, and it came on the power play. Jackson Jutting shelved a shot over Kotai on the power play 8:43 into the third period to put BSU ahead 3-2.
“Our power play hasn’t been going so great lately,” Jutting said. “We talk about all of these plays we want to run, but our goals are coming on unscripted plays. We’re just trying to play simple, so when I saw their defenseman come out to Kasper (Magnussen) a little bit, that gave me some room. I’m taking that to the net every time when that happens.”
But again, for a third time, Augustana responded. Tyler Hennen drilled home the tying goal on a one-time shot from the slot three minutes later, with a no-look assist from Payton Matsui.
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“They have a lot of team speed, and they’re always coming at you, no matter what,” Corcoran said of Augustana. “It’s really hard to shut them down in the neutral zone.”
Bemidji State played in overtime for the second time this season. The first resulted in a 4-3 win on the road against Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 5. A month later, history repeated itself.
“It all starts with the faceoff,” Serratore said of the OT winner. “Vinny got to the middle of the rink, and once you get to the middle of the rink, you force the goaltender to move with you, but that all happens because of Jere on the dot.”
For the first time this season, Serratore made sweeping changes to his forward lines and defensive pairings.
The Beavers split up their third line, pinning Carter Randklev with Adam Flammang and Vaisanen, Funk with Eric Martin and Kirklan Irey, and Austin Jouppi with Jutting and Magnussen. Jaksen Panzer slotted in for Jake McLean on the fourth line.
Defensively, Mitch Wolfe paired with Will Magnuson, Tony Follmer played with Corcoran and Luke Roelofs skated with Parekh. Roelofs and Parekh became the first BSU freshmen defensemen to play on the same pairing in over two years.
“We’re not in a good rhythm right now,” Serratore said. “We’re a little inconsistent, and we’re just trying to find some chemistry and move some things around. And if nothing changes, then nothing changes.”
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Jutting, Jouppi and Magnussen played on the same line during Bemidji State’s 11-game unbeaten streak last season.
“When the lines change in the beginning of the week, everybody gets extra juice in practice with those new linemates,” Jutting said. “Playing with Kasper and Joups, for me, it was pretty easy. We got back in the swing of things from last season. It seemed like the other lines were doing the same thing. That’s what you want.”
Bemidji State wasn’t the only team to have a significant lineup change. Augustana welcomed back senior defenseman Uula Ruikka from his eight-game suspension. Ruikka had five goals and 14 assists in 29 games last season.
Ruikka was the first AU defenseman to play in OT.
“It was a tough game, Augustana can really skate,” Serratore said. “They were a handful, and they kept answering back. I‘ll give my guys a lot of credit, not many times you can get a (one-goal) lead back four times.”
Bemidji State (4-4-0, 3-2-0 CCHA) moved back to .500, while Augustana dropped to 4-5-0 (1-2-0 CCHA).
“It’s just resiliency, we’re never out of it until the final buzzer,” Corcoran said. “That’s what this group does.”
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Bemidji State 4 , Augustana 3
BSU 1 1 1 1 – 4
AU 1 1 1 0 – 3
First period – BSU GOAL: Funk (Parekh, Martin) 1:55; AU GOAL: Mobley (H. Hennen, Bischoff); 18:59.
Second period – BSU GOAL: Lawson (Panzer) 8:45; AU GOAL: DelGreco (Svenddal) 17:00.
Third period – BSU GOAL: Jutting (Magnussen, Corcoran) PPG, 8:43; T. Hennen (Matsui, Drotts) 11:45.
Overtime – BSU GOAL: Corcoran (Vaisanen) 0:28.
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Saves – Sholl (BSU) 20; Kotai (AU) 29.
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