MANKATO, Minn. - The No. 17 Lake Superior State hockey team earned a 4-1 victory over the No. 13/12 Bemidji State Beavers in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Semifinals on Friday, March 19 at the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Event Center in Mankato, Minn. With the win, Lake Superior State has reached 1,000 all-time wins in program history.
The Lakers, the second seed in the conference postseason tournament, advanced to the WCHA Championship game for the first time since Lake Superior State joined the WCHA at the start of the 2013-14 season. Lake Superior State had four different goal scorers in the game as Brandon Puricelli, Jacob Bengtsson, Hampus Eriksson, and Lukas Kaelble each recorded a goal in the win. Mareks Mitens led the Lakers in goal as the senior netminder stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced in the game.
The Lakers scored the game's opening goal at 13:28 of the first period as sophomore Brandon Puricelli gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead with his seventh goal of the season. After Lukas Kaelble connected a pass from the defensive zone to Dustin Manz, the Laker line of Manz, Puricelli and Jack Jeffers worked together to enter the offensive zone. The trio applied pressure along the boards and Jeffers would free up the puck to Manz. Manz spun off the boards and sent the puck towards the Bemidji State goal, where Puricelli was all alone in front of Beaver goaltender Zach Driscoll. Puricelli dragged the puck around Driscoll, and backhanded the shot past the Bemidji State goaltender to give the Lakers the game's first lead.
When the Lakers have scored the game's first goal, the team holds a 12-0-1 record this season and LSSU has posted a 9-0-1 record when leading after one period.
At 15:31 of the second period, freshman defenseman Jacob Bengtsson scored the eventual game winning goal to give the Lakers a 2-0 advantage. Miroslav Mucha held the puck along the boards before trading off the puck with Hampus Eriksson. Eriksson would keep possession of the puck as he circled behind the Beavers net before eventually making his way towards the goal line. Eriksson sent a cross ice pass to Bengtsson who was at the blue line. The freshman held the puck in the zone before sending a wrist shot from the left point to beat Driscoll.
With under two minutes remaining in the second period, Eriksson would add a goal to put the Lakers ahead by three goals. Mucha would force a turnover along the end boards and the puck would make its way to Yuki Miura, who was along in past the goal line. Miura fed a pass to Eriksson who was trailing on the play, and the senior forward got off a quick shot to beat Driscoll for a 3-0 lead at 18:14 of the second period.
The Lakers scoring in the game was capped off by senior captain Lukas Kaelble, who scored his second goal of the season. Kaelble won a puck battle along the boards before sending the puck ahead to Eriksson. Eriksson would hold onto the puck before finding Kaelble open at the face-off dot, and the defenseman would snap off a quick shot that went straight into the top corner of the net on Driscoll's glove side.
With 4:00 minutes remaining in the game, the Beavers snapped Mitens' shutout bid when Ethan Somoza scored to make it a 4-1 game. Mitens would finish the game with 26 saves on 27 shots to record his 13th win of the season.
With the win over the Beavers, the Lakers advance to the WCHA Championship game tomorrow, Saturday, March 20 at 8:07 p.m. in Mankato, Minn. against the Northern Michigan Wildcats. Fans can watch the game tomorrow night on FloHockey, the WCHA's streaming partner or tune in to the radio broadcast on 99.5 Yes FM, the official radio station of Laker hockey.
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