BEMIDJI, Minn. - The Lake Superior State hockey team dropped a 5-1 game to the Bemidji State Beavers on Friday, Jan. 7 in the opening game of a weekend Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) series at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn. Following the loss, the Lakers hold an 11-11-1 overall record this season and a 7-7-0 mark in conference play. 

Sophomore forward Benito Posa scored the Lakers only goal in the game while sophomore goaltender Ethan Langenegger had a strong performance, setting a new career-high with 46 saves in the loss. 

The Beavers scored the game's first goal at 17:40 of the first period when Lukas Sillinder scored a power play goal. Sillinger's goal was scored off a shot from the blue line that made its way through traffic, beating Langenegger for a 1-0 advantage. Will Zmolek and Jere Vaisanen recorded the assists on the goal. 

Posa tied the game for the Lakers with his fourth goal of the season at 11:28 of the first period after scoring on a shot from the faceoff dot to the right of Bemidji State goaltender Mattias Sholl. Joshua Wildauer collected the puck in the Lakers end after the team won a battle for the puck along the boards. Wildauer carried the puck through the neutral zone and exchanged passes with Posa. With two Beaver skaters surrounding him, Wildauer fed a pass to Posa, who fired a wrist shot that rang off the bar and into the net to make it a 1-1 game. 

Bemidji State regained the lead in the game at 13:25 of the first period when Owen Sillinger capitalized on a breakaway to put the Beavers ahead 2-1. Kyle Looft and Lukas Sillinger recorded the helpers on the goal. 

After a scoreless second period, Bemidji State netted three goals in the third period to secure the conference win over the Lakers. Will Zmolek gave the Beavers a 3-1 lead at 15:58 of the third when he fired a shot from the slot that beat Langenegger. Ethan Somoza gave the Beavers a 4-1 lead with 7:07 left to play in the game and Lukas Sillinger netted a power play goal at the 5:20 mark to put the Beavers up 5-1. 

Langenegger, who was solid in net for the Lakers despite the loss, made a career-high 46 saves in the game. Among the many saves made by the sophomore goalie was a beautiful glove save on Owen Sillinger to keep the Lakers within a pair of goals of Bemidji State. Sholl finished the game with saves against the Lakers. 

The Lakers and Beavers will wrap up the weekend series tomorrow night at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. EST. The game will be available to stream on FloHockey. Fans can tune in to listen to Matt Pocket on the radio call on 99.5 YES FM.

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