Photo Credit- Josh Strong

By: Blake Friars- Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations

MINOT, ND- In front of a packed house for the Beavers Home Opener, Jamestown forward Jason Richter beat Senior goaltender Holden Kurtz glove side 2:30 into overtime. This was the second consecutive night that the Jimmies beat the Beavers in overtime.

It was a very special beginning to the night. A crowd near the capacity watched the Beavers raise their second National Championship banner in program history. Almost all of the players from last season made the trip down to be a part of the celebration. A forward who was a big part of the championship run was Shain Scheschuk, he recalls the grind that it took to capture the National Title 

“Everybody worked hard the whole tournament, it was a grind. By the end of the tournament, everybody was so physically and mentally drained, but it was definitely weight off the shoulders to finally break through and win a title for the program”, said Scheschuk

In the first 20 minutes of play, it was a fast-paced period. The shots were 6-6 apiece. Holden Kurtz wasn’t tested until the 12-minute mark of the period, and he had to make a couple of key saves to keep it scoreless. Both teams failed to connect on powerplays. Jamestown went 0/1, while Minot State was 0/2.

In the second period, the pace picked up. The crowd came to its feet when Freshman forward Brayden Billaney leveled Dylan Haney cutting into the middle of the ice. Billaney was called for charging on the play. The Beavers killed it off. Then at the 8:05 mark of the second period, Freshman defenceman Wayde Johannesson sent Beaver fans into a frenzy. Just as the powerplay expired Johannesson made a nifty move to create himself some space at the top of the blue line and ripped a shot through traffic that found a way past Jimmies goaltender Tyson Brower. It was Johannesson’s first as a Beavers and that made it 1-0.

Carrying a 1-0 lead into the third period the Beavers seemed to have enough gas left in the tank to carry it across the finish line. But midway through the third period, Dylan Haney tied the game on the powerplay, after a mad scramble in front of Kurtz. The game remained scoreless after 60 minutes and set the stage for a second consecutive overtimes. In overtime Sophomore forward Landyn Cochrane bobbled a puck in his own zone and the puck landed right on the tape of Jimmies forward Jason Richter so snapped it over the glove side, as Jimmies sweep the Beavers for the first time in the history of their program. 

Head Coach Wade Regier isn’t sure why his team didn’t have an extra gear in the Home Opener.

“I’m surprised by the lack of emotion in this one, a rink packed with 1500 people you would rink you would have a little more firepower.  It’s tough to lose on a night like tonight…. As a program we got to dig deep and find a way to string wins together,” said Regier.

With the loss the Beavers fall to 2-0-2 on the season, the Beavers will be back action October 16/17 when they travel to Montana for a pair of games.