By Tim Schmitt
LEWISTON — When the history of the short-lived College Hockey America becomes little more than a Wikipedia entry, the lead sentence will certainly need a blurb about the rivalry between Bemidji State and Niagara University.
The two schools have dominated the quirky league, with one of the two entering the final seven conference tournaments as the top seed. Niagara has won the tourney three times, as has Bemidji.
And although the Beavers will finish with the league’s best cumulative record, the Purple Eagles got something Friday night every team strives for — the last laugh.
After a dreadful regular season, Niagara atoned in a big way by stunning the nationally ranked Beavers 5-4 in the thrilling finale of what might go down as college hockey’s most unappreciated rivalry. With the victory, the Purple Eagles advance to tonight’s CHA title game against Alabama-Huntsville with an NCAA Tournament berth given to the winner. Face off is 8 p.m.
Egor Mironov’s fluky goal late in the third proved to be the game-winner as Niagara (11-19-4) got two goals from senior defenseman Tyler Gotto, a dynamic goal from Bryan Haczyk and held on through some hairy moments in the final minutes. Ryan Olidis also scored for the hosts.
“We’ve had a lot of big wins in 14 years, this is up there with all of them,” Niagara coach Dave Burkholder said. “We kept battling back. The ebb and flow and the momentum swings were unbelievable, but we were unfazed and just kept bouncing back and answering.”
Niagara, which hung six goals on Bemidji earlier this year at Dwyer, broke open a 2-2 tie in the second with goals by Gotto and a thrilling shorthanded breakaway by Haczyk, who took a pass from Paul Zanette, sped away from a defender and shoveled a shot past BSU goalie Dan Bakala.
“Paulie and I have been killing together for two or three years. We look for jumps on the kill. Getting that puck on the wall, he knew I was going to streak to the middle,” Haczyk said of his ninth goal of the season. “He laid a nice soft pass out there for me and luckily I beat the defenseman and beat the goalie.”
At the time, that gave Niagara what looked like a comfortable two-goal edge. But Bemidji State (23-9-3) got a nice goal from Shea Walters to make it interesting. When Mironov scored the winner — the winger took a shot that eventually caromed in — the hosts again held a two-goal lead, but Ryan Cramer’s goal with 7:15 left again pulled the game within a goal.
Only a solid effort from the defensive corps in front of goalie Chris Noonan, who made 32 saves but benefited from 16 blocked shots, helped keep the host’s net clean. Niagara also held Bemidji scoreless in six extra-man attempts while converting a power-play and Haczyk’s shorthanded marker.
“They won the special teams and that’s what it boiled down to,” Bemidji coach Tom Serratore said. “We played with desperation and made a game out of it in the third, but when we answered, they answered back. It was an exciting hockey game to watch for sure.”
In the third, with Bemidji flying about, Gotto addressed the team during a timeout, Burkholder said.
“I was getting pretty emotional,” Gotto said. “I just reminded everyone that they’re feeling the same as me and we just had to stay calm and keep it simple.”
Niagara held on for the win, meaning the team will have an opportunity to reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in seven years with a win over Huntsville. Burkholder insisted all season that despite his team’s record — which included 18 one-goal games — Niagara was capable of making a postseason run.
“This is what you work all year for. Nobody’s here Monday through Thursday, but I’ve hung with these guys all year and if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 50 times to fans, media, anyone who wants to ask — this is a very good team that works very hard,” he said. “And you get what you deserve in life.”
Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.
