By Thomas Baldwin
LEWISTON — It started about as bad as can be — but finished great.
Bemidji State erased a two-goal deficit in a span of 53 seconds late in the third period to earn a 3-3 tie with Robert Morris in the consolation game of the final College Hockey America Tournament at Dwyer Arena on Saturday.
The game — which was the second-last in the history of the CHA — was a dull affair for the most part until the third period.
The Beavers, who entered the weekend ranked No. 8 in the country but suffered an upset at the hands of Niagara on Friday, finished the season 23-9-4 and now undergo the painful and anxious ordeal of waiting to see if they will be in the NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t know,” Bemidji coach Tom Serratore said when asked if his club was safely in the NCAA’s. “We have talked about it and talked about it. With the PairWise, it is very volatile. I don’t know. Right now we are taking the approach that we are in, that’s what we have to do.
“I just told the guys we are going to come back on Thursday and get ready for a Regional. It is the mindset we have and the approach we have to take.”
The Beavers trailed 3-1 but cut the Colonial lead to 3-2 when Ben Kinne beat RMU goaltender Eric Levine at 14:03. Less than a minute later the Beavers got a 3-3 tie when Ian Lowe scored.
“We emptied the tank,” Serratore said. “We scored two four-on-four goals in 45 seconds or something. I thought it was awful gutty. We had nothing in the tank.”
Earlier in the third period, RMU looked like it was in great shape with its own two quick goals. Brandon Blandina gave the Colonials a 2-1 lead at 4:31 before Nathan Longpre made it 3-1 just 1:18 later.
Robert Morris finished 10-19-6.
