BEMIDJI, Minn. – A tightly-played goaltending battle came down to an overtime power-play goal as Bemidji State claimed a 2-1 overtime victory from #13 Minnesota State at the Sanford Center.
 
A Maverick penalty with two minutes, four seconds remaining in overtime and, with 15 seconds remaining in the man-advantage, Kyle Looft found the back of the net for the Beavers, giving them a split of the two-game weekend series.
 
Like they did Friday, BSU took the lead midway through the second period after the teams battled through more than 30 minutes of scoreless hockey.
 
Adam Flammang intercepted a pass in the slot, turned and fired a shot that beat MSU sophomore Keenan Rancier with 8:44 to play in the middle stanza.
 
However, the game would go into the second intermission tied at 1-1 just 25 seconds into a power-play chance for the Mavericks as senior Andy Carroll's pass through the neutral zone was right on the tape of sophomore Steven Bellini's stick and he skated through two Beavers defensemen and scored his first goal of the season on a breakaway.
 
The score remained 1-1 through the third period and into overtime, where both teams had a pair of quality scoring opportunities before BSU went on the power-play, winning the game on Flammang's late goal.
 
Rancier, who has been the team's number on goalie since the calendar turned over to 2023, turned in another solid performance, stopping 24-of-26 shots on goal, but the Beavers were able to take advantage of their 26-18 advantage in shots to collect the win and two points in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings.
 
By going to overtime, the Mavericks earned a point and take a two-point lead in the conference standings over #12 Michigan Tech, which was idle this weekend.
 
MSU (20-11-1, 15-8-1 CCHA) will battle the Huskies for the league's regular-season title, and the top seed in the league playoffs, next weekend at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. Friday's game will get underway at 7:07 p.m. while the teams will close out the regular season, Saturday, beginning at 6:07 p.m.