GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - It was more than fair to say that Bemidji State’s first of five goals in its 5-1 upset of Notre Dame was a fitting omen for how the rest of the night would go.

A puck deep in the Notre Dame zone caromed off the end boards quicker than expected, ever-steady Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce slipped and Chris McKelvie was right on the doorstep to nudge it over the line.

A bad bounce for the Irish?

Certainly, but rather than being simply a sign that Notre Dame would have bad puck luck all night long, it was the first in a litany of examples of just how effective Bemidji State’s suffocating forecheck really is.

“I don’t know if they were used to being pressured and all of the pressure that we put on them,” Beavers’ center Travis Winter said. “We executed our game plan, the coaches had a great game plan for us.”

Bemidji State was relentless in attacking the Fighting Irish, capitalizing on so many of their mistakes. And when it was all over, as the fans and media left the building say “wow” just like they did in Minneapolis and Bridgeport one night prior.

But there was less surprise and no gloating from a Beaver team that instantly turned its focus to defeating Cornell tomorrow to reach the Frozen Four.

Goaltender Matt Dalton, who was the backbone of a well-rounded effort by Bemidji State was the perfect example of this level of focus. After stopping 34 of the 35 shots that he faced, Dalton refrained from getting caught up in what should have been his moment. He showed a grasp of reality that knows he must be even better tomorrow night, as the bounce of the puck can swing the outcome the other way quickly.

“I just think it goes to show the parity in college hockey,” Dalton said. “It shows how close every team is. The bounces one night can determine the game and tonight was a good example of that.”

DIFFERENCE MAKERS LEAD BIG RED SURGE

When late March and early April roll around, assets like experience, depth and secondary scoring become the calling cards of teams that make their way to conference finals and the next step of the NCAA Tournament. But when you get to the point where every team you face has those same strengths, it takes a game-breaker or two to come out on top.

Enter Cornell forwards Riley Nash and Evan Barlow.

Heading into this weekend’s regional, Nash had rung up 12 points in 12 career playoff games and Barlow had scored five goals in five postseason games this season. Those point-per-game rates are alive and well after Saturday’s regional semifinal game against Northeastern, where the dynamic duo teamed up for a memorable game-winner with 28 seconds to go in a 3-2 come-from-behind victory.

After Barlow notched an assist on the game-tying goal with four minutes to go, he trailed behind Riley Nash as Nash moved towards the Northeastern goal. Nash fell to the ice and slid the puck back to Barlow, who slid the puck through an opening between netminder Brad Thiessen’s pads and sent Cornell into the second round.

Evan Barlow watches as his shot beat Brad Thiessen five hole to lift Cornell to a 3-2 win

“Blake Gallagher did a great job streaking down the right side,” Barlow said. “He was getting tweaked off by a Northeastern defenseman. He got it to Riley Nash who protected the puck really well and he was able to get it to me. My first thought was to go high blocker, then their defenseman came in and I just had to get it by him. Luckily, it got by Thiessen.”

Northeastern had taken a 2-0 lead in the game with a goal in the last minute of the first period and a (adjective) breakaway goal from Steve Silva midway through the second stanza, but struggled mightily on the power play all game long.

The Huskies were 0-for-8 with a man advantage and generated just five shots on those eight chances, including an 0-for-2 mark with a single shot on goal in the third period.

“I’ll be frank with you, our power play has been our Achilles’ heel all year,” Northeastern coach Greg Cronin said. “We’ve never been able to create a gap between ourselves and the opponent. We earn penalties because we work hard, and we had three straight penalties, and I don’t know if we had a scoring chance.”

Cornell moves on to face Bemidji State, and they know that they need to start fast and build off the start to avoid a similar fate to what Notre Dame suffered tonight.

“I think we got off to a good start in tonight’s game,” Barlow said. “I think that in the first ten minutes, we pushed the pace pretty well. I think that we need to focus on maintaining that momentum and staying out of the box.”

SEEN AND HEARD AT VAN ANDEL ARENA

Huntington Revival: While the Huskies are certainly upset to have their season end so abruptly, the season wasn’t a lost cause for a Northeastern program that has surged back to long-lost heights under fourth-year head coach Greg Cronin.

The Cornell game was the Huskies’ first NCAA Tournament game since 1994, when they suffered a 6-5 overtime defeat to eventual national champions, Lake Superior. On top of that, the departing senior class has seen their annual win total rise from three to 13 to 16 in their first three years and a very impressive 25 this year.

While Cronin was understandably displeased with today’s result, he realizes the significance that this year can have for a program on the rise.

“You got me at a bad time, I’m still pissed off going over the last few minutes of the game in my head,” Cronin said. “But when we step away from it, we moved Northeastern into a level of visibility that it hasn’t enjoyed since the early (1980s). It’s an attractive place to go to school, it’s a great school and I think that when the hockey team (wins) the school gets some light shone on it.”

Matt Dalton's 34-save effort against the Irish improved his season save percentage to .920

Bemidji to the Rescue: There’s been a lot of talk in recent years about disbanding College Hockey America as the league has dwindled to four teams. Minimally, there seems to be a notion that a four-team league shouldn’t get an automatic bid to the national tournament.

Beavers’ coach Tom Serratore was adamant that his conference belongs in the tournament, as the conference’s teams were extremely competitive in difficult non-conference schedules that saw them playing mostly on the road.

“We hope that we are represented next year,” Serratore said. “We are going to be a league next year and we are hoping we get and auto-bid next year. I think it would be a travesty if we didn’t. We have four teams representing college hockey very well. I hope that the powers that be can recognize that and give us an automatic bid.”

Irish Stars go MIA: Just as Cornell’s big guns came out blazing, Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson was unhappy that his best players didn’t answer the call as they have in previous games when they fell behind.

“There’s not that much difference between teams in college hockey,” Jackson said. “One or two players on every team that make a difference. It’s easy for our guys (to get pumped up) when they hear names like Michigan, but Bemidji was a better team than us tonight.”

PLUS/MINUS

Northeastern’s student section might not have been the largest one at the regional, but what it lacked in numbers, it made up for in spirit. One member of the “Dog House” exclaimed “This is the worst atmosphere ever!” and it might well have been during the first semifinal if it wasn’t for the rabid Northeastern students.

Major props to Bemidji State for not getting overly caught up in what was, to most outsiders, a stunning upset. If the Beavers head into tomorrow’s game with the level of drive and focus they showed all game long and in the post-game press conference, College Hockey America could go from the ugly stepchild to the Frozen Four.

Northeastern coach Greg Cronin made it clear that it wasn’t to be an excuse for his team’s lack of success on the power play, but the Huskies’ special teams did take a big hit when top line left winger Wade MacLeod was injured on the first shift of the game. Not to discredit Cornell’s impressive comeback effort, but had MacLeod been in the lineup and provided a spark on one of those eight Northeastern power plays, the lead might have reached a level the Big Red wouldn’t have been able to come back from.

A veteran team like Notre Dame has to do a better job at staying out of the penalty box in a game where they are already trailing. The Fighting Irish took three penalties in the final 10:30, killing any chance of a comeback.

INCH’s THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT

3. Joe Vitale, F, Northeastern: Northeastern didn’t win the game, but Vitale did his darndest to make sure they had a chance to. It might not make sense to give a star to a player from the losing team, but Vitale - who was point-less in the game - kept his squad in the game with an eye popping 25 face-off wins with just 10 losses on the draw.

2. Evan Barlow, F, Cornell: Barlow knew his team was behind and did what it took to get them to the second round, notching and assist on the game tying goal with four minutes left and scoring the winner with 18 seconds to go.

1. Matt Dalton, G, Bemidji State: No, Dalton didn’t shut the Fighting Irish out, but he faced more than his fair of shots and made the saves he needed to make to lead his team to victory. And the one goal he did give up - Batman might not have stopped it.

WHAT’S NEXT

Perhaps Cornell breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the might Fighting Irish fall to Bemidji State, but watching the other semifinal, the Big Red have to know they’re in for a tough one Sunday night.

Expect a passionate affair, as two teams vie for an unexpected Frozen Four berth.

Northeastern will have disappointment to overcome, but in the grand scheme of things, Cronin and his team can be happy with the levels their program reached this season. Notre Dame, on the other hand, will likely have a long summer pondering what could have been, and will be fielding questions on what they’ve done to overcome this loss for the next 365 days. Six seniors, including goaltender Pearce and two of the top three scorers, will be missed.