After being lit up for five goals a night earlier, Bemidji State University's Dan Bakala put on a clinic between the pipes on Saturday and showed why he is one of the top goaltenders in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. 

Bakala steered away 34 of 35 shots, allowing only a power-play goal by senior winger Stephen Schultz, and backstopped the Beavers to a 2-1 victory over Colorado College in the finale of their two-game series at BSU's Sanford Center. 

It was a costly loss for the Tigers, who salvaged only one of four possible points for the weekend, fell  below the .500 mark in league play, at 11-12-1, and saw their hopes of a home-ice playoff berth suffer a severe jolt. They now find themselves seventh in the WCHA standings with four games remaining in the regular season.
 
CC dropped to 17-15-2 overall.

Bemidji State improved to 12-14-4 overall and 8-12-4 in the WCHA, pulling to within three points of Colorado College.

Schultz, who had not scored a goal since the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit at the end of December, snapped his 11-game drought and put the Tigers up 1-0 during their first power play of the game late in the first period. He shelved a shot past Bakala after taking a pass from Rylan Schwartz, who returned to the lineup after missing three games with an injury. Jaden Schwartz also earned an assist on the tally, which came with 1:37 remaining in the opening frame.

But it was the Beavers who took advantage of the man advantage in the second period to score twice within a span of 3:26 and grab their first lead of the weekend.

Sophomore forward Brance Orban got BSU even at 11:19, redirecting Shea Walters' shot from the point past freshman goalie Josh Thorimbert. Jamie MacQueen, who also scored on Friday, put Bemidji State ahead to stay with a blast from the slot after taking a pass from Ryan Cramer at 14:45.  

The Tigers were awarded their fifth power-play opportunity of the night early in the third period, but Bakala robbed freshman left winger Dakota Eveland from in close on CC's best chance.  

Thorimbert finished with 15 saves for Colorado College, which allowed only 17 shots on goal for the fourth time this season.