BREC opens with North Dakota

BREC opens with North Dakota

Students and fans enter BREC and season with excitement

Luke Landgraf

Word count:752

On campus there was a sense of excitement going through the students. The sun was setting over Lake Bemidji as people filed in the BREC for the first time. The BREC opened Friday, October 15 against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. The Expected attendance was over 4,700 and seats were sold out said Play It Again Newspaper. The actual attendance on hand was 4,373. This event was more than just a game for over 300 BSU alumni’s, it was a homecoming. For the Bemidji community and anybody else involved in the building of the BREC the wait was over.

During the intermission of each period the announcer announced the players from decades past, so they could admire the new rink for the first time on the ice. The former players would line up on the blue line so they could soaked in the applause the crowd gave them for their dedication and hard work they gave years ago.

For some students like Nick Baratto it wasn’t just another social gather at a hockey game. This game was his 12 hour overnight wait at the Union to get his season hockey ticket over a month ago. “When I got that E-mail that said the season tickets were ready for us to pick up, I was excited,” Nick Baratto, a sophomore at BSU was not fortune enough to get his tickets without having to wait in line. “This will be my second year of BSU hockey but being at the new rink really made things that much better. It was a new atmosphere but the same cheers, same students, and same beaver outfits.”

“It should be a fun year with the Beavers playing in the WCHA,” said Nick Baratto. With the BREC being built it allowed the Beavers to move into a new conference. That new conference has some of the biggest names in college hockey in it. Some of the high powered schools that the beavers will being playing this season will be North Dakota, University of Minnesota, Anchorage Alaska, and University of Minnesota Duluth.

Before the game started there was a ceremonial bring in of the torch to symbolize the moving into a new rink. After that there was a ceremonial puck drop to honor all who were involved to help bring the BREC to existence. Eventually the puck that started the game was dropped and the new ERA of beaver hockey was underway. Just about two minutes into the game Jamie Mac Queen scored the first male goal ever scored in the BREC.

After the Mac Queen scored the first goal the Sioux scored about 17 minutes later. After the first period it was 1-1 once the second period started the Sioux never looked back. The Sioux scored three in the second period and ended up winning the game 5-2. The Sioux outshot the Beaver 15-5 in the first period, 13-5 in the second and 9-4 in the third. The final tally for shots on goal was Sioux 38 Beavers 14.

Sean Dougherty a freshman at BSU, worked as an user at the game on Friday. “This was my first beaver game watching and working,” said Sean “The fans were crazy especially the student section. It was kind of hard to pay attention to my job when then game was actually playing cause it was so good. I caught myself paying more attention to the game then ushering.” Sean said “it was pretty intense with the student section cheering and the dance team dancing, it made it a really sweet hockey environment.”

For many students it was their first time at the game and it would be their first time riding the shuttle bus to the game. The shuttle bus left every 15 from the rec. center and dropped students off at the BREC. Emily Gieser a freshman at BSU “the shuttles were pretty slow and the lines for getting on were kind of long but I’m not going to complain. If that’s all I had to complain about then I would say it was great time, other than us losing the game.”

The BREC is home to more than just hockey games, its home to concerts, meetings, and benefits.

picture by Luke Landgraf

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As the sun was setting on Lake Bemidji and the BREC, people swarmed in the building to get their first glimps of the rink and the hockey teams first game in the WCHA.

Picture by Luke Landgraf

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