Bemidji State defeated UAH 4-1 on Saturday, completing a series sweep as both teams are moving in opposite directions fast.

UAH (6-14-2 overall, 5-9-2 WCHA) has lost five straight games and is winless in their last six. Bemidji State (9-6-5 overall, 6-4-4 WCHA) has won four in a row and is unbeaten in its last seven.

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The Chargers, sitting seventh in the WCHA standings, will head directly from Bemidji to Fairbanks, Alaska, where they will take on the Alaska Nanooks next weekend and continue their stretch of 12 straight road games.

UAH was able to get more scoring chances to start this game, a carryover from the third period Friday night, but still had trouble finding the net. The Chargers have only scored four goals in the last five games.

However, it was Bemidji State that got the first goal again with 7:08 left in the period. Myles Fitzgerald had a shot from the slot in front of Uhelski, who made the save. The rebound was short and right to Jay Dickman, who slid the puck between Uhelski’s legs before Uhelski got a chance to cover.

BSU asserted more puck possession the rest of the period, finishing with 15 shots on goal to UAH’s nine.

Bemidji pounced early in the second period, with Zach Whitecloud scoring just 18 seconds in for a 2-0 Beavers lead.

UAH got on the board at the 5:13 mark, when Josh Kestner tipped in a bouncing puck over BSU goaltender Michael Bitzer to cut BSU’s lead to 2-1. It was Kestner’s 14th goal of the season and second of the series (scoring UAH’s lone goal on Friday). Levi Wunder and Richard Buri got the assists.

The first power play of the game didn’t come until 4:22 left in the second, and Bemidji State didn’t waste time converting. Adam Brady, who scored twice on Friday, found the net just 19 seconds into the man advantage.

UAH got its first power play with 2:48 left in the second. The Chargers couldn’t score, and with Gerry Fitzgerald coming out of the penalty box, Bemidji State had a 3-on-1. Fitzgerald’s centering pass deflected off a UAH defender and past Uhelski for a 4-1 BSU lead.

The Chargers outshot the Beavers 9-7 in the third period, but no scoring occurred. BSU had the shots advantage for the game, 32-23.

Uhelski finished with 28 saves.

UAH’s offense has gotten as cold as the Bemidji, Minnesota air, which had a temperature of 15 below zero at game time.

The Chargers lost 3-1 at Bemidji State on Friday night, their fourth loss in a row. UAH has only scored three goals in the skid.

UAH (6-13-2 overall, 5-8-2 WCHA) was outshot 42-19 for the contest. In the losing streak, the Chargers have been outshot 157-62.

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The Chargers played their best period in the third, outshooting the Beavers 8-6 but failing to find the equalizer down 2-1. They can take this into the series finale Saturday night.

Despite dominating most of the game, Bemidji State (8-6-5 overall, 5-4-4 WCHA) needed an empty-net goal with 24 seconds left to extended its unbeaten streak to six games. BSU moved into fifth place in the WCHA standings, keeping the Chargers in sixth.

Jordan Uhelski was the prime reason UAH stayed in the game. The senior goaltender made 39 saves, 20 of them in the second period alone.

If the Christmas break put some rust on the Chargers, it showed. UAH was not sharp in the first period, turning the puck over and giving the Beavers the bulk of scoring chances and the first goal of the game.

Adam Brady took a T.J. Roo pass, then beat Uhelski from the right side at the 6:04 mark. The Beavers outshot the Chargers 16-6 in the first period, and most of those UAH shots came late.

It didn’t get better during the second period, although the Chargers were able to tie the game on the power play.

Josh Kestner ripped a one-timer from the left circle at 5:45 of the period, his 13th of the season. With 13 games left in the regular season, Kestner has the most goals in a season by a Charger since Grant Selinger’s 17 in 2006-07.

Kestner was assisted by Tyler Poulsen with his team-leading 11th of the year, and Cam Knight, his ninth helper.

But UAH hardly sniffed the offensive zone the rest of the period, and Bemidji State reclaimed the lead with 4:03 left in the second. Zach Whitecloud beat Uhelski high from the slot as the Beavers relentlessly put 20 more pucks on net in the period while UAH only had five.

Hands down, the third period was the best for the Chargers, who finally applied some stretches of sustained pressure. That kept the Beavers from getting a shot on goal in the first eight minutes.

But UAH couldn’t tie the game against all-American goaltender Michael Bitzer, who had 18 saves.

Brady put the game away with his second goal of the game, an empty-netter with 24 seconds left after Uhelski was pulled for the extra attacker.

The schedule is what the schedule is, but if there was one WCHA team the Chargers did not need to see this week, it was Minnesota State.

UAH, playing for the ninth straight week and third straight on the road, had hardly anything again for the seventh-ranked Mavericks. The Chargers lost 3-0 on Saturday, getting swept in a WCHA series for the first time this season.

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The Chargers (6-12-2 overall, 5-7-2 WCHA) will get a much-needed Christmas break next week. Afterward, they go on a three-week odyssey from Bemidji to Fairbanks to Anchorage to finish their road season.

While that’s a long, arduous trip, UAH won’t see a team as potent as Minnesota State, the consensus preseason pick to win the WCHA title and the league’s lone ranked team. The Mavericks (13-5-0 overall, 11-3-0 WCHA) top the WCHA standings by four points over Bowling Green.

MSU is now unbeaten (20-0-4) in the last 24 meetings with UAH going back to 2002. A fresher Charger team on home ice will have a better chance when they host the Mavericks at the Von Braun Center on February 9-10.

UAH had a couple of decent scoring chances early, but Minnesota State controlled the bulk of the contest.

The Mavericks had a great chance to score when C.J. Seuss, who scored twice in Friday’s 5-1 MSU win, lead an odd-man rush, but Richard Buri got in front of Seuss to break it up.

However, it was also an interference penalty on Buri, and MSU ended up scoring anyway on the power play. Reggie Lutz blasted a one-timer from the right circle past UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair for a 1-0 Mavericks lead at the 12:45 mark.

Minnesota State took a 2-0 lead at 4:09 of the second period, when Jared Jaremko fed Seuss from one side of Sinclair to the other, and Seuss burying the puck in the open net.

Seuss scored yet again at 1:26 of the third, again with a clean look. This time Parker Tuomie found him for a 3-0 MSU lead.

UAH had a prime chance to score on back-to-back Maverick penalties. Dallas Gerads got an elbowing call, and then Riese Zmolek went off a minute later after getting a major charging call for his hit on Tyler Poulsen.

The Chargers had two shots on goal during the two-man advantage, but couldn’t get a puck on MSU goalie Connor LaCouvee in the remaining four minutes of the power play.

In the final minute, Brennan Saulnier checked Gerads hard into the boards, and got a contact to the head major and a misconduct penalty. Gerads held his head as he was attended to and then escorted off the ice. Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings took exception with the UAH bench, but did shake hands with coach Mike Corbett following the game.

Minnesota State outshot UAH 32-16. Sinclair, the freshman, had 29 saves in his fourth start of the season.

Seventh-ranked Minnesota State wore down the Chargers on Friday, winning the opener of the WCHA series 5-1 in Mankato.

UAH (6-11-2 overall, 5-6-2 WCHA) was outshot 41-15 as the Chargers saw its winless streak against MSU go to 23 games. The Chargers are 0-19-4 against the Mavericks since their last victory in 2002.

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The Mavericks (12-5-0 overall, 10-3-0 WCHA) moved into first place in the WCHA standings, two points over idle Bowling Green.

The Chargers, who sit in sixth place, escaped the first period unscathed, although giving the powerful Mavericks three power plays did not make it easy.

Fortunately, UAH goaltender Jordan Uhelski (36 saves) was on his game early, stealing a goal from Reggie Lutz on a diving stop.

Uhelski also needed saves on a quick shot by MSU leading scorer Zeb Knutson and a glove stop on Brad McClure.

UAH’s best chances to score came shorthanded. Hans Gorowski had a breakaway denied by MSU goaltender Jason Pawloski, and Madison Dunn’s slapper from the left circle hit the post.

Minnesota State dominated the second period.

The Mavericks scored the first goal five minutes into the second period. Ian Scheid’s cross-ice pass found Josh French, and Uhelski was well out of position. French capitalized on the wide open net.

MSU sensed it was about to take over the game, and started making it tougher on Uhelski by firing away.

At 12:43, captain C.J. Seuss made it 2-0 MSU as he fired in a rebound from a Parker Tuomie shot.

With six minutes to go, Richard Buri checked Jake Jaremko from behind. Jaremko was not plowed into the boards, so it was surprising that Buri got a five minute major and a game misconduct.

Seuss then scored during the major power play for a 3-0 Maverick lead. Uhelski had no chance as Seuss was alone on the doorstep.

With their energy and power play time, the Mavericks outshot the Chargers 22-3 in the second period.

Five minutes into the third, UAH got on the board when Tyler Poulsen, all alone in front of the Minnesota State net, redirected a Brandon Parker pass from the boards past Pawloski to cut the MSU lead to 3-1.

Whatever glimmer of hope the Chargers had to get back into the game was quickly squashed.

Fifty seconds later, Nicolas Rivera swings around the UAH net for a wrap-around, deflecting the puck off Kurt Gosselin’s stick for a goal.

One minute after that, Walker Duehr’s wrister from the left side beat Uhelski high and on his glove side, and just like that Minnesota State led 5-1.

It’s the second straight game the Chargers had fewer than 20 shots on goal while allowing more than 40. Bowling Green outshot UAH 42-12 last Saturday.

Andrew Dodson was back in the UAH lineup on Friday after missing five weeks from an injury.

Josh Kestner scored two goals for the second straight game as the Chargers earned a 3-3 tie Friday night at Bowling Green.

UAH (6-9-2 overall, 5-4-2 WCHA) got two points in the WCHA standings after earning its first-ever shootout victory (2-1).

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Bowling Green (7-5-6 overall, 6-2-5 WCHA) got one point with its third tie in four games, staying in first place by that one point over Minnesota State.

UAH started with a defensive lapse and Bowling Green quickly pounced. Mitch McLain easily scored on a wide open net after a shot rebound came right to him all alone and Jordan Uhelski out of position. McLain easily made it 1-0 Falcons at 1:16.

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The Chargers got on the board at 5:37, as Madison Dunn unleashed a blast from the left point for his third goal of the season. Richard Buri’s pass from the boards earned the primary assist. Cody Champagne also got an assist for his first point of the season.

The Chargers then started hitting. Kurt Gosselin put on a vicious hip check on Niko Coffman, but it only earned him a minor roughing penalty that UAH was able to kill off. Coffman did not return to the game.

Cam Knight was not so fortunate after checking Lukas Craggs from behind into the boards. Knight got five minutes and a game misconduct at 9:52, ending his night early.

Nearly a minute and a half into the major Falcon power play, Jacob Dalton give the UAH penalty kill a break with an interference penalty.

During the 4-on-4, Kestner picked up a loose puck and beat BGSU goaltender Eric Dop glove side to give the Chargers their first lead at 2-1.

UAH killed the remainder of the power play after it resumed, but the Falcons tied the game while the Chargers were on the power play. Stephen Baylis scored from the slot after a turnover with 3:13 remaining in the first and it was 2-2.

Two shorthanded goals were the killer for UAH in last Friday’s 3-2 loss at Northern Michigan. The Chargers have allowed five shorthanded goals this season, three in the last two series.

The second period was mostly lax until late, when both Uhelski and Dop put on a goaltending exhibition. Each made huge pad and glove saves on 2-on-1 rushes and breakaways to keep the score tied at the second intermission.

Kestner’s second goal of the game gave UAH a 3-2 lead just 2:08 into the third. He worked his way around Falcon defenseman Connor McDonald, then beat Dop high with an odd-angle shot for his 12th of the season.

McDonald tied the game at 3-3 with 10:10 to go, as his shot from the left point glanced off of John Teets’ arm in a screen and over Uhelski.

From there, it was the Uhelski (24 saves) and Dop (21 saves) show to keep the game equal through regulation. Dop made one final save on Dunn with nine seconds left.

The goalies stayed strong through the regular overtime (to make the game an official tie), and through the 3-on-3 overtime to determine who gets a second point WCHA standings.

In the shootout, Christian Rajic and Brandon Salerno beat Dop. Max Johnson scored in the first round, but Uhelski stopped Brandon Kruse to secure the point after tie.

It was UAH’s first point after tie in five tries since the WCHA instituted the tie-breaking procedure last season.