GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- When you're ranked No. 2 in the nation in the national polls and lose your first home home opener since Ralph Engelstad Arena opened in 2001, you might as well tell it like it was.

That's the approach University of North Dakota winger Drake Caggiula chose after UND was manhandled 5-1 in its season opener by unranked Bemidji State.

"A lack of preparation, a lack of focus,''Caggiula said. "They beat us on every loose puck, every battle. They threw us around out there like we were kids playing against men.''

It was not a pretty sight as a sellout crowd of 11,865 looked on in disbelief as the Beavers prevailed in all aspects of the game in the nonconference contest, the season opener for both teams.

UND hadn't lost a home opener since falling 7-5 to Minnesota in 2001 in the first game ever in REA. On top of that, UND has dominated the series with the Beavers, losing just once in the last 21 games played in Grand Forks, that loss coming in 1970.

It was also one of the more lopsided losses in a home opener, the worst coming in an 8-1 beating by St. Louis University in 1975. Since then, UND had not lost a home opener by two goals.

But Bemidji State used a shorthanded goal Bradley Harms in the first period and four straight goals in the second period -- three of them in a span of 124 seconds -- to stun UND and the fans.

Harms scored twice for the Beavers with Sam Rendle, Mark Gerbrandt and Charlie O'Connor adding one goal apiece.

UND averted its first shutout ever in a home opener when freshman wing Nick Schmaltz banked in a rebound on a 5-on-4 power play at 13:08 of the final period.

"We had a very high energy level tonight,'' BSU coach Tom Serratore said. "We had a high energy level for 60 minutes. So I'm proud of the guys, and it was great to see that.''

It wasn't so great from UND's view.

"Our team just didn't show up,'' UND captain Stephane Pattyn said.

UND coach Dave Hakstol didn't disagree.

"We got outcompeted,'' he said. "They were a focused, hungry team, and we were not tonight. Bottom line, that's on me.''

Hakstol said he did not see this type of performance coming from his team in pratices leading to Friday's opener.

"I should have,'' he said. "That's why I said this on me.''

The chance to right the ship comes in a hurry. The Beavers and UND meet tonight (Saturday) in Bemidji to complete the weekend series. Hakstol said there's much to learn from Friday's pasting.

"You don't throw this out, not at this time of the year,'' he said. "This is a hard lesson learned for our hockey team.''

The biggest change Hakstol would like to see in the rematch?

"Level of compete,'' he said. "Level of focus.''

And a reversal in the score would make opening weekend easier to stomach as well.

Bemidji freshman goalie Michael Bitzer made 25 saves in his college debut and flirted with a shutout until beaten by Schmaltz.

UND goalie Zane McIntyre stopped 24 shots and gave up four of BSU's five gooals. The other came against freshman goalie Cam Johnson, who stopped four of five shots in playing the final 22 minutes, 25 seconds.

UND NOTES: Center Luke Johnson had 6 shots on goal and defensemen Paul LaDue and Keaton Thompson 5 and 4, respectively, to lead UND ... Gerbrandt paced BSU with 7 shots on goal ... Both teams were 1-for-4 on the power play ...  BSU had a 33-26 edge in shots on goal, despite being outshot 10-4 in the final period when protecting a 5-0 lead.

Virg Foss covered UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald until his retirement in 2005. He's now in his 10th season of reporting on UND home games exclusively for UNDsports.com.