Beavers pause CCHA play for home-and-home series with No. 3 Gophers

On By Littum

BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Bemidji State University Men’s Hockey team puts Central Collegiate Hockey Association play on hiatus this week and prepares to face No. 3 University of Minnesota for a home-and-home series.

The Beavers (4-5-0, 3-3-0 CCHA) take on the Golden Gophers (9-1-0, 4-0-0 B1G) for the first time since 2019 in a non-exhibition format. Minnesota hosts the first game of the series on Thursday, November 14 at 19.07, with game two at home in the Sanford Center on Saturday at 18.07

Each game will be televised on FOX9+, while game one will be streamed online on Big Ten Plus and game two will be streamed on MidCo Sports plus. Beaver Hockey fans can also tune into the Beaver Radio Network broadcast of both games on the radio dial at 92.1 FM or online at www.beaverradionetwork.

Bemidji State Notes

  • The Beavers and Gophers take a break from conference play for a rivalry series in Minnesota between the two teams.

  • The two teams have not met in meaningful games since the 2019-20 season, but have battled in exhibitions the past two seasons.

  • The Beavers are 2-20-1 all-time against the Gophers with their pair of wins coming on Jan. 30, 2016 and Nov. 15, 2009. Both were in Minneapolis.

  • 24-year-old head coach Tom Serratore is 2-18-1 when coaching against Minnesota.

  • Last season, the Beavers and Gophers opened the 2023-24 season with an exhibition at 3M Arena in Mariucci. The Gophers earned a 5-2 victory.

  • Senior Ye Vaisan scored short-handed for the Beavers in the loss while, senior Tony Follmer, Jackson Jutting and another student Noah Quinn each collected an assist.

  • BSU played all three netminders on the roster, each playing 20 minutes. Senior Matthias Scholl made four saves and didn’t allow a goal in the first period while in the second Raythan Robbins played last period and made 13-of-15 saves.

  • The Beavers and Gophers also met in an exhibition on December 31, 2022 at the Sanford Center, with the Gophers earning a 2–1 victory.

  • Bemidji State is 4-5-0 through the first nine games of the season and unranked in both national polls, while the Gophers are 9-1-0 and ranked No. 3 in both the USAHockey/The Rink Live and USCHO.com top-20 polls.

  • BSU is coming off a road trip to Sioux Falls, SD where they got a series split against Augustana University.

  • Minnesota is riding high in a boundary sweep over (RV) University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. The Gophers have won eight games in a row.

  • Junior Reilly Funk led the Beavers in their series at Augustana with two goals. The Northern Michigan University transfer scored his first goal as a Beaver this past weekend and has posted four points through nine games.

  • Junior Vince Corcoran scored the overtime, game-winning goal in Friday’s overtime win over the Vikings. He also added an assist in the game for his third career two-point effort and first of the season.

  • Senior Ye Vaisan paces the Beavers with six points on four goals and two assists.

  • Vaisanen is tied with the fifth-year senior and Niagara University transfer Carter Randklev for the team lead in goals (4).

  • Fifth year senior and alternate captain Eric Martin is paired with another fifth-year senior Austin Jouppi and junior Kirklan Irey for the team lead with four assists.

  • Seven Beavers have posted four or more points through the first nine games of the season.

  • The Beavers are sixth in the CCHA standings with a .444 hitting percentage in conference play.

  • Bemidji State is averaging 2.33 goals per game. game, fifth in the CCHA, while its 2.67 goals allowed per game match is also in fifth place.

  • The Beavers’ crease is led by the CCHA Preseason Goaltender of the Year senior Matthias Scholl.

  • Sholl has played 96 percent of the team’s minutes between the pipes this season, starting all nine games.

  • He has posted a 3-5-0 record to go along with a 2.53 goals-against average and .906 save percentage for fifth and ninth, respectively, in the conference.

  • His two shutouts this season are tied in the CCHA and one behind national leader Jacob Fowler of Boston College.

  • On special teams, the Beavers are fourth in the CCHA with a .174 (4-of-23) power-play percentage.

  • Fifth year senior and captain Jackson Jutting paces team with two power-play goals, second most in CCHA.

  • The Beavers also rank fourth in the CCHA on penalty kills with a penalty-kill percentage of .818 (18-of-22). The Beavers went 5-for-6 on the penalty kill in their last series at Augustana.

  • Head coach Tom Serratore is approaching 400 career wins after collecting his 392nd career win on Friday.

  • He is seeking to become the 31st head coach in Division I Men’s Hockey to reach the 400-win milestone and the 12th active head coach.

  • Serratore is 392-365-99 in his 24 seasons as the head coach of the Beavers and boasts a .516 career winning percentage.

  • Senior defender Will Magnusson leads the CCHA and is second in the nation with 29 blocked shots. He had five blocked shots last weekend.

  • Matthias Sholls 5,172 minutes in net for the Beavers is eighth-most in program history and has 2,096 saves to approach the top-10 in program history.

  • Bemidji State’s four wins this season came when they scored the first goal. They are 321-140-49 when scoring first in the program’s DI era.

  • All five of the Beavers’ losses have come when their opponent has scored first.

  • Bemidji State has one of the most experienced teams in the CCHA, and its roster boasts over 1,400 games played between its 27 skaters.

  • Fifth year senior Eric Martin leads the team with 137 games played at the Division I level as a fifth-year senior Jackson Jutting follows with 123. Six skaters on BSU’s roster have appeared in more than 100 games in Division I hockey.

  • Senior Matthias Scholl is one of the most experienced goaltenders in all of college hockey and ranks eighth nationally with 89 career games played between the pipes. He is seventh in college hockey with 41 career wins.

  • Serratore boasts that the Beavers are one of the deepest teams in the league with all four lines and three defensive pairings contributing to the team’s success.

  • The Beavers are defending their second-ever MacNaughton Cup championship from last season, when they finished as the CCHA regular season champions.

  • The Beavers return 18 skaters from that championship team and head coach Tom Serratore have added 10 newcomers to the squad including three transfers.

  • Bemidji State returns six of its top 10 scorers from last season, but will have to replace the production of departures Lleyton Roed, Kyle Loft, Erik Pohlkamp and Carter Jones.

  • Educated Eric Martin returns for his fifth season with the Beavers and is BSU’s top-scoring returnee after he had a career-high 26 points on eight goals and 18 assists.

  • Also returning for his fifth year, graduate Jackson Jutting is looking at a big season for the Beavers after posting 22 points (10g-12) in 27 games last year.

  • Jutting was voted team captain by his peers over the summer and will begin the “C” while Martin, Austin Jouppi and Ye Vaisan will each act as alternates.

  • Bemidji State’s top returning scorer is Jutting while a junior Adam Flammang and the Vaisan follows with nine.

  • The Beavers return 71 goals from last year, which is 61 percent of the team’s goals (117).

  • Carter RandklevAJ Macauly and Reilly Funk join the Beavers with prior collegiate experience after Randklev played four seasons at Niagara, Macauly played two seasons at Alaska-Fairbanks and Funk played three seasons at Northern Michigan.

  • Randklev is the most experienced of the group, appearing in 110 career games and posting 68 career points (33g-35) in four seasons with the Purple Eagles.

  • Martin is the most experienced Beaver in terms of the game and has appeared in 128 career games, totaling 65 points on 17 goals and 48 assists.

  • The Beavers boast their experience this season and have four graduates, five seniors and seven juniors on the squad.

  • Beavers was picked to finish second in the CCHA Preseason Coaches’ Poll while senior goalie Matthias Scholl was the unanimous CCHA Preseason Goaltender of the Year.

  • Serratore is in his 24th season at the helm of the Bemidji State Men’s Hockey program. He is 392-365-99 (.516) in his coaching career.

  • Since taking over the Bemidji State Men’s Hockey program in 2001, Serratore’s teams have earned eight regular season conference championships, three CHA tournament titles, five NCAA Tournament appearances, one NCAA Frozen Four appearance (2009), and he is an eight-time conference coach. this year, including 2024 at the latest.

  • The 2024-25 Beaver roster consists of 28 student-athletes with four seniors, five seniors, seven juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen.

  • The team consists of 9 Minnesotans, 25 from North America, including nine Canadians and three from Europe.

  • On average, the Beavers are one of the smallest in Division I. They rank third in DI for smallest by height at an average of 5’11.6″ and smallest by weight at an average of 178.9 pounds.

For more information on the Bemidji State men’s hockey program, tickets or schedules, visit BSUBeavers.com, follow the Beavers on Twitter or Instagram (@BSUBeaversMHKY), or like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers).

Bemidji State University, located on the shores of Lake Bemidji, sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men’s hockey in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and women’s hockey in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs have membership in the Northern . Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

–bsu-