No. 20 Beavers clash with cross-state rival Minnesota Duluth for home-and-home series
No. 20 Bemidji State Men’s Hockey finishes non-conference play with Minnesota Duluth
The No. 20 Bemidji State University Men’s Hockey team begins the second half of its 2022-23 regular season and will play its final non-conference series of the season this weekend with a home-and-home series with University of Minnesota Duluth.
The Beavers (9-5-4, 7-2-3 CCHA) face the Bulldogs (8-10-0, 4-6-0 NCHC) for a two-game series beginning Friday, Jan. 6 at Sanford Center and concludes Saturday at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. Puck drop for game one versus the Bulldogs is scheduled for 7:07 p.m., and game two is slated for 6:07 p.m.
Game one will be streamed online at FloHockey.tv with play-by-play and color commentary provided by Beaver Radio Network. Game two will be streamed online at NCHCHockey.com. Radio broadcasts will be available for each game and can be found on 92.1FM or online at www.beaverradionetwork.com.
The Bemidji State-Minnesota Duluth cross-state rivalry dates all the way back to 1948 when the two teams first met in the inaugural season of Bemidji State Men’s Hockey.
Despite the 75-year gap from when the two teams first met, the Beavers and Bulldogs have clashed for just 44 meetings and faced one another just once between the 1950-51 and 1998-99 seasons.
Minnesota Duluth holds a 24-16-4 edge in the all-time series that was rekindled last season after a two-year hiatus following the 2017-18 season.
The Bulldogs earned a series sweep over the Beavers that started the 2021-22 season for the Beavers. UMD earned a 4-2 victory over BSU in game one at Sanford Center and then followed with a 2-1 victory in game two in Duluth.
Bemidji State’s last win versus the Bulldogs came on Oct. 13, 2017, a 5-2 victory in Bemidji. The Bulldogs are currently on a three-game unbeaten streak versus the Beavers (2-0-1).
The two teams briefly crossed paths in the formerly Western Collegiate Hockey Association and UMD went 4-2-2 versus BSU in conference play through the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons.
Minnesota Duluth holds an 8-7-2 series edge when playing in Bemidji while the Bulldogs are 16-7-2 when hosting the Beavers.
The Beavers’ last win in Duluth came on Feb. 9, 2016, a 2-1 victory.
Kyle Looft, Eric Martin and Will Zmolek are the only active Beavers to record a point against the Bulldogs with Martin and Zmolek each scoring goals in last year’s series.
Junior transfer Jackson Jutting paces the team with four career games played against UMD during his time at Colorado College. He has posted six shots on goal and an even rating on the ice.
Bemidji State’s last win against Minnesota came on Jan. 30, 2016 where the Beavers earned a 4-2 victory in game one of the North Star College Cup final at the Xcel Energy Center.
Senior Michael Carr and junior Gavin Enright are the lone goaltenders to face the Bulldogs in their careers and each are 0-1-0.
In the first polls of the new year, Bemidji State reentered the USAToday/USAHockeyMagazine poll top-20 national poll for the first time since Nov. 7, 2022. The Beavers are ranked 20th in the nationally poll and are back to receiving votes in the USCHO.com top-20 poll after being unranked in its last poll on Dec. 12.
Minnesota Duluth enters the weekend failing to receive votes in either poll.
Bemidji State sits 19th in this week’s PairWise rankings while Minnesota Duluth is 33rd.
Bemidji State is 15th in Division I with a .611 winning percentage. That number is second in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
Bemidji State enters the new year winners of its last three games and are 4-1-1 in its last six games.
Minnesota Duluth begins the new year losers of its last two games and are 1-4-0 in its last five games.
The Beavers are coming off an exhibition game against No. 1/3 University of Minnesota on New Years Eve where the Gophers earned a 2-1 victory. BSU’s last meaningful games were on Dec. 15-16 where the Beavers took five-of-six points at No. 16 Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Minnesota Duluth also played an exhibition game on New Years Eve and hosted University of St. Thomas and earned a 2-1 victory over the Tommies. In its last meaningful games, UMD was swept by top-ranked University of Denver at AMSOIL Arena.
BSU is currently tied for first in the CCHA standings with 25 league points and have two games in hand with co-leader No. 16/17 Michigan Technological University.
UMD is tied for fifth in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings with 13 league points.
The Beavers are led offensively by Canisius College fifth-year transfer Mitchell Martan who has posted 14 points off six goals and eight assists. He is 12th in the CCHA averaging 0.78 points per game and sixth with 57 shots.
Martan is followed by senior defenseman Elias Rosén who is tied for second among CCHA defenseman with 13 points off one goal and 12 assists.
Rosén has the hot hand as of late and has posted nine points (1g-8a) over the last eight games.
Freshman Lleyton Roed (6g-6a) and junior Eric Martin (3g-9a) are tied for third on the team with 12 points.
Sophomore Alexander Lundman leads the team with seven goals this season which is tied for 13th in the CCHA. His goals per game average of 0.39 ranks 13th.
Roed is tied for sixth among CCHA rookies with 12 points.
Rosén has been hot as off late and has eight points (1g-7a) in his last six games. Bemidji State is 6-1-2 when Rosén records a point.
After missing a game due to injury, sophomore Jakub Lewandowski returned without missing a beat and totaled three points (2g-1a) in the Beavers’ series at Minnesota State. He was named the CCHA Forward of the Week for the first time in his career for his efforts.
Senior defenseman Will Zmolek has also been hot and has six points (1g-5a) over the last five games including back-to-back two assist games on Dec. 10 and Dec. 15.
Zmolek has also shutdown opposing forwards and leads the team and is fourth in the CCHA with 37 blocked shots. Fellow senior Kyle Looft follows and is fifth in the league with 35.
A lot of BSU’s success can be attributed to sophomore goaltender Mattias Sholl. Sholl is 7-3-4 this season and is tied for the CCHA lead with a .922 save percentage and leads the league with a 1.95 goals against average.
Among goalies who have played in 700 or more minutes this season, Sholl ranks eighth nationally in save percentage and fifth in goals against average.
Sholl is coming off a weekend where he stopped 65-of-69 shots against No. 16 Minnesota State and earned his third CCHA Goaltender of the Week accolade.
Bemidji State went 4-1-1 during the month of December and were led by Zmolek and Sholl who were named the league’s Defenseman and Goaltender of the Month announced earlier this week.
He has shared the net with junior Gavin Enright who has appeared in four games and is 2-2-0 with a 2.96 goals against average and .888 save percentage. He turned aside 22-of-24 shots in the Beavers exhibition loss to No. 1/3 Minnesota.
Bemidji State went 4-1-1 during the month of December for a winning percentage of .750. In its Division I history, BSU has posted a winning percentage of .471 (54-62-21) during December.
In its Division I era, Bemidji State has posted a .567 winning percentage during the month of January (85-63-15).
Fifth-year senior Ross Armour is third in the CCHA with 398 face-offs taken. He is 19th in the league with a face-off win percentage of .465. Jackson Jutting follows with 308 face-offs taken for 12th and is eight in the league with a .523 win percentage.
Bemidji State is third in the CCHA by averaging 29.67 shots per game and allow 26.1 shots per game. The Beavers are 6-2-3 this season when outshooting their opponents and 4-2-2 when recording 30 or more shots.
The Beavers are 6-2-2 when scoring the first goal this season and 3-3-2 when the opponent scores first.
Bemidji State is undefeated when scoring three or more goals this season with a record of 8-0-1. When the opponent scores three or more goals, the Beavers are just 3-4-1.
Bemidji State has scored 14 power-play goals in 58 attempts for a power-play percentage of .241 which is fourth in the CCHA.
The Beavers’ penalty kill has allowed 12 goals in 57 opportunities for a penalty-kill percentage of .789 which is sixth in the CCHA.
Bemidji State is one of the least penalized teams in Division I and is third in the nation by averaging just 7.06 penalty minutes per game.
Fifth-year senior Ross Armour co-captains the team with senior defenseman Kyle Looft while senior Elias Rosén and senior Will Zmolek serve as alternates.
Tom Serratore is in his 22nd season at the helm of the Bemidji State Men’s Hockey program and owns a 363-332-96 career record (.520).
He is 16-16-4 all-time coaching against Minnesota Duluth