Beavers aim to get back on track with home series against Northern Michigan

The Bemidji State University men’s hockey team looks to end its five-game losing skid by hosting Northern Michigan University this weekend at Sanford Center. The Beavers (13-15-0, 11-9-0 CCHA) play host to the Wildcats (14-10-1, 8-9-1 CCHA) beginning Friday, Feb. 4 at 7:07 p.m., followed by game two Saturday at 6:07 p.m.

The Beavers enter the weekend’s action on a season-high five-game losing streak after being swept in back-to-back weekends against Ferris State University and Michigan Technological University. Bemidji State is still receiving votes in the DCU/USCHO.com national poll despite the losing streak marking the 17th consecutive week the Beavers have been named in the poll.

Bemidji State traveled to Michigan Tech last weekend and were swept by the Huskies by a score of 5-2 in consecutive games. The Beavers have lost by the score of 5-2 in its last three games.

Sophomore Lukas Sillinger scored three of the Beavers’ four goals in the series and added an assist to lead BSU with four points over the weekend. He was followed by sophomore Eric Martin (2a) as the only other skater to record multiple points in the series.

Freshman Mattias Sholl started both games in net for the Beavers and allowed eight goals on 67 shots for a .881 save percentage. Sholl stopped a career-high 38 shots in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Huskies.

Northern Michigan travels to Bemidji to close out the season series between the two teams. The Wildcats are receiving votes in the DCU/USCHO.com national poll, 27 points ahead of the Beavers, and sixth in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings with 23 points (8-9-1). The Wildcats played a rare Tuesday night game against Michigan Tech before traveling to Bemidji in order makeup games postponed on Jan. 21-22 due to COVID-19 protocols. The Wildcats fell 5-1 to the Huskies.

Bemidji State earned the series sweep at Northern Michigan when the two teams met previously on Oct. 22-23 in Marquette, Mich. The Beavers defeated the Wildcats 5-4 in game one and then followed with a 4-3 victory in game two.

Lukas Sillinger led the Beavers with four points (1g-3a) while fifth-year senior Alex Ierullo followed with three points (2g-1a).

Freshman goaltender Mattias Sholl picked up his first and second collegiate wins of his career in the series after he turned aside 49-of-52 shots for a .942 save percentage.

Bemidji State dominates the all-time series with a 17-8-6 record against the Wildcats in a series that dates back to 2009. The Beavers are on a two-game winning streak against the Wildcats and are 6-3-1 in the last 10 games. In Bemidji, however, the Beavers are just 7-6-4 against NMU and have lost two straight home games to the Wildcats.

The Beavers’ last home win against Northern Michigan was Feb. 16, 2019, a 3-0 shutout of the Wildcats.

Fifth-year senior Ethan Somoza leads all active skaters with 12 career games played against the Wildcats and has totaled four points off of two goals and two assists. Seniors Ross Armour and Brad Johnson follow Somoza with 10 games played.

Senior Owen Sillinger paces BSU with eight career points (1g-7a) against Northern Michigan while Alex Ierullo follows with five points (2g-3a) and Johnson (3g-1a), Tyler Kirkup (3g-1a), L. Sillinger (1g-3a) and Somoza (2g-2a) all follow with four points.

Sholl leads BSU netminders with two games played against the Wildcats and has posted a 2-0-0 record with a .942 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average.

Head coach Tom Serratore is 16-9-5 against the Wildcats in his 21-year coaching career. Bemidji State is fourth in the CCHA and 23rd in Division I with a 3.11 goals per game average while its defense is ranked fifth in the conference, 31st in the nation, by allowing opponents 3.25 goals per game. The Beavers’ power play is fourth in the nation and second in the CCHA with a power-play percentage of .258 (23-of-89).

Bemidji State has scored a power-play goal in six of the last eight games (9-of-27, .333) and went 2-for-8 last weekend at Michigan Tech. The Beavers’ penalty kill is third in the CCHA and 28th in the nation with a penalty kill percentage of .819 (86-of-105).

BSU is tied for 12th in the nation with three short-handed goals this season. Ierullo paces the team with two short-handed goals and is one of 13 skaters in Division I to record multiple short-handed goals this season.

Bemidji State is led by Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominee Owen Sillinger this season. He paces the Beavers and is fourth in the CCAHA with 33 points (12g-21a) in 28 games. He is tied for sixth in the nation in scoring and is one point shy of tying a career high. Owen is on pace to become the first Beaver Men’s Hockey player to reach 40 points in a season since Matt Read posted back-to-back 40-point seasons from 2007-2009. Only two skaters during the Division I era reached the 40-point mark in a single season (Matt Read 2x, Brendan Cook). Owen has also dominated the face-off dot and leads the nation with 362 face-off wins. He owns a .537 face-off percentage (362-of-674).

Right behind Owen are his line mates Alex Ierullo and Lukas Sillinger. Ieruloo is second on the team with 29 points (10g-19a) while Sillinger is close behind with 28 points (12g-16a). Ierullo is tied for 20th in the CCHA in points while Sillinger is tied for 22nd. The line of O. Sillinger, Alex Ierullo and Lukas Sillinger has combined for 90 of the teams 222 points this season and 34 of the teams 87 goals (.391).

Brothers Owen and Lukas each lead the team with 12 goals while Ierullo and senior Tyler Kirkup each follow with 10.

Lukas Sillinger has been hot as of late and has recorded a point in seven of the last nine games including a five-game point streak. He has totaled 11 points (6g-5a) over the last nine games including a four-point weekend at Michigan Tech this past weekend.

Bemidji State’s blueline is led by junior Elias Rosén who is fourth on the team with 17 points (5g-12a). He is sixth in the CCHA in defenseman scoring.

Following Rosén is junior Will Zmolek who has totaled nine points (4g-5a) but is second in the CCHA, tied for 11th in the nation, with 49 blocked shots.

Between the pipes, freshman Mattias Sholl paces the Beavers with 17 games played this season and sports an 8-9-0 record in 923:14 minutes. He is sixth in the CCHA with a 2.92 goals against average and sixth with a .903 save percentage.