Beavers make long trip to face Lakers

BSU Men’s Hockey travels to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., to face Lake Superior State

The (RV) Bemidji State University Men’s Hockey team gets back on the road and will make the 10-hour 562 mile bus trip to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., to close out its Central Collegiate Hockey Association series with Lake Superior State University Friday and Saturday.

The Beavers (10-9-4, 8-5-3 CCHA) face the Lakers (4-20-2, 3-14-1 CCHA) for a two-game, CCHA series beginning Friday, Jan. 27 at 6:07 p.m. CT from Taffy Abel Arena. The two teams will then meet again Saturday at 5:07 p.m. CT for the series finale.

Bemidji State and Lake Superior State split its first season series meeting back on Dec. 9-10 at Sanford Center. The Lakers downed the Beavers 2-1 in game one during the three-on-three overtime for the Beavers’ lone overtime loss of the season. BSU responded however, with a 4-1 victory in game two the following night.

The Bemidji State and Lake Superior State series dates back to 1966 with the teams first meeting in International Collegiate Hockey Association (ICHA) play.

The rivalry between the Beavers and Lakers has been a back-and-forth battle with BSU narrowly holding a 38-37-6 edge in 81 meetings all-time.

The series has been just as close when playing in Sault Ste. Marie with BSU holding just an 18-17-3 edge.

The Beavers have been hot as of late against LSSU and have won four of the last five meetings and are 6-3-1 in their last 10.

Bemidji State has out-scored LSSU 20-8 over that last five games (4-1-0).

Bemidji State is led by fifth-year senior Ross Armour and senior Elias Rosén who have each totaled nine points in their careers against LSSU. Armour has posted four goals and five assists in 16 games with Rosén recording two goals and seven assists also in 16 games.

Armour paced the Beavers with two goals and an assist in the Beavers’ series against the Lakers earlier this season while Rosén added two assists.

Senior Will Zmolek follows with seven points (1g-6a) in 15 games while senior Kyle Looft has added six points (2g-4a) in 16 games and carries a team-high +11 rating on the ice versus LSSU into the weekend.

Sophomore Mattias Sholl boasts a 3-1-0 record between the pipes against Lake Superior State while junior Gavin Enright is 2-0-0. Sholl started both games in their last series and has a .942 save percentage and 1.49 goals against average against the Lakers.

The Beavers continue to receive votes in both the USAToday/USAHockeyMagazine and USCHO.com top-20 national polls. Lake Superior State is failing to receive votes in either poll.

Bemidji State moved up one spot to 27th in this week’s PairWise rankings after a series split with Northern Michigan University last weekend. The Lakers are 60th of 62 teams in the rankings.

Bemidji State sits fourth in the CCHA standings with 28 league points and are 10-9-5 overall and 8-5-3 in conference play. However, the Beavers have four games in hand against conference leader Bowling Green and two games in hand against second and third Minnesota State and Michigan Tech. BSU trails Bowling Green by nine points in the standings, Minnesota State by seven and Michigan Tech by four.

Lake Superior State is last in the league standings with 11 points and have played in 18 league games.

The Lakers were swept on the road by then No. 17 Minnesota State in last week’s action by scores of 3-2 (OT) and 3-1.

The Lakers are led by Louis Boudon who has totaled 17 points (8g-9a) in 26 games while Jacob Bengtsson follows with 16 points (1g-15a), also in 26 games.

Boudon and Dawson Tritt are tied for the team lead with eight goals this season while Harrison Roy follows with seven.

LSSU is led between the pipes by Ethan Langenegger who is 4-13-2 with a .909 save percentage and 2.96 goals against average.

The Lakers have scored the least amount of goals in conference play (32) and have allowed the most (63) to rank last in scoring margin (-1.7) in CCHA games.

The Lakers are fourth in the CCHA and 11th in Division I with four short-handed goals this season.

Boudon leads the nation with 332 face-off wins and has taken 670 draws this season, most in DI. He owns a 49.5 face-off percentage which is 15th in the CCHA.

The Beavers are led by senior blueliner Elias Rosén who has totaled 20 points (2g-18a) in 24 games and is coming off a three-point weekend (2g-1a). The Mora, Sweden native has points in his last four games (1g-5a) and snapped a 10-game goal-less streak in the second game against Northern Michigan.

He is tied for 13th nationally in points (20) among defensemen and third in the CCHA. He is tied for 14th among all skaters in the CCHA.

Rosén paces the team with 18 assists which is tied for second in the CCHA and 17th in Division I.

Freshman Lleyton Roed is having one of the best rookie campaigns in the CCHA and at BSU. He is second on the team with 18 points (7g-11a) and leads all CCHA rookies.

He is the reigning CCHA Rookie of the Week and leads all rookies with three on the season.

He has compiled the best rookie season at BSU since Elias Rosén totaled 24 points in 35 games (5g-19a) during his first season with the Beavers (2019-20).

Roed has points in four of his last five games (1g-5a) and has recorded at least a point in every series this season.

Fifth-year senior Mitchell Martan leads the team with eight goals each while Roed and sophomore Alexander Lundman follow with seven.

Senior Will Zmolek has shutdown opposing forwards and leads the team and is fourth in the CCHA with 50 blocked shots. He has also contributed 12 points (2g-10a) offensively. Fellow senior Kyle Looft is close behind and fifth in the league with 47 blocks.

Sophomore goaltender Mattias Sholl has been dominant between the pipes for the Beavers and is 8-6-5 with a 2.01 goals against average and .921 save percentage. He is second in the CCHA in GAA and third in save percentage.

Among goalies who have played in 10 or more games he is tied for 13th in Division I in save percentage and tied for ninth in goals against average.

The Beavers are 1-4-1 in the month of January. Historically the Beavers have a winning record during January and are 86-67-16 (.564) over its 67 seasons.

Bemidji State has scored 47 goals in conference play and are third in the CCHA with a +0.60 scoring margin in league play.

Bemidji State is third in the CCHA by averaging 29.71 shots per game and allow 26.6 shots per game. The Beavers are 7-4-3 this season when outshooting their opponents and 5-4-2 when recording 30 or more shots.

The Beavers are 7-4-3 when scoring the first goal this season and historically are 282-132-48 (.663) throughout their history.

Bemidji State is undefeated when scoring three or more goals this season with a record of 9-0-1. When the opponent scores three or more goals, the Beavers are just 3-8-1.

Bemidji State has scored 17 power-play goals in 72 attempts for a power-play percentage of .236, fourth in the CCHA and 15th nationally. BSU went 1-for-5 on the power play in last weekend’s series.

The Beavers’ penalty kill has allowed 15 goals in 73 opportunities for a penalty-kill percentage of .795, sixth in the CCHA. The Beavers killed off all six chances last weekend and have a penalty kill streak of eight consecutive successful pk’s.

Bemidji State is one of the least penalized team sin Division I and are second the nation with just 164 penalty minutes. The Beavers have just 79 penalties called against them, 18 fewer than the next CCHA member Minnesota State.

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 364-336-97 career record (.520).

He is 23-18-5 all-time coaching against the Lakers.