The Bemidji State University Men’s Hockey team returns to Sanford Center and hosts new Division I and Central Collegiate Hockey Association member Augustana University.

The Beavers (9-14-1, 8-7-1 CCHA) host the Vikings (7-14-3) for the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The series is set to begin Friday, Feb. 2 at 7:07 p.m. and game two will follow Saturday at 6:07 p.m.

Bemidji State returns home for the first time since Dec. 29, ending a five-game road stretch.

The Beavers are also returning from its final bye week of the season having last played at Michigan Tech on Jan. 19-20.

Bemidji State went 1-2-1 during the month of January.

Historically the Beavers are 77-70-24 (.521) in its Division I history during the month of February.

The Beavers earned two points at Michigan Tech in their last series by earning the shootout victory over the Huskies in the second game.

After last week off from competition, the Beavers fell from second in the CCHA standings to fourth.

BSU trails first-place University of St. Thomas and Minnesota State University, Mankato who each sit first with 30 points.

Lake Superior State University is third with 28 points while Michigan Tech is fifth (26) as the top-five teams in the standings are only separated by four points.

This weekend’s series will not be for league points as the Vikings will become a full member into the CCHA in the 2025-26 season.

Bemidji State has battled injuries throughout the season yet sit in home-ice positioning for the CCHA playoffs. The Beavers have lost 57 man-games due to injuries this season.

Head coach Tom Serratore has had to juggle his lines throughout the season because of injuries and has totaled 46 different line combinations and 13 different defensive pairings.

Bemidji State will be without three of its top six defensemen this weekend in Kyle Looft, Will Magnuson and Tony Follmer. The three have combined for 332 career games played.

The Beavers will return two forwards to the team in Jackson Jutting and Liam Engström. Jutting missed the last 11 games and Engström missed the last eight due to injuries.

Bemidji State remains out of the USAToday/The Rink Live and USCHO.com top-20 national polls with the Vikings also absent from each poll.

Bemidji State is fourth in the CCHA in goals scored per game averaging 2.71 while ranking eighth in goals against (3.54).

In conference only games, the Beavers are the third highest scoring team with 51 goals and average 3.19 goals per game.

The Beavers are sixth in the conference in power-play percentage at .156 (15-96) while its penalty kill is tied for seventh at .747 (59-79).

In conference play, the Beavers convert on the man-advantage at a 18.8 percentage rate (12-64), fourth best in the league.

BSU averages just 7:52 penalty minutes per game, the second-lowest average in Division I.

Bemidji State blocks the second-most shots in the league totaling 347 on the season and average 14.46 per game.

Bemidji State is led by sophomore Lleyton Roed who has totaled 24 points (12g-12a) in 24 games. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominee is t-fourth in the CCHA in points and t-fourth in goals. His three game-winning goals are tied for the most in the league.

Roed has five points (2g-3a) over his last four games. He is followed by fifth-year senior captain Kyle Looft who was near a point-per-game pace as a defenseman before suffering an injury. He recorded 19 points off five goals and 14 assists to pace the team in helpers and is still tied for the league’s top scoring defenseman despite playing seven less games than his counterparts.

Senior Eric Martin follows Roed and Looft and has totaled 15 points (3g-12a) for third on the team. He brings a three-game point scoring streak into the weekend, the longest active streak on the team.

24 of the team’s 25 skaters have recorded a point this season with 21-of-25 scoring a goal.

11 Beavers have tied or set career-highs for points in a season.

37 of the Beavers’ 65 goals have been scored by underclassmen (56.9%).

Bemidji State is 7-3-1 when scoring first this season but just 2-11-0 when the opponent scores first.

The Beavers are 4-8-0 on Friday’s and 4-5-1 on Saturday’s this season.

Bemidji State is 8-4-0 when scoring at least three goals but just 1-8-1 when scoring two or fewer.

13-of-14 of the Beavers’ losses this season have come when they allow three or more goals.

2023-24 is the 68th season of Bemidji State Men’s Hockey and 25th in Division I. The Beavers are 1,180-698-151 (.620) in 67 seasons and 394-404-103 (.496) in Division I.