Beavers and Mavericks battle for MacNaughton Cup this weekend at Sanford Center

BSU Men’s Hockey has opportunity to hoist second MacNaughton Cup

The path to the MacNaughton Cup goes through Bemidji, Minn. The conference-leading (RV) Bemidji State University Men’s Hockey team plays host to second-place (RV) Minnesota State University, Mankato at Sanford Center for the final series of the regular season.

The Beavers (15-15-2, 13-7-2 CCHA) hold a four-point lead over the Mavericks (16-12-4, 12-8-2 CCHA) in the Central Collegiate Conference Association standings staging a dramatic finish to the regular season this weekend at Sanford Center. The conference-deciding series begins Friday, March 1 with puck drop at 7:07 p.m., and ends Saturday with a 6:07 p.m. puck drop.

The 2023-24 season has reached its climactic end with a conference champion awaiting to be crowned during the final weekend of the regular season.

Bemidji State can hoist the coveted MacNaughton Cup in its home rink with one win in regulation or overtime in its two-game series with the Mavericks.

With a four-point lead over MSU, the Beavers need just two points to clinch the cup and win it outright or one-point throughout the series to share the championship title.

Bemidji State seeks to hoist the program’s second-ever MacNaughton Cup (2017) and win its 23rd conference championship, seventh in its DI era.

The Beavers won the 2017 MacNaughton Cup with three games to play in the regular season and on the road at University of Alabama-Huntsville setting the stage for the first-ever MacNaughton Cup ceremony at Sanford Center.

The MacNaughton Cup is a 111-year old, three-foot trophy weighing more than 40 pounds and awarded to the regular season champions of the AAHA, MCHL, WCHA and CCHA throughout its history.

With a league-leading 42 points, the Beavers were the first team in the CCHA to clinch home-ice advantage for the first round of the CCHA Playoffs next weekend.

The Beavers enter the final weekend red-hot and winners of their last four games and unbeaten in their last six (5-0-1).

When CCHA points have been on the line, the Beavers have earned a point in their last seven games.

Bemidji State has not lost a conference game since Jan. 19 at (RV) Michigan Tech.

The Beavers are 9-3-2 over their last 14 conference games, a streak that started Dec. 8.

BSU is looking to continue its hot play during February going 6-1-1 during the month.

The Beavers have defended their home ice well this season and lead the CCHA with a 10-6-0 record at home.

However, they face the top road team in the conference in the Mavericks who boast an 8-5-3 record on the road.

The Beavers hope to dethrone the Mavericks this weekend who have had their gloves on the MacNaughton Cup for the past six seasons with BSU’s championship in 2017 separating the Mavericks from eight consecutive championships.

Rivals since 1974, the teams have battled for 145 meetings with the Mavericks holding a slight edge in the series at 68-60-16.

Home-ice has favored the home team in the series with Bemidji State 38-27-5 when hosting the Mavericks and MSU 40-22-11 when hosting the Beavers.

The two teams met earlier this season in November and split that series in Mankato. After falling 1-5 in the series opener, the Beavers responded with a thrilling 7-6 comeback victory in game two where they came back from a 5-2 deficit after the first period to score five of the next six goals.

Fifth-year senior and captain Kyle Looft led the Beavers in that series recording three assists while Eric Pohlkamp and Jackson Jutting each scored two goals.

Head coach Tom Serratore is 21-45-5 when coaching against the Mavericks in his 23 seasons as leader of the BSU Men’s Hockey program.

Looft also leads BSU skaters with six career points (2g-4a) versus the Mavericks facing off for 20 career meetings. He is followed by senior Eric Martin (5a) who has tallied five points and senior Jackson Jutting (3g-1a) and Lleyton Roed (2g-2a) who have recorded four points.

Junior netminder Mattias Sholl is 3-5-0 in his career versus Minnesota State and has a 2.92 goals against average and .903 save percentage.

Bemidji State is coming off its third consecutive five-point weekend after defeating University of St. Thomas in overtime and regulation last weekend in Mendota Heights.

The Beavers were led by Looft and freshman Rhys Chiddenton in the series who were named the CCHA Defenseman and Rookie of the Week, respectively.

Bemidji State is led by Hobey Baker Award nominee Lleyton Roed who is near a point-per-game pace totaling 28 points (14g-14a) in 32 games. He is t-third in the CCHA in points and t-fourth in goals. He is followed by Looft who has 23 points (6g-17a) in 26 games and his 0.88 point-per-game average is tied with Roed. Missing six games due to injury, Looft returned in mid-February and has four points (1g-3a) over the last six games since returning.

Four Beavers have recorded 20 or more points this season and three of the four have set career highs in points (Looft, Eric Martin, Carter Jones).

The Beavers have 11 skaters who have reached double-digits in points this season, tied for the most in the CCHA.

Sophomore Adam Flammang has had the hot stick as of late and fired off for eight points off five goals and three assists during February. He was named the league’s Forward of the Month for the month and was joined by Eric Pohlkamp as the leagues’ Defenseman of the Month after he totaled seven points off three goals and four assists. Bemidji State has had a representative on three-of-five of the league’s monthly awards.

Flammang is second in the CCHA with a +12 rating on the ice and is followed by Looft who is +11.

Five Beavers bring active three-game point streaks into this weekend (Mitch Wolfe, Martin, Chiddenton, Pohlkamp and Jake McLean).

In just two seasons with the Beavers, Roed has compiled 59 career points (27g-32a) and his 0.87 point per game average is fourth among Beavers that played in the DI era (Matt Read-0.97, Luke Erickson-0.97, Andrew Murray-0.90).

Sholl leads the Beavers in between the pipes and is 10-7-2 with a 2.76 goals against average and .902 save percentage. Since returning from injury on Dec. 14, he has started every game and is 9-5-2 during that span. He is undefeated in his last six starts and has allowed two or fewer goals in four of those games.

Sholl paces the league with a .579 winning percentage.

Bemidji State is 10-1-1 when allowing two or fewer goals this season.

Bemidji State is third in the CCHA in goals scored per game averaging 2.97 per game but ranks seventh in goals against (3.25).

The Beavers’ goals against average has been trending down as of late allowing two or fewer goals in seven of the last 10 games.

In conference games, the Beavers have scored the second most goals in the league (74) and have allowed the fourth fewest (64).

Bemidji State has battled injuries throughout the season yet sit in home-ice positioning for the CCHA playoffs. The Beavers have lost 68 man-games due to injuries this season.

The Beavers have been mostly healthy as of late with just junior Tony Follmer missing the last four series due to injury.

Head coach Tom Serratore has had to juggle his lines throughout the season because of the frequent injuries and has totaled 62 different line combinations and 15 different defensive pairings.

BSU continues to pace the CCHA averaging just 7:28 penalty minutes per game. That average is tied for the lowest in Division I.

Bemidji State now leads the CCHA with 475 blocked shots, seventh most in DI. Junior Will Magnuson leads the team and is second in the conference with 60 blocked shots. He is followed by Follmer who is third with 54 despite missing the last eight games.

54 of the Beavers’ 95 goals have been scored by underclassmen (56.8%) this season including four-of-nine last weekend.

Bemidji State is 12-3-1 when scoring first this season and has scored first in seven of its last nine games.

The Beavers are 8-8-0 on Friday’s and 5-6-2 on Saturday’s this season.

2023-24 is the 68th season of Bemidji State Men’s Hockey and 25th in Division I. The Beavers are 1,186-699-152 (.620) in 67 seasons and 400-405-104 (.496) in Division I.