Beavers return to CCHA play by hosting Tommies

BSU Men’s Hockey looks to improve league standings against St. Thomas

The (RV) Bemidji State University Men’s Hockey team jumps back into Central Collegiate Hockey Association play this weekend and hosts University of St. Thomas at Sanford Center.

The Beavers (5-6-0, 3-3-0 CCHA) host the Tommies (3-5-3, 2-2-2 CCHA) for the first time this season and begin their conference series Friday, Nov. 22 at 7:07 p.m. Game two kicks-off Saturday at 6:07 p.m.

The Beavers jump back into CCHA play this weekend after pausing league play for a non-conference series with No. 3 Minnesota.

The Beavers split the home-and-home series with the third ranked Gophers after upsetting them 3-1 at Sanford Center last Saturday.

After falling 5-3 in a tightly contest game Thursday night, the Beavers returned home and bested the Gophers for just the third time in program history. It was the Beavers first victory over the Gophers since 2016 and first in their home building.

Senior netminder was spectacular for the Beavers between the pipes stopping 72-of-76 shots by the Gophers. He was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week for the first time this season for his performance.

Junior Kirklan Irey scored three goals in the series including two in Saturday’s victory and is on a three-game point scoring streak (3g-1a). He has points in six of his last eight games (4g-4a) after starting the season without a point in the first three games.

Junior transfer Reilly Funk recorded a goal and assist in Thursday’s 5-3 loss for his first two-point night as a Beaver.

Funk has scored a goal in three of the last four games (3g-1a).

Following the series split with Minnesota, the Beavers jumped nine spots in the USCHO.com PairWise rankings to 39. The Beavers also returned to the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live top-20 national polls and are receiving votes in both polls.

Bemidji State dominates play when facing the Tommies. The Beavers are 34-4-2 all-time against St. Thomas and are 10-1-1 since UST made the leap to Division 1 in 2021. 26 of 40 games in the series have been in Bemidji with the Beavers holding a 22-2-2 record when hosting the Tommies. The Beavers have won the last five meetings between the two teams dating back to 2023.

Head coach Tom Serratore is 10-1-1 when coaching against St. Thomas, the highest winning percentage (.875) he has against an opponent.

Fifth-year senior Eric Martin leads all skaters with 13 points against the Tommies. All 13 of his points have come off assists and he leads the team with a 1.30 point per game average versus UST.

Fifth-year senior Jackson Jutting follows with six career points (3g-3a) in seven games versus the Tommies.

Jutting and senior Jere Vaisanen are tied with three career goals versus UST.

Senior Mattias Sholl is the only BSU netminder to have faced UST and in 10 starts, he is 8-1-1 with a 2.46 goals against average and .900 save percentage.

The Tommies are 3-5-3 on the season and are coming off a 1-0-1 weekend against Bowling Green this past weekend at Saint Thomas Ice Arena.

The Beavers and Tommies are tied for sixth in the CCHA with a .444 points percentage each.

Irey paces the Beavers with eight points (4g-4a) this season and has scored all eight points over the last eight games. He is followed by senior Jere Vaisanen who has seven points (4g-3a) and the pair along with fifth-year senior Carter Randklev lead the Beavers with four goals each.

Seven of the Beavers’ 16 forwards have scored a goal this season while four of their nine defensemen have scored as well.

18 of the Beavers’ 25 skaters have recorded a point.

Captain Jackson Jutting is tied with St. Thomas’ Lucas Wahlin for the CCHA lead with 246 face-offs taken.

Jutting has posted a .496 face-off winning percentage to lead the team and is 11th in the CCHA.

Jutting also paces the Beavers with two power-play goals on a Beaver power play that has scored five goals this season and ranks fifth in the CCHA in power-play percentage (.192).

Senior Will Magnuson continues to lead the nation in blocked shots. He has totaled 36 on the season after blocking seven shots last weekend. He has blocked three or more shots in seven of the Beavers’ 11 games.

The Beavers’ penalty kill ranks fourth in the CCHA with a penalty-kill percentage of .815. They went 4-for-5 last weekend against one of the top power-play units in the nation.

Bemidji State is fifth in the CCHA averaging 2.45 goals per game while the Tommies are third (2.64).

The Beavers are fourth allowing just 2.73 goals per game while the Tommies are sixth (3.09).

The Beavers’ crease is owned by CCHA Preseason Goaltender of the Year senior Mattias Sholl.

Sholl has played 96-percent of the team’s minutes in between the pipes this season starting all 11 games. He has posted a 4-6-0 record to go along with a 2.53 goals against average and .913 save percentage. He is fifth among CCHA goalies who have started at least 67-percent of the teams games in save percentage and third in goals against average.

Head coach Tom Serratore is approaching 400 career victories after collecting his 393rd career victory last Saturday. He seeks to become the 31st head coach in Division I Men’s Hockey to reach the 400-win milestone and the 12th active head coach.

Serratore is 393-366-99 in his 24 seasons as head coach of the Beavers and boasts a .516 career winning percentage.

Mattias Sholl’s 5,310 minutes in net for the Beavers is the seventh most in program history and has 2,168 saves are 10th most.

Bemidji State’s five wins this season have come when they score the first goal. They are 322-140-49 when scoring first in the program’s DI era.

All five of the Beavers’ losses have come when their opponent has scored first.