(RV) Beavers clash with (RV) Huskies for final CCHA series of 2024
BSU Men’s Hockey hosts Michigan Tech this weekend at Sanford Center
The Bemidji State University Men’s Hockey team makes its return to Sanford Center this weekend for a heavyweight bout with (RV) Michigan Technological University in the final Central Collegiate Hockey Association series of 2024.
The Beavers (8-7-2, 5-4-1 CCHA) battle the Huskies (8-5-1, 6-3-1 CCHA) face-off for a two-game, CCHA series beginning Friday, December 13 and ending Saturday. Puck drop for game one is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. CT Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday.
The Beavers make their return to Sanford Center for the first time since Nov. 29 following a three-game road streak.
The Beavers face the Michigan Tech Huskies for the first time since they ended their 2023-24 season in the CCHA Championship game.
This weekend’s series also features two of the top teams in the league standings with the fifth-place Beavers hosting the fourth-place Huskies.
The weekend’s series also features two of the CCHA’s three teams ranked or receiving votes in the USAHockey/The Rink Live top-20 national poll.
Bemidji State enters the weekend 4-1-2 over its last seven games while Michigan Tech is 3-3-1 over its last seven.
The Beavers are coming off a series split at Lake Superior State University after winning game one 4-2 but fell 3-4 in the series finale.
The Huskies are also coming off a series split defeating University of St. Thomas in game one 2-1 but fell 1-4 in the series finale held in Houghton, Mich.
Junior Kirklan Irey continued his hot streak last weekend leading the team with four points off two goals and two assists against the Lakers.
Irey continues to lead the Beavers in scoring through the first half of the season and has totaled 13 points (7g-6a) in 17 games. He posted back-to-back two-point games last weekend and is the first Beaver to do so this season.
Irey scored his third game-winning goal of the season Friday night which was also short-handed for his first career short-handed goal.
Irey is tied for second in the CCHA with three game-winning goals and tied for third in overall goals. He is followed by fifth-year senior Eric Martin who has 11 points off four goals and his seven assists leads the team.
Martin has five points (2g-3a) over the last five games and has recorded a point in 10 of the Beavers’ 17 games.
Senior Jackson Jutting snapped a seven-game scoreless streak getting on the scoresheet in both games at LSSU (1g-2a).
Jutting has seven points (4g-3a) through 17 games and hopes to have ended his slow start to the season.
Jutting is the Beavers’ top centerman and leads the CCHA with 387 face-offs taken. He has taken 39-percent of the team’s 997 face-offs this season. He boasts a 52.7-percent face-off winning percentage to rank eighth in the CCHA.
Freshman Isa Parekh leads the Beavers’ blueliners totaling eight points (3g-5a). He is tied for second among league freshman in points and tied for first among the league’s rookie defenders.
Parekh has five points (2g-3a) over the last six games and is coming off his first collegiate two point game on Dec. 7.
Four of Parekh’s seven points this season (2g-2a) have come while on the power play as he quarterbacks the Beavers’ top power-play unit.
Junior defenseman Vince Corcoran has totaled five points (1g-4a) and leads the team with a +7 rating which is tied for seventh in the CCHA.
Senior defenseman Will Magnuson leads the CCHA and is tied for fourth in the nation with 39 shots blocked.
Senior goaltender Mattias Sholl has started all 17 games in between the pipes for the Beavers. His 1,006:58 minutes in the crease this season is the sixth most in the nation and is 97.3-percent of the team’s total minutes. He has posted a 7-7-2 record, 2.38 goals against average and .914 save percentage this season while his .914 save percentage is a career-high for the Hermosa Beach, Calif., native.
Sholl ranks fifth in program history with 5,657:50 minutes played, eighth with a 2.471 goals against average, eighth with a .908 save percentage and is tied for third among BSU goaltenders in its DI era with 45 career wins (Matt Climie).
Sholl is approaching second on BSU’s career wins list during its DI era and trails Zach Driscoll (46) by one for victories as a Beaver.
Sholl is fifth among all goaltenders to suit up at Bemidji State with 2,309 career saves. He is fifth among active goaltenders in Division I in saves.
Eric Martin is 21st in Division I Men’s Hockey with 145 career games played.
Head coach Tom Serratore is approaching 400 career victories after collecting his 396th career victory last Friday. 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 396-367-101 in his 24 seasons as head coach of the Beavers and boasts a .517 career winning percentage.
Serratore is 22-24-8 all-time coaching against Michigan Tech and the Beavers have only faced the Huskies during his tenure.
The Beavers are just 1-3-1 over their last five games against the Huskies but are 15-13-1 when hosting MTU.
Bemidji State’s last win against Michigan Tech was Nov. 11, 2023 after Sanford Center saw the largest comeback in BSU’s DI history overcoming a four-goal deficit with 26:22 to play to win 6-4.
Eric Martin leads all BSU returners with nine career points (4g-5a) in 17 games against the Huskies. He is followed by Jutting with four points (1g-3a) in seven games against MTU.
Mattias Sholl is 3-6-2 in his career against MTU and has posted a .913 save percentage and 2.46 goals against average in 11 career starts.
Since taking over the Bemidji State Men’s Hockey program in 2001, Serratore’s teams have achieved eight regular-season conference championships, three CHA tournament titles, five NCAA Tournament appearances, one NCAA Frozen Four appearance (2009) and he is an eight-time conference Coach of the Year including most recently in 2024.