The Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team opens its 61st season of collegiate hockey this weekend as the Beavers host Bowling Green State University for a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series.

BSU comes into the season on the heels of a sixth-place, 17-16-6 2015-16 campaign–its first winning record since recording a 23-10-4 mark in 2009-10.

The Beavers return 22 players, which includes six of their top 10 point scorers and three goaltenders. Gerry Fitzgerald headlines a roster which features a return 64 percent of the team’s point scoring and 61 percent of its goal scoring from 2015-16. G. Fitzgerald (14g-11a), now a junior, led BSU with a career-best 14 goals last season, which included a team-high six power-play markers, and matched the team’s assist leader, senior Brendan Harms (8g-17a), for the scoring lead. Kyle Bauman will also be looked at to find the net as he is coming off a career-best 20-point (7g-13a) sophomore season.

Bowling Green opens the season ranked among the top 15 teams in the country in both major preseason polls. The Falcons posted a 22-14-6 record in 2015-16 and finished third in the WCHA regular season standings with a 16-7-5 mark in league play. BG is led by Brandon Hawkins, who posted 13 goals, including and a team-best three game-winners, and 15 assists as a sophomore to finish second on the team with 28 points. Baxter, Minn. native Matt Pohlkamp is back for his senior season after finishing third in scoring a year ago with 24 points (8g-16a). Chris Nell returns to the nets after going 18-11-6 in 2015-16 and backstopping the Falcons to 2.11 goals per game to rank third in the WCHA.