HANOVER, N.H. (Thompson Arena) -- The Beavers are on a roll.

Since Nov. 22, no opponent has been able to get the best of the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team and today, the Beavers proved that not even a three-week break could slow them down as BSU extended its current winning streak to six games with a 4-2 victory over the University of Massachusetts in the first game of the Ledyard National Bank Classic in Hanover, N.H.

With a current win streak of six, the Beavers are just one victory short of matching a 2006-07 streak that stands as BSU longest winning strand in more than 10 seasons. The team also currently owns the nation’s third-longest win streak.

In their first action since a Dec. 6 meeting with the University of Ala.-Huntsville, the Beavers didn’t get much time to shake off the rust. Just 56 seconds into classic play, the Minutemen put the Beavers down 1-0. BSU responded by tying the game 3:33 later on a Brandon Marino (Sr., F, Riverside, Calif.) power-play goal and then the team took a lead it would not relinquish with 5:17 to play in the first period.

Marino got BSU on the board by netting his third marker of the season with help from Ian Lowe (So., F, Bradwardine, Manitoba) and Cody Bostock (Sr., D, Salmon Arm, British Columbia). The point was the first of the afternoon for the Beavers, but it was just the beginning for the trio as each would find their way into the scoring column again later in the contest.

Matt Read (So., F, Ilderton, Ontario), Bemidji State’s leading scorer, kept a cushion on his scoring edge when he added his fifth goal of the season at the 14:43 mark to give the Beavers a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. Senior wingers Tyler Scofield (Prince George, British Columbia) and Matt Francis (Surrey, British Columbia) added helpers on the Read goal.

Senior captain Travis Winter (C, St. Cloud, Minn.) scored the Beavers’ third-consecutive goal just 5:18 into the second stanza. The goal would prove to be the game winner and stood as Winter’s third of the season and the first point for the senior, who has been plagued by injury, since an Oct. 25 loss to St. Cloud State University.

Before the second period would come to an end, UMass began to mount a comeback. The Minutemen got a goal from Justin Braun to pull the score to 3-2, but BSU would open the final 20 minutes of play with a goal from freshman Ben Kinne (F, St. Paul, Minn.) and goaltender Matt Dalton (So., Clinton, Ontario) would take care of the rest, keeping UMass out of the nets for the final 15:30 to solidify the win and keep the Beavers rolling.

Dalton finished the game turning away 24 Massachusetts shot attempts while allowing two goals in 60 minutes of play, improving to 8-4-0 on the season.

On the other end of the ice, Paul Dainton stopped 14 BSU shots but was responsible for all four goals allowed and his record slid to 6-4-0 overall.

The Beavers were outshot for the 12th time this season, and they managed fewer than 20 shots on goal for the eighth time in 2008-09. The Minutemen held a 26-18 advantage on the shot board.

Typical of BSU special teams play during the six-game win streak, the Beavers were 2-of-6 on the power play and went into the box just four times, killing off all three of the Minutemen’s man-advantage opportunities.

Bemidji State (8-7-0; 4-2-0 CHA) used the win to float above the .500 mark for the first time all season. The Beavers will attempt to improve their record and extend the win streak to seven games tomorrow at 6 p.m. CST, when BSU battles Ledyard National Bank Classic host Dartmouth in the first-ever meeting between the schools. The Big Green earned a spot in the championship with a 5-4 overtime victory over Army Sunday.