BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Bemidji State University Men's Hockey team pauses Central Collegiate Hockey Association play this week and prepares to face No. 3 University of Minnesota for a home-and-home series.
 
The Beavers (4-5-0, 3-3-0 CCHA) battle the Golden Gophers (9-1-0, 4-0-0 B1G) for the first time since 2019 in non-exhibition format. Minnesota hosts game one of the series Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7:07 p.m., with game two back home at Sanford Center Saturday at 6:07 p.m.
 
Each game will be televised on FOX9+ while game one streamed online at Big Ten Plus and game two streamed at MidCo Sports plus. Beaver Hockey fans can also tune in to the Beaver Radio Network broadcast for both games on the radio dial at 92.1 FM or online at www.beaverradionetwork.
 
Bemidji State Notes

• The Beavers and Gophers take a break from conference play for a Minnesota rivalry series between the two teams.
• The two teams have not faced each other in meaningful games since the 2019-20 season but have battled in exhibitions the past two seasons.
• Beavers are 2-20-1 all-time against the Gophers with their pair of victories on Jan. 30, 2016 and Nov. 15, 2009. Both were in Minneapolis.
• 24-year head coach Tom Serratore is 2-18-1 when coaching against Minnesota.
• Last season, the Beavers and Gophers opened the 2023-24 season with an exhibition at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The Gophers earned a 5-2 victory.
• Senior Jere Vaisanen scored short-handed for the Beavers in the loss while, senior Tony Follmer, Jackson Jutting and sophomore Noah Quinn each collected an assist.
• BSU played all three netminders on the roster, each playing 20 minutes. Senior Mattias Sholl made four saves and didn't allow a goal in the first period while sophomore Raythan Robbins played the final period and made 13-of-15 saves.
• The Beavers and Gophers also met in an exhibition on Dec. 31, 2022 at Sanford Center with the Gophers earning a 2-1 victory.
• Bemidji State is 4-5-0 through the first nine games of the season and unranked in both national polls while the Gophers are 9-1-0 and ranked No. 3 in both the USAHockey/The Rink Live and USCHO.com top-20 polls.
• BSU is coming off a road trip to Sioux Falls, S.D., where they earned a series split against Augustana University.
• Minnesota is riding the high of a Border Battle sweep over (RV) University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. The Gophers have won eight consecutive games.
• Junior Reilly Funk led the Beavers in their series at Augustana with two goals. The Northern Michigan University transfer scored his first goal as a Beaver this past weekend and has posted four points through nine games.
• Junior Vince Corcoran scored the overtime, game-winning goal in Friday's overtime victory over the Vikings. He also added an assist in the game for his third career two-point effort and first of the season.
• Senior Jere Vaisanen paces the Beavers with six points off four goals and two assists.
• Vaisanen is tied with fifth-year senior and Niagara University transfer Carter Randklev for the team lead in goals (4).
• Fifth-year senior and alternate captain Eric Martin is tied with fellow fifth-year senior Austin Jouppi and  junior Kirklan Irey for the team lead with four assists.
• Seven Beavers have posted four or more points through the first nine games of the season.
• The Beavers are sixth in the CCHA standings with a .444 points percentage in conference play.
• Bemidji State averages 2.33 goals per game, fifth in the CCHA while its 2.67 goals allowed per game also stands fifth.
• The Beavers' crease is led 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 nine games.
• He has posted a 3-5-0 record to go along with a 2.53 goals against average and .906 save percentage to rank fifth and ninth in the conference, respectively.
• His two shutouts this season are tied for the most in the CCHA and one behind nationally leader Jacob Fowler from Boston College.
• On special teams, the Beavers sit fourth in the CCHA with a power-play percentage of .174 (4-of-23).
• Fifth-year senior and captain Jackson Jutting paces the team with two power-play goals, second most in the CCHA.
• The Beavers also rank fourth in the CCHA on the penalty kill with a penalty-kill percentage of .818 (18-of-22). The Beavers went 5-for-6 on the penalty kill in their last series at Augustana.
• Head coach Tom Serratore is approaching 400 career victories after collecting his 392nd 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 392-365-99 in his 24 seasons as head coach of the Beavers and boasts a .516 career winning percentage.
• Senior defenseman Will Magnuson leads the CCHA and is second in the nation with 29 blocked shots. He earned five blocked shots last weekend.
• Mattias Sholl's 5,172 minutes in net for the Beavers is the eighth most in program history and has 2,096 saves to approach the top-10 in program history.
• Bemidji State's four wins this season have come when they score the first goal. They are 321-140-49 when scoring first in the program's DI era.
• All five of the Beavers' losses have come when their opponent has scored first.
• Bemidji State features one of the most experienced teams in the CCHA and its roster boasts over 1,400 games played between its 27 skaters.
• Fifth-year senior Eric Martin leads the team with 137 games played at the Division I level with fifth-year senior Jackson Jutting follows with 123. Six skaters on BSU's roster have appeared in more than 100 games in Division I hockey.
• Senior Mattias Sholl is one of the most experienced goaltenders in all of college hockey and ranks eighth nationally with 89 career games played between the pipes. He is seventh in college hockey with 41 career wins.
• Serratore boasts that the Beavers are one of the deepest teams in the league with all four lines and three defensive pairings contributing to the success of the team.
• The Beavers are defending their second-ever MacNaughton Cup championship from last season finishing as regular season champions in the CCHA.
• The Beavers return 18 skaters from that championship team and head coach Tom Serratore has added 10 newcomers to the squad including three transfers.
• Bemidji State returns six of its top 10 scorers from last season but will need to replace the production of departures Lleyton Roed, Kyle Looft, Eric Pohlkamp and Carter Jones.
• Graduate Eric Martin returns for his fifth season with the Beavers and is BSU's top scoring returnee after he posted a career-high 26 points off eight goals and 18 assists.
• Also returning for his fifth-year, graduate Jackson Jutting eyes a big season for the Beavers after posting 22 points (10g-12) in 27 games last year.
• Jutting was voted the team's captain by his peers during the summer and will dawn the "C" while Martin, Austin Jouppi and Jere Vaisanen will each serve as alternates.
• Bemidji State's top returning goal scorer is Jutting while junior Adam Flammang and Vaisanen follow with nine.
• The Beavers return 71 goals from last year which is 61-percent of the teams goals (117).
• Carter Randklev, A.J. Macauly and Reilly Funk join the Beavers with past collegiate experience after Randklev played four seasons at Niagara, Macauly played two seasons at Alaska-Fairbanks and Funk played three seasons at Northern Michigan.
• Randklev is the most experienced of the group appearing in 110 career games and posted 68 career points (33g-35) in four seasons with the Purple Eagles.
• Martin is the most experience Beaver in terms of games played and has appeared in 128 career games totaling 65 points off 17 goals and 48 assists.
• The Beavers boast their experience this season and have four graduates, five seniors, and seven juniors on the squad.
• The Beavers were picked to finish second in the CCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll while senior goaltender Mattias Sholl was the unanimous CCHA Preseason Goaltender of the Year.
• Serratore is in his 24th season at the helm of the Bemidji State Men's Hockey program. He is 392-365-99 (.516) in his coaching career.
• 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.
• The 2024-25 Beaver roster consists of 28 student-athletes with four graduates, five seniors, seven juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen.
• The team consists of 9 Minnesotans, 25 from North America including nine Canadians and three from Europe.
• By average, the Beavers are one of the smallest in Division I. They are tied for third in DI for the smallest by height averaging 5'11.6" and the smallest by weight averaging 178.9 pounds.

For more information on the Bemidji State men's hockey program, tickets or schedules, visit BSUBeavers.com, follow the Beavers on Twitter or Instagram (@BSUBeaversMHKY), or like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers).
 
Located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men's hockey in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and women's hockey in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
 
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