BEMIDJI, Minn. – 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.
 
Each game will be exclusively streamed online at MidCo Sports plus with the Beaver Radio Network providing play-by-play. 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 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.
• 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 139 games played at the Division I level with fifth-year senior Jackson Jutting follows with 125. 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 91 career games played between the pipes. He is seventh in college hockey with 42 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 393-366-99 (.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).
 
--bsu—