BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Bemidji State University Men's Hockey team returns to Central Collegiate Hockey Association action with a road trip to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., this weekend to face Lake Superior State University at Taffy Abel Arena.
 
The Beavers (7-6-2, 4-3-1 CCHA) and Lakers (7-6-1, 5-1-0 CCHA) face-off for a two-game, CCHA series beginning Friday, December 6 and ending Saturday. Puck drop for game one is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. CT Friday and 5:07 p.m. Saturday.
 
Each game will be exclusively streamed online at MidCo Sports Plus with LSSU Athletics providing play-by-play. Beaver Hockey fans can  tune-in to a Beaver Radio Network broadcast with Brian Schultz providing play-by-play for both games on the radio dial at 92.1 FM or online at www.beaverradionetwork.
 
Bemidji State Notes

• The Beavers finished one of their most grueling months of the season last week and begin play in December with a road trip to the conference leading Lake Superior State Lakers.
• Bemidji State faced three nationally ranked opponents during November including home-and-home series with national powerhouses University of Minnesota and University of North Dakota.
• The Beavers went 5-3-2 during the month with key victories against Minnesota State, Augustana, Minnesota, St. Thomas and North Dakota.
• Bemidji State ended the month on a hot streak and are unbeaten in its last five games (3-0-2) and last lost Nov. 14 at No. 3 Minnesota.
• During their unbeaten streak the Beavers have held opponents to just 1.60 goals per game thanks to senior goaltender Mattias Sholl who has posted a .944 save percentage over the last five games.
• Bemidji State is coming off a 1-0-1 weekend against No. 15/14 North Dakota and upset the Fighting Hawks on home ice for the first time in program history.
• After a successful weekend the Beavers are back to receiving votes in the USAHockey/The Rink Live national poll as well continue to receive votes in the USCHO.com poll.
• The Beavers are ranked 24th in the latest USCHO.com PairWise rankings.
• Senior Mattias Sholl has been dominant in the crease leading the Beavers to five victories during the month.
• In November, Sholl posted a 5-3-2 record, 2.08 goals against average, .926 save percentage and one shutout.
• Fifth-year senior and alternate captain Eric Martin led the Beavers recording eight points off two goals and six assists during the month.
• Junior Reilly Funk paced the Beavers with five goals and added two assists for seven points. His 26 shots on goal were the most by any Beaver in November.
• The Beavers face the Lakers for the first time since ending their 2023-24 season in the CCHA Semifinal at Sanford Center.
• The all-time series is dead-locked at 41-41-6 and dates back to their time in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
• The last three games between the two teams have been hosted by the Beavers at Sanford Center with their last meeting in Sault Ste. Marie on Nov. 3-4, 2023.
• In last season's series, the Lakers got the better of the Beavers earning three victories in five meetings including two in Sault Ste. Marie.
• The Beavers haven't won in Sault Ste. Marie since Jan. 27, 2023 (three games).
• The series has been split down the middle as of late as well with each team earning five victories over the last 10 meetings.
• Mattias Sholl has posted a 4-1-0 record, .931 save percentage and 1.69 goals against average in six career starts versus the Lakers.
• Martin and senior Jere Vaisanen pace the Beavers with seven career points against LSSU while Vaisanen's five goals leads all active skaters for BSU.
• Head coach Tom Serratore is 26-22-5 coaching against Lake Superior State.
• Funk enters the weekend series riding a three-game point streak and has three points (2g-1a) over the last three games.
• He has points in six of the last eight games for the Beavers totaling five goals and two assists during that span.
• Martin has four points (1g-3a) over the last four games while freshman defenseman Isa Parekh has three points (2g-1a) over the same span.
• Martin leads the Beavers with 10 points (3g-7a) in 15 games this season while Funk (5g-4a) and junior Kirklan Irey (5g-4a) each follow with nine points.
• Parekh leads the Beavers' blueline totaling six points (3g-3a) from the back end and is tied for the Beavers' lead with two power-play goals.
• Parekh has scored three goals on eight shots and is second in the CCHA with a 0.380 shooting percentage.
• Fifth-year senior and captain Jackson Jutting leads the CCHA with 174 face-off wins. He has posted a .510 face-off winning percentage including winning 56-percent of his draws during November.
• Senior Will Magnuson continues to lead the conference in blocked shots and has 37 in 14 games. After missing the last game due to injury, Magnuson is now tied for second in the nation after previously leading the nation the past four weeks.
• Sholl has played 97-percent of the team's minutes in goal this season posting a 6-6-2 record, 2.29 goals against average and .918 save percentage.
• He is sixth all-time at BSU with 5,540:15 minutes played in goal and his 2,263 saves are seventh most in program history.
• Sholl's 43 career wins are tied for the sixth most among active goaltenders in Division I.
• Head coach Tom Serratore is approaching 400 career victories after collecting his 395th 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 395-366-101 in his 24 seasons as head coach of the Beavers and boasts a .516 career winning percentage.
• Fifth-year senior Eric Martin leads the team with 143 games played at the Division I level with fifth-year senior Jackson Jutting follows with 129. 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 95 career games played between the pipes.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 395-366-101 (.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—