BEMIDJI, Minn. – The 2024-25 Central Collegiate Hockey Association Mason Cup Playoffs get underway this weekend and the seventh-seed Bemidji State University Beavers travel to face second-seed Augustana University Vikings at Midco Arena in Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
The Beavers (13-16-5, 10-12-4 CCHA) travel to face the Vikings (17-11-4, 9-5-2 CCHA) for the best-of-three quarterfinal round of the Mason Cup Playoffs beginning with game on Friday, Mar. 7 at 7:07 p.m. Game two will follow Saturday at 6:07 p.m., and the teams will play a deciding game three Sunday at 5:07 p.m., if needed.
 
Each game will be exclusively streamed online at MidCo Sports Plus with Vikings Athletics providing play-by-play. Beaver Hockey fans can also tune-in to a Beaver Radio Network broadcast on the radio dial at 92.1 FM or online at www.beaverradionetwork with Brian Schultz on the call.
 
Bemidji State Notes

• Bemidji State finished seventh in the CCHA standings going 10-12-4 in conference play and accumulating 36 league points.
• The Vikings finished second in the standings going 9-5-2 in league play and compiled a .625 conference winning percentage.
• Bemidji State has never entered a postseason tournament as the seventh seed in its 26 seasons as a Division I Men's Hockey institution.
• The Beavers went 4-1-1 over their final six games to end the regular season.
• BSU hits the road to Sioux Falls, S.D., for the second time this season after the two teams met Nov. 8-9 for a regulars season series.
• Bemidji State has fared better on the road this season with a .472 winning percentage on the road (7-8-3).
• BSU is 3-1-1 over its last five road games.
• Bemidji State is averaging 3.00 goals per game (54) when on the road compared to just a 1.94 goals per game average at home.
• The Beavers finished the regular season at No. 17/14 Minnesota State earning two points against the MacNaughton Cup champion Mavericks with a shootout victory in game one.
• Senior goaltender Mattias Sholl stopped 50-of-54 shots in the series for a .926 save percentage including 32-of-33 in game one.
• The Beavers' defense totaled 40 blocks in the series and averaged seven more blocks than their season average of 13.76, a mark that is second best in the CCHA.
• Head coach Tom Serratore earned career victory No. 400 on Feb. 21 becoming the 41st head coach in DI Men's Hockey history to reach the milestone.
• He ranks 12th among active coaches in DI Men's Hockey with 401 career victories.
• Augustana hosts its first-ever home playoff series and are coming off a bye weekend to end the regular season.
• The Vikings last played Feb. 21-22 hosting Alaska Fairbanks and were swept by the Nanooks in nonconference action.
• Augie last played a CCHA series Feb. 14-15 against Michigan Tech at Midco Arena.
• The two teams have met just four times since Vikings debuted their men's hockey program prior to the start of the 2023-24 season.
• The series is tied 2-2 while Augustana holds a slight advantage in the all-time score outscoring the Beavers 13-12.
• Fifth-year senior Eric Martin leads the Beavers recording five points (1g-4a) in four games against the Vikings while Jere Vaisanen, Jackson Jutting and Vince Corcoran each follow with three.
• The Beavers' first win at Midco Arena came on Nov. 8 this season when Corcoran scored the game-winning, overtime goal in a 4-3 victory.
• Sholl is the only netminder to see action against the Vikings and is 2-2-0 with a 2.78 goals against average, .864 save percentage and one shutout.
• Head coach Tom Serratore is 2-2-0 against the newly formed Vikings.
• Kirklan Irey lead the Beavers and is tied for 12th in the CCHA with a career-high 23 points (10g-13a).
• Eric Martin is close behind with 22 points off 10 goals and 12 assists. His 10 goals this season are a career-high and is the second consecutive season reaching the 20-point mark.
• Junior Reilly Funk has recorded six goals and 15 assists in his first season with the Beavers for third on the team after transferring from Northern Michigan.
• Jutting leads the Beavers with 12 goals, a career best for the Colorado College transfer.
• Jutting has found his scoring touch as of late and has scored in four of the last five games.
• Freshman Isa Parekh and Funk are tied for the team lead with 15 assists.
• Parekh is tied for fifth among all CCHA freshmen with 18 points (3g-15a) and is tied for sixth among all first-year defensemen across Division I.
• Junior Adam Flammang has six points (1g-5a) over the last six games.
• Sophomore Noah Quinn has four goals over the last six games and has a career high six points (5g-1a) after consistently making the lineup in the second half of the season.
• Fifth-year senior and captain Jackson Jutting leads the CCHA and is tied for third in the nation with 799 faceoffs taken he has taken 104 more face-offs than second.
• His 406 faceoffs won is seventh-most in the nation and he boasts a 50.8 percent win rate.
• Jutting and Kasper Magnussen lead the Beavers with six power-play goals, tied for the third most in the CCHA.
• The Beavers' power play has been red-hot to end the regular season scoring a power-play goal in five of the last six games including three on Feb. 8.
• The Beavers' power play ranks third in the CCHA with a power-play percentage of .245 (23-of-94) despite the second fewest power-play opportunities in the league.
• BSU's power-play percentage also ranks 12th in the nation.
• Bemidji State's penalty kill is seventh in the league with a penalty-kill percentage of .742 (66-of-89).
• The unit has improved over the last few games of the season and have successfully killed off nine of the last 11 opponent power plays (.818).
• BSU has been called for a CCHA low 102 penalties this season and their 89 opponent power plays leads the CCHA and is the 10th fewest in Division I.
• Senior defenseman Will Magnuson leads the CCHA with 76 blocked shots despite missing three games due to injury. He ranks fifth in the nation.
• Bemidji State is second in the CCHA with 468 blocked shots.
• Senior goaltender Mattias Sholl has started 33 of the team's 34 games between the pipes and has played in 93.5-percent of the team's minutes.
• Sholl is 12-15-5 on the season with a 2.79 goals against average and .896 save percentage.
• Sholl is climbing Bemidji State's goaltending record books and in the Beavers DI era, he is second in BSU's DI era with 50 career wins and third with 2,667 career saves.
• He trails Grady Hunt (2000-04) by 49 saves for second most in the Beavers DI history and has the fifth most saves among active goaltenders in Division I.
• Fifth-year senior Eric Martin has 87 career points during his time with the Beavers. He is the 21st Beaver in their DI era to surpass 80 career points.
• Martin is tied with Jeff McGill (1999-03) for 18th on BSU's DI career scoring list with 87 career points and his 60 assists are tied for 10th most (Alex Ierullo - 2018-22).
• Martin has played in 161 career games for the Beavers, third most in program history.
• Serratore is 401-376-104 in his 24 seasons as head coach of the Beavers and boasts a .514 career winning percentage. He is the 10th most tenured coach among active coaches in Division I Men's Hockey.
• 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.
• Jackson 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.
• The Beavers boast their experience this season and have three 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.
• The 2024-25 Beaver roster consists of 27 student-athletes with three graduates, five seniors, seven juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen.
• The team consists of 8 Minnesotans, 24 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 X or Instagram or like them on Facebook.
 
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).