2021–22 Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey season

The 2021–22 Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey season was the 66th season of play for the program. The team represented Bemidji State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the first season in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The Beavers were coached by Tom Serratore, in his 21st season, and played their home games at Sanford Center.

2021–22 Bemidji State Beavers
men's ice hockey season
Conference3rd CCHA
Home iceSanford Center
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall19–20–0
Conference14–12–0
Home11–11–0
Road8–9–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachTom Serratore
Assistant coachesTravis Winter
Mike Gibbons
Michael Fanelli
Captain(s)Ethan Somoza
Alternate captain(s)Brad Johnson
Owen Sillinger
Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey seasons
« 2020–21 2022–23 »

Season

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Bemidji State joined with six other members of the WCHA to restart the CCHA for the 2021–22 season. The Beavers began the year with a difficult string of games, going 1–3 against non-conference teams that would both make the tournament. While the losses put them near the bottom of the standings, BSU was able to stay in the polls and keep their NCAA hopes alive with a sweep of Northern Michigan. The Beaves spent November hovering around 20th in the polls but a couple of losses knocked them out for good come December.

The chief problem for Bemidji State during the first half of their season was inconsistent goaltending. Tom Serratore had used all three of his netminders at times but none performed at a high level. Eventually, the team went with freshman Mattias Sholl as the primary starter but the young goalie still was getting used to the college game.

After losing four consecutive games to ranked teams in December, Bemidji State had dropped down to .500 but, because of the poor record against good teams (2–8 against eventual tournament teams), the Beavers had very little to buoy themselves in the standings. Both the offense and defense played well for a three-game stretch, however, that ended rather abruptly; BSU went 1–8 over a month-long stretch, only once score more than 2 goals (the solitary win) and surrendering 5 goals in five separate games. The losing streak made it impossible for the Beavers to make the tournament without a conference championship and put them in jeopardy of having to play on the road in the quarterfinals. The only thing that arrested their free-fall was a date with the worst team that season, St. Thomas, who was playing its first season at the Division I level.

The uninspired play to end their year did not bode well for Bemidji State in the conference tournament. Despite their play of late, the team recovered in the postseason and the defense led them to a pair of victories over Bowling Green. The conference semifinal could hardly have gone better for the Beavers as the offense finally reappeared during the third period, potting 3 goals in 5 minutes to lead them to a stunning upset of Michigan Tech.

Bemidji State was now just one win shy of making the tournament but standing in their way was the best team in the country, Minnesota State. Despite the pressure from the Mavericks, Sholl played probably his best game of the season and held MSU off of the scoresheet for the first half of the game. The Beavers took a lead halfway through the second but lost it on a power play goal just before the end of the period. After neither team was able to score in the third, Bemidji State found themselves in the improbable position of needing just one goal to continue their year. Unfortunately, just three minutes into overtime, Minnesota State scored and ended the Beaver's run. 50 minutes later, after the Mavericks had been awarded the trophy and both teams had returned to their locker rooms, the game-winning goal was called off after additional replay angles revealed that the puck had not crossed the goal-line between the pipes but instead gone under the goal cage.[1] Bemidji State's season was given new life and, after a warm-up period for both teams, the game was resumed. Unfortunately, like a boxer on their last legs, the Beaver's comeback only lasted until the next shot. Two minutes after resuming play, the Mavericks scored their second overtime goal, this time with no controversy, and the Beavers were knocked out.

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
Zach Driscoll Goaltender   United States Transferred to North Dakota
Ethan Gauer Defenseman   United States Transferred to St. Thomas
Darby Gula Defenseman   Canada Left program (retired)
Nick Leitner Defenseman   United States Left program (retired)
Aaron Miller Forward   United States Graduation (signed with Jokipojat)
Tyler Vold Defenseman   United States Graduation (retired)

Recruiting

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Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Tony Follmer Defenseman   United States 20 O'Fallon, MO
Donte Lawson Forward   United States 20 Taconite, MN
Jakub Lewandowski Forward   Poland 19 Torun, POL
Alexander Lundman Forward   Sweden 20 Norrköping, SWE
William Magnuson Defenseman   United States 19 Chaska, MN
Mattias Sholl Goaltender   United States 20 Hermosa Beach, CA
Jere Väisänen Forward   Finland 21 Espoo, FIN

Roster

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As of September 13, 2021.[2]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1   Gavin Enright Sophomore G 6' 2" (1.88 m) 161 lb (73 kg) 1999-08-26 Farmington, Minnesota Green Bay (USHL)
2   Tony Follmer Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 2000-10-26 O'Fallon, Missouri Lincoln (USHL)
3   Jack Powell Sophomore D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 1999-09-11 Alexandria, Minnesota Aberdeen (NAHL)
4   Will Zmolek Junior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1999-04-02 Rochester, Minnesota Cedar Rapids (USHL)
5   Will Magnuson Freshman D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-10-16 Chaska, Minnesota Bismarck (NAHL)
6   Sam Solenský Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 1998-08-25 Michalovce, Slovakia Johnstown (NAHL)
7   Kyle Looft Junior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1998-06-27 Mankato, Minnesota Cedar Rapids (USHL)
8   Donte Lawson Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2000-11-03 Taconite, Minnesota Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)
9   Ethan Somoza (C) Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1996-05-17 Simi Valley, California Bloomington (USHL)
11   Eric Martin Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 154 lb (70 kg) 2000-06-05 Calgary, Alberta Drumheller (AJHL)
12   Owen Sillinger (A) Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 1997-09-23 Regina, Saskatchewan Penticton (BCHL)
13   Carter Jones Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1999-05-15 Hillyard, Washington Trail (BCHL)
14   Alex Ierullo Senior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1997-07-30 Woodbridge, Ontario Newmarket (OJHL)
15   Tyler Jubenvill Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1999-11-30 Gilbert Plains, Manitoba Cedar Rapids (USHL)
16   Jere Väisänen Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 2000-07-10 Espoo, Finland Amarillo (NAHL)
17   Ross Armour Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 1998-02-07 Trail, British Columbia Trail (BCHL)
18   Brad Johnson (A) Senior D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 1996-01-23 Chesterfield, Missouri Fargo (USHL)
19   Brad Belisle Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1998-01-26 Thunder Bay, Ontario Aberdeen (NAHL)
20   Lukas Sillinger Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2000-09-14 Regina, Saskatchewan Penticton (BCHL)
21   Alexander Lundman Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 2001-06-17 Norrköping, Sweden HV71 J20 (J20 Nationell)
22   Austin Jouppi Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2000-04-18 Duluth, Minnesota Bismarck (NAHL)
23   Aaron Myers Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 1999-09-28 Thief River Falls, Minnesota Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)
25   Alex Adams Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 191 lb (87 kg) 1997-12-30 Grand Rapids, Minnesota Minot (NAHL)
26   Nick Cardelli Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 171 lb (78 kg) 1997-06-06 Wood Dale, Illinois Youngstown (USHL)
27   Tyler Kirkup Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1998-04-03 Virden, Manitoba Virden (MJHL)
28   Elias Rosén Junior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 1999-01-04 Mora, Sweden Tri-City (USHL)
29   Jakub Lewandowski Freshman F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 201 lb (91 kg) 2001-10-25 Toruń, Poland Vítkovice U20 (Extraliga juniorů)
30   Mattias Sholl Freshman G 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2000-09-30 Hermosa Beach, California Youngstown (USHL)
35   Michael Carr Junior G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 179 lb (81 kg) 1998-06-08 Columbus, Ohio Cornwall (CCHL)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#2 Minnesota State †* 26 23 3 0 2 0 0 67 115 28 44 38 6 0 178 60
#14 Michigan Tech 26 16 8 2 2 4 0 54 93 53 37 21 13 3 118 75
Bemidji State 26 14 12 0 1 1 0 42 83 81 39 19 20 0 118 121
Lake Superior State 26 13 13 0 1 1 0 39 69 64 37 18 18 1 107 104
Northern Michigan 26 12 13 1 3 0 1 35 86 99 37 20 16 1 132 136
Bowling Green 26 11 14 1 2 1 0 33 67 87 37 15 19 3 94 119
Ferris State 26 9 16 1 2 2 0 28 66 99 36 11 24 1 90 135
St. Thomas 26 3 22 1 0 4 0 14 45 112 36 3 32 1 61 168
Championship: March 19, 2022
† indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Mason Cup)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Exhibition
October 2 6:07 PM at #8 North Dakota* #14 Ralph Engelstad ArenaGrand Forks, North Dakota (Exhibition)     L 1–2  11,812
Regular Season
October 8 7:07 PM #5 Minnesota Duluth* #15 Sanford CenterBemidji, Minnesota   Carr L 2–4  3,436 0–1–0
October 9 7:07 PM at #5 Minnesota Duluth* #15 AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota My9 Enright L 1–2  5,374 0–2–0
October 15 7:07 PM #7 North Dakota* #20 Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Enright L 3–4  4,242 0–3–0
October 16 6:07 PM at #7 North Dakota* #20 Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota   Carr W 4–3 OT 11,314 1–3–0
October 22 5:37 PM at Northern Michigan #19 Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   Sholl W 5–4  2,684 2–3–0
October 23 5:37 PM at Northern Michigan #19 Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan   Sholl W 4–3  2,975 3–3–0
October 29 7:07 PM Bowling Green #17 Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl L 2–3  2,402 3–4–0 (0–1–0)
October 30 6:07 PM Bowling Green #17 Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Enright W 2–1  2,304 4–4–0 (1–1–0)
November 12 6:07 PM at Lake Superior State Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan   Enright W 4–2  1,273 5–4–0 (2–1–0)
November 13 5:07 PM at Lake Superior State Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan   Enright W 5–4  0 6–4–0 (3–1–0)
November 19 7:07 PM Michigan Tech #20 Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Enright L 3–4  2,278 6–5–0 (3–2–0)
November 20 6:07 PM Michigan Tech #20 Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl W 4–3  2,142 7–5–0 (4–2–0)
November 24 8:00 PM at Arizona State* #20 Oceanside Ice ArenaTempe, Arizona   Sholl W 4–3  861 8–5–0
November 26 8:00 PM at Arizona State* #20 Oceanside Ice Arena • Tempe, Arizona   Enright L 4–6  0 8–6–0
December 3 7:07 PM at St. Thomas St. Thomas Ice ArenaMendota Heights, Minnesota   Enright W 5–2  664 9–6–0 (5–2–0)
December 4 7:07 PM at St. Thomas St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota   Sholl W 6–1  567 10–6–0 (6–2–0)
December 10 7:07 PM #1 Minnesota State Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl L 1–5  2,941 10–7–0 (6–3–0)
December 11 6:07 PM #1 Minnesota State Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl L 1–3  3,212 10–8–0 (6–4–0)
December 31 6:07 PM #7 St. Cloud State* Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl L 1–4  3,433 10–9–0
January 1 6:07 PM at #7 St. Cloud State* Herb Brooks National Hockey CenterSt. Cloud, Minnesota Fox9+ Enright L 2–5  4,634 10–10–0
January 7 7:07 PM Lake Superior State Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl W 5–1  2,165 11–10–0 (7–4–0)
January 8 6:07 PM Lake Superior State Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl W 5–1  2,609 12–10–0 (8–4–0)
January 14 6:07 PM at Bowling Green Slater Family Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio   Sholl W 5–3  3,686 13–10–0 (9–4–0)
January 15 6:07 PM at Bowling Green Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio   Sholl L 2–3 OT 2,465 13–11–0 (9–5–0)
January 21 7:07 PM Ferris State Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl L 1–2  2,446 13–12–0 (9–6–0)
January 22 6:07 PM Ferris State Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl L 2–5  2,681 13–13–0 (9–7–0)
January 28 6:07 PM at #18 Michigan Tech MacInnes Student Ice ArenaHoughton, Michigan   Sholl L 2–5  2,043 13–14–0 (9–8–0)
January 29 5:07 PM at #18 Michigan Tech MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan   Sholl L 2–5  2,333 13–15–0 (9–9–0)
February 4 7:07 PM Northern Michigan Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl L 1–2  2,557 13–16–0 (9–10–0)
February 5 6:07 PM Northern Michigan Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Enright W 5–3  2,120 14–16–0 (10–10–0)
February 18 7:07 PM at #1 Minnesota State Mayo Clinic Health System Event CenterMankato, Minnesota CCMk–14 Enright L 1–5  5,058 14–17–0 (10–11–0)
February 19 6:07 PM at #1 Minnesota State Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota CCMk–14 Sholl L 1–5  5,130 14–18–0 (10–12–0)
February 25 7:07 PM St. Thomas Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl W 5–3  2,275 15–18–0 (11–12–0)
February 26 6:07 PM St. Thomas Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota   Sholl W 4–3 OT 2,112 16–18–0 (12–12–0)
CCHA Tournament
March 4 7:07 PM Bowling Green* Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota (Quarterfinal game 1)   Sholl L 1–2  1,422 16–19–0
March 5 6:07 PM Bowling Green* Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota (Quarterfinal game 2)   Sholl W 4–2  1,601 17–19–0
March 6 5:07 PM Bowling Green* Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota (Quarterfinal game 3)   Sholl W 3–1  1,512 18–19–0
Bemidji State Won Series 2–1
March 12 5:07 PM at #13 Michigan Tech* MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, MI (Semifinal)   Sholl W 5–2  2,634 19–19–0
March 19 6:07 PM at #1 Minnesota State* Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota (Championship)   Sholl L 1–2 OT 5,126 19–20–0
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time.
Source:[3]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Owen Sillinger C 39 17 30 47 41
Alex Ierullo LW 39 16 26 42 28
Lukas Sillinger F 37 17 21 38 54
Elias Rosén D 38 7 19 26 18
Ethan Somoza LW 38 10 12 22 8
Eric Martin F 39 3 16 19 8
Tyler Kirkup C/LW 39 12 6 18 39
Ross Armour F 34 8 8 16 18
Will Zmolek D 38 5 10 15 26
Jere Väisänen F 37 6 2 8 8
Alex Adams F 36 4 4 8 6
Kyle Looft D 39 3 5 8 46
Bradley Johnson D 39 2 6 8 53
Aaron Myers F 21 1 4 5 2
William Magnuson D 34 0 5 5 4
Sam Solenský C/RW 29 3 1 4 6
Jakub Lewandowski F 18 2 2 4 6
Austin Jouppi F 25 1 2 3 8
Tyler Jubenvill D 39 1 2 3 31
Donte Lawson F 6 0 1 1 0
Carter Jones F 15 0 1 1 0
Mattias Sholl G 26 0 0 0 0
Jack Powell D 3 0 0 0 0
Mike Carr G 4 0 0 0 0
Alexander Lundman LW/RW 12 0 0 0 2
Gavin Enright G 13 0 0 0 0
Nicholas Cardelli RW 14 0 0 0 10
Tony Follmer D 26 0 0 0 4
Bench - - - - - 4
Total 118 184 302 428

[4]

Goaltending statistics

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Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Mattias Sholl 26 1463 13 13 0 67 629 0 .904 2.75
Gavin Enright 14 712 5 6 0 40 320 0 .889 3.37
Mike Carr 4 149 1 1 0 10 66 0 .868 4.01
Empty Net - 23 - - - 4 - - - -
Total 39 2348 19 20 0 121 1015 0 .893 3.09

Rankings

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Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Final)
USCHO.com 14 15 20 19 17 20 NR 20 20 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR
USA Today 15 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.[5]

Awards and honors

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Player Award Ref
Elias Rosén CCHA First Team [6]
Owen Sillinger CCHA Second Team [7]
Mattias Sholl CCHA Rookie Team [8]

References

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  1. ^ "College hockey is just as mad in March". Dead Spin. March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  2. ^ "2020–21 Roster". Bemidji State University. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  3. ^ "Bemidji State 2021-22 Team Schedule". College Hockey Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  4. ^ "Bemidji State Univ. 2021-2022 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  5. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  6. ^ "Six players earn All-CCHA First Team honors". CCHA. March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  7. ^ "Six players earn All-CCHA First Team honors". CCHA. March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  8. ^ "Six teams represented on CCHA All-Rookie Team". CCHA. March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.