Bemidji State Men’s Hockey to Face-Off with Augustana in Mason Cup Quarterfinals

BSU men’s hockey finished the regular season on a bit of a hot streak, going 4-1-1 over their final six games. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to overcome the 1-6-1 stretch they had when the calendar flipped to 2025, resulting in a seventh-place finish in the final CCHA standings.

The Beavers will now hit the road for the quarterfinal round of the Mason Cup Playoffs, a best-of-three series, versus first-year conference member and 2-seed Augustana. Bemidji State played at Augie in early November, splitting the series with a 4-3 overtime win followed by a 1-5 loss.

But the win-or-go-home reality of the postseason amplifies the moments – it’s something the Beavs are familiar with after last season’s playoff run.

“They know it’s do-or-die,” said head coach Tom Serratore. “They know how to play and the mistakes are magnified right now, but you can’t totally worry about the mistakes. But you have to understand that the risk is monumental at this particular time of the year.”

“We know what we’re in for and we’ve got our work cut out for us,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, it’s the playoffs, it’s exciting, it’s a new season, all that kind of jazz that we always talk about. And Friday can’t come quick enough.”

“They’re a good team. They play hard, they play fast, they got a good goaltender. We just got to get inside and make it difficult for them,” said sophomore forward Noah Quinn. “We just got to do the little things and keep doing what we’re doing and I like our chances.”

“It’s super exciting,” he added. “You look for these moments all year, everything builds up to this and now it’s do-or-die. But we’re excited. We’re ready to go.”

The three-game quarterfinal series will begin on Friday. The winner moves on to the semifinal round, where all four remaining teams are reseeded with the high seed hosting. The semifinals and championship are single-elimination games.

Last year, Bemidji State made it to the Mason Cup Finals before falling to Michigan Tech 2-1.