BSU Men’s Hockey Falls to UMD 4-2 in New Year’s Eve Matchup

Before the clock struck midnight on Tuesday, Bemidji State men’s hockey hosted rival Minnesota Duluth for a New Year’s Eve face-off.

It was 2-2 in the second, but Duluth was able to break the tie in the third, and Bemidji State fell to Minnesota Duluth 4-2. Despite the outcome, however, the Beavers were generally pleased with their play as they shook the rust off after the 17-day break.

“First period, I thought, you know, they won the period, but they – territorially, they won. They had more juice than us the first,” said head coach Tom Serratore after the game. “But I was proud of our guys the second and third. I thought we played good hockey and had no issues. We got better as the game progressed. Sometimes you’re not going to get the result you want on the scoreboard, but you might get the results you want on the ice.”

“I think we have one of the hardest non-conference schedules there is,” said forward and assistant captain Austin Jouppi. “I mean, we play a lot of really good teams, and I think that makes us better as a team, too. So just kind of learning from that throughout the years and building off that and every year is a new team. So we just continue to get better, and then I think I’m really excited. I know the boys are really excited to get to going here down the stretch and string together some wins and fight for home ice and hopefully win the conference still, too.”

BSU still has one more game before they get back to conference play, an exhibition against Manitoba. It’ll be the last tune-up for the Beavers before seven straight CCHA series to end the regular season.