Jan. 12—BEMIDJI — Reilly Funk doesn’t need a reminder as to how the second half of the 2024-25 season went.
The Bemidji State men’s hockey fifth-year senior forward was part of the slide the Beavers took from the top to the bottom in the CCHA standings a year ago.
On Dec. 7, 2024, BSU lost 4-3 on the road against Lake Superior State. It tied and lost the following weekend’s games against Michigan Tech at the Sanford Center before the holiday break commenced.
Returning from the Christmas festivities, the Beavers dropped a New Year’s Eve tilt against Minnesota Duluth. They went winless in their next four CCHA games at the start of January, including a home sweep against Northern Michigan, which finished last in the league and missed the Mason Cup Playoffs.
After falling in the series opener against St. Thomas on Jan. 25 last year, BSU snapped its nine-game winless streak the following night. However, it extended its home winless streak to seven games when it was swept by Ferris State the following weekend.
Ultimately, Bemidji State found a way out of its extended rut and gave itself a chance to play for an NCAA Tournament berth for the second consecutive season. But the path to get there wasn’t ideal, nor was squandering any chance of being a home-ice team in the postseason.
Now, Bemidji State is under .500 for the first time since Oct. 25. It has lost five of its last six games, with a 4-4 tie and a shootout win over Augustana mixed in. The last time the Beavers won a game was Nov. 22 against Northern Michigan at the Sanford Center, emphasizing the leadership returning players bring to the table.
That’s where returners like Funk come into play.
“You always lean on those guys,” head coach Tom Serratore said after a 4-3 loss against Michigan Tech on Saturday night. “They’re the ones that control that locker room. You lean on those guys big time.”
Funk said, “You have to learn what we did to get out of it and just do that next week. We had a great run there, starting with that Augustana weekend (on Oct. 24). If we do the same things next week, we’ll be good.”
Michigan Tech handed Bemidji State its first sweep in regulation for the first time this season in league play. The Beavers dropped from third to sixth in the CCHA standings, but still have games in hand over some of the five teams ahead of them.
But the road doesn’t get any lighter, at least not for the next two weeks.
BSU hits the road to play first-place St. Thomas on Friday at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday at 6:07 p.m. at the newly-built Lee and Penny Anderson Arena. Bemidji State returns to the Sanford Center the following weekend for a home series against Bowling Green.
“We have a good group of guys in there. We have a great coaching staff that’s going to prepare us next week,” Funk said. “I like us going into next weekend and I like our group going into this week. We’re going to prepare well. It’s a good week to get better and get some points next weekend.
“We had a good start, but I don’t think I want to lean on that, if that makes any sense. You can always say that and have that in your back pocket, but you don’t want that. We want to keep running. It’s a poor weekend from that standpoint, and we just have to get back into it next week.”
It’s become somewhat cliché to say the race for the MacNaughton Cup will be right, but there’s truth to it in 2025-26. While the Beavers dropped all the way to sixth place, they’re only five points behind UST in first.
“The league’s going to get tighter,” Funk said. “These are good teams. It doesn’t get easier because teams know what we’re about and we know what teams are about. Everything’s keyed in on a little bit more. The guys who haven’t experienced six points going the other way, they got their first taste of it now, and it’s not fun. We want to have fun, we want the crowd to have fun because that’s what Beaver hockey’s all about. We’re going to do that down the stretch.”
* Reilly Funk was on both ends of the faceoff spectrum. He went 3-12 on draws on Friday night before going 18-6 on Saturday.
* Seven minor penalties in Saturday’s loss match the most BSU has taken in a game. The other was in the Oct. 18 defeat on the road against Minnesota Duluth.
* Connor McClennon is now the second BSU player to reach double-digit goals this season, joining Oliver Peer. McClennon scored twice in Friday’s 5-2 loss.
* Tory Lund has the highest shooting percentage among BSU players. He’s scored on two of the five shots on goal he’s taken this year. Jake McLean is second (5-for-13)
* Neither of Bemidji State’s regular starting goaltenders — Raythan Robbins and Max Hildebrand — owns a save percentage above .900.
* Michigan Tech’s Max Koskipirtti had two goals and an assist to each CCHA Forward of the Week.
* The road team won every game in CCHA play over the weekend.
* St. Thomas’ Lucas Van Vliet leads all CCHA rookies in points with 22 in 21 games played. Van Vliet had an assist in UST’s 4-2 road win over Minnesota State.
* St. Thomas’ Nick Williams had 13 points in his first two collegiate seasons with Michigan Tech. He has 13 points in 22 games with UST this season.
* St Thomas’ Lucas Wahlin scored his CCHA-leading 14th goal this season against Minnesota State.
* Bowling Green’s Quinn Emerson had a goal and three assists on Saturday to cap a sweep of Ferris State and is now fifth in the CCHA in points with 23 in 20 games.
* Ferris State’s Jack Mesic scored the only two goals for the Bulldogs over the weekend. He earned CCHA Defenseman of the Week.
* Bowling Green freshman Tyler Higgins had four assists to win CCHA Rookie of the Week.
* Augustana’s Josh Kotai stopped all 45 shots he faced in two games against Northern Michigan to earn CCHA Goaltender of the Week.
