LINK TO MEN'S POLL

LINK TO WOMEN'S POLL

MINOT, N.D. – The Minot State men's hockey team remained the No. 1 team in the ACHA Division I men's poll this week, while the Minot State women, unbeaten in their last six contests, climbed to No. 4 in the ACHA Division I women's poll.

Both Beaver teams hit the ice this weekend, hosting rival Midland, with the Beaver women (12-6-6 overall, 8-6-2 WMCH) battling the No. 2-ranked Warriors on Friday and Saturday at the Maysa Arena, with puck-drop at 3:45 p.m. both days. The No. 1 Minot State men (19-1-1-1 overall, 9-1-1-1 MCH) wrap up the weekend with a Sunday matinee at the Maysa Arena, hosting No. 18 Midland at 2 p.m.

The top 3 in the men's poll remained unchanged with Minot State No. 1, Ohio No. 2, and UNLV at No.3, while Niagara (N.Y.) and Drury (Mo.) switched places as the Niagara Purple Eagles moved up to No.4 and the Drury Panthers slipped to No. 5.

Minot State's in-state rivals Jamestown and Mary remained at No. 7 and No. 11, respectively, in this week's poll.

In the women's poll, home sweeps of Jamestown and Indiana Tech, then a road win at Lindenwood and a shootout win at then-No. 4 McKendree helped the Beavers leapfrog the Bearcats, while the rest of the top 5 remained unchanged.

Liberty (Va.) remained No. 1, followed by No. 2 Midland (Neb.), and Maryville (Mo.) was No. 3. Minot State was No. 4, and McKendree (Ill.) was No. 5.
Minot State's in-state rival, Jamestown, checked in at No. 10 this week.

The 4^th-ranked Beaver women renew a closely contested rivalry with Midland this weekend, with the teams already having squared off four times this season. Both contests here in Minot went to overtime. The Beavers and Warriors tied 2-2, with Midland prevailing in a shootout, then Minot State lost 2-1 in overtime.

The Beavers are 1-2-1 against the Warriors (22-3-2 overall, 18-3-2 WMCH) this season. The lone Minot State win, though, was a 3-0 shutout of Midland in Nebraska.

It's been that close between these two, though, with the teams playing scoreless through 60 minutes of action at the national tournament last March before a lone goal by the Warriors gave them a 1-0 win that ended the Beavers' run in the tournament.

Midland's offense has been explosive, led by senior Callie Maguire with 19 goals and 18 assists, while freshman Victoria Campbell has 17 goals and 15 assists, freshman Ashlyn Kuffler has 14 goals and 11 assists, senior Taylor Bell has 13 goals and 13 assists, and senior Darbi Polle has 11 goals and 10 assists.

While the Warriors have used all three of their goalies fairly equally, junior Meghan Stewart has led the way with 10 wins and 7 shutouts this season.

Conversely, the Beavers' formula for success has been timely offense and stingy defense as graduate student Journey Miller leads the team with 11 goals and 4 assists, which includes 7 goals in her last 3 games. Seniors Abby Tallman and Krissy Rink help out the balanced offense with 6 goals each, with Tallman adding 7 assists and Rink 5 helpers.

Meanwhile, the defense is led by sophomore All-American goalie Jillian Ackerman, who has 8 wins, 5 shutouts, and a stellar 1.57 goals against average.

Once the ladies wrap up their weekend, the men's Beaver versus Warrior battle takes place Sunday afternoon, their fifth meeting this season and third in 17 days. Minot State has won all four previous meetings this season, but all four have been close games. Minot State won 4-2 and 4-3 in overtime in Nebraska in October, and earlier this month netted 5-2 and 4-1 wins at the Masya Arena, moving to 37-0-1 all-time against the Warriors.

Karl Grafelman and Thomas Babb have led the way offensively as Grafelman has 12 goals and 8 assists this season for Midland, including a pair of goals against the Beavers, while Babb has 7 goals and 15 assists. Babb has scored in 3 of the 4 games against Minot State.

Liam Tereposky has played the majority of games in goal for Midland, starting 19 games and picking up 6 wins, but lost both contests in October against the Beavers, while Elijah Marchese took both setbacks earlier this month.

As for the Beavers, against Midland, they've been led by freshman goalie Blake Sittler, who is a perfect 5-0 in five starts in his collegiate career, with three of those wins against the Warriors.

Offensively, he gets plenty of help from junior Colby Joseph, with 14 goals and 11 assists, senior Joey Moffatt, with 11 points and 10 assists, and senior Jay Buchholz, with 10 goals and 9 assists.