LINK TO MEN'S ACHA POLL
ALBERT LEA, Minn. – The race for another ACHA Championship begins in Minnesota this weekend with the top-ranked Minot State men's hockey team going for a repeat MCH title, first.
The first stop on the Beavers' postseason road, Minot State (25-1-1 overall) plays a semifinal match-up in the MCH Tournament with the McKendree Bearcats on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Bearcats upended MCH Tournament host Waldorf, 4-0, in Friday night's quarterfinals.
The meeting is the first between the Beavers and Bearcats in men's hockey, though the two schools have played many times in women's hockey. At stake in this first meeting is a berth in Sunday's MCH title game at 1 p.m. against the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between Jamestown and Mary.
The postseason opener for the Beavers, Minot State finds itself on an 11-game win streak dating back to December of the last calendar year.
During that run, the Beavers leapt to No. 1 in the national poll, where they remained this week ahead of Niagara (N.Y.), which moved up one spot to No. 2. No. 3 was Ohio, which slipped one spot, then came UNLV at No. 4 and Drury (Mo.) at No. 5. Jamestown sits at No. 7 and Mary at No. 11.
Balance has been key for the Beavers this season as junior
Colby Joseph leads the way with 22 goals and 16 assists, while senior
Joey Moffatt has 16 goals and 17 assists, and senior
Jay Buchholz added 15 goals and 12 assists. Junior defenseman
Matthew Yakubowski has also contributed 4 goals and a team-high 24 assists for Minot State.
In goal, sophomore
William Dyke has led the way with 19 wins, 4 shutouts, a 1.58 goals against average, and a 93.8 save percentage, remarkably the exact same save percentage as freshman teammate
Blake Sittler, who has 6 wins in 6 starts with 1 shutout and a 1.35 GAA.
McKendree is led by sophomore Jacob Begich and freshman Tanner Bettis, who have been the primary goal-scorers for the Bearcats with 17 and 13 goals respectively, while senior teammates Matias Alexandrov (8 goals, 14 assists), Cade Rosansky (5 goals, 16 assists), and Joe McCormick (5 goals, 15 assists) have also been consistent contributors.
Friday, in the 4-0 win over Waldorf, though, Jonathan Davenport, Connor MacDonald, Trey Erramouspe, and Sawyer Lownsdale each scored for McKendree.
Dylan Dallaire got the nod in goal to start the postseason and turned aside 32 shots in the shutout victory that powered the Bearcats into the semifinals, giving him 5 wins on the season.
