MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – After patiently waiting nearly three weeks, the return to action is finally here.

The No. 1-ranked Minot State men's hockey team hits the ice Friday night, beginning its pursuit of a 4^th ACHA National Championship, playing a second-round game at 8 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined.

The Beavers (27-1-1-1 overall) face the winner of today's late-night, opening-round match-up between the No. 17 Missouri State Bears (15-8-2-3) and the No. 16 Purdue University Northwest Pride (15-15-0-2), who face off at 8:45 p.m.

The Beavers have definitely been patient after seeing the 2024-25 season end in the national semifinals last March, then returning to the ice in late September and early October with exhibitions against Regina and Briercrest.

After those tune-ups, Minot State built momentum with win after win sandwiched around an overtime loss to Jamestown in October, its lone loss in regulation, to Mary in November, and a shootout loss at Jamestown prior to the Christmas break.

Since then, the Beavers have been unbeatable, climbing to the No. 1 spot in the ACHA Division I national poll and winning 13 in a row. A run that includes 4 shutout victories, along with claiming a second straight MCH Tournament title last month.

That 3-1 victory in the MCH Championship Game on February 22 was the last time the Beavers took the ice competitively, meaning Minot State might be a little rusty in its opener Friday against either the Bears or the Pride, who get to shake the rust of their games tonight.

But Minot State has a good history against both teams, beating Missouri State 5-3 at the Maysa Arena in October of 2023, pulling away with a pair of third-period goals for the win that night.

And the Beavers saw the Pride to open the ACHA National Tournament last spring in a game made memorable by a tornado warning that halted action after the first period with Minot State leading 1-0. Returning to the ice the next day, the Beavers scored a 4-1 win in the two-day contest.

The trio of forwards Jay Buchholz, Joey Moffatt, and Colby Joseph led the way offensively this season for Minot State, with the Beavers also getting strong goaltending from sophomore William Dyke and freshman Blake Sittler.

Dyke has been the primary starter and racked up 20 wins, 4 shutouts, and a 1.56 goals against average for the Beavers, while Sittler has been stellar in a less active role, winning all 7 of his collegiate starts with 1 shutout and 1.44 GAA.

Making things easier on both goalies has been the play of a prolific Beaver attack, which outscored opponents 129-46 this season.

Joseph, a junior, leads the way with a team-high 23 goals and 16 assists, while seniors Buchholz and Moffatt have added 18 goals and 14 assists, and 16 goals and 19 assists, respectively.

But they get plenty of support as senior forward Sheldin Howard has 10 goals and 8 assists, junior defenseman Matthew Yakubowski has 6 goals and a team-high 25 assists, and senior defenseman Christian Kadolph has 3 goals and 23 assists.

As for Friday night's potential foes, the Bears return to nationals after missing the tournament last spring, snapping a run of five straight berths.

Missouri State is led by five prolific scorers in Hunter Bulger (22 goals, 23 assists), Duke Boccardi (10 goals, 34 assists), Justin Rapp (15 goals, 21 assists), Henry Vest (10 goals, 12 assists), and Coby Weber (14 goals, 7 assists). After that group, no player has more than 4 goals for the Bears.

In goal, Missouri State has split time equally between Brady Govero, who has 7 wins and a 3.12 GAA, and Artur Dzhilavyan, who has 5 wins and a 3.23 GAA.

As for the Pride, they are making a 3^rd straight trip to nationals and are led by some familiar faces to the Beavers in goalie Cooper Olson, who had 35 saves in last year's "tornado warning" game, and Chase Solberg, who scored Purdue University Northwest's lone goal in that previous meeting.

Olson has 5 wins, 3 shutouts, and a 2.16 GAA this season for the Pride as he shares time in net with Calen Kril, who has 7 wins, 1 shutout, and a 2.57 GAA.

Solberg is one of the team's offensive leaders with 9 goals and 10 assists, while Kolin Leduc has a team-best 14 goals and 13 assists, Brock Behrend has 11 goals and 13 assists, Carson Finney and Brodie McIntyre each have 8 goals and share the team lead with 15 assists, and Michael Clough has 8 goals and 9 assists.

The winner of Friday night's game advances to the quarterfinals on Sunday at 8 p.m. The semifinals are set for Monday with games at 4:45 p.m. and 8 p.m., and the national championship game is scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m.