Game Notes

For Starters                                                                                                                                                                                  

• No. 20 Lake Superior State (13-5-3, 7-4-0 WCHA) will travel to Bemidji, Minn. to take on the No. 17 Bemidji State Beavers in a pair of Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) games in a rare mid-week series. The series, which will take place at the Sanford Center, will open at 7:07 p.m. EST on Tuesday, March 2 and conclude on Wednesday, March 3 at 5:07 p.m. EST.
• The WCHA series was previously scheduled to be played on Jan. 29-30 in Bemidji, Minn. but was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols going into effect within the Laker hockey program. 
• The Lakers have won six of the last seven games, with the team most recently posting a 4-2 win at Ferris State on Friday, Feb. 26.
• For the sixth time this season, the Lakers are nationally ranked as LSSU holds the No. 20 spot in the USCHO poll. For the 14th straight week, the Lakers have received votes in at least one of the two national polls (USCHO and the USA Today). Previously this season, the Lakers have been ranked four times in the USCHO National Poll (No. 20, No. 19, No. 18), marking the first national ranking for the program since the 2018-19 season.
• The Lakers returned for the program's 55th season in 2020-21 following a seventh place finish in the WCHA standings during the 2019-20 season as the team posted a 14-23-4 overall record and an 11-14-4 record in conference play. LSSU qualified for the WCHA postseason for the second consecutive season and would fall to the second seeded Bemidji State in the first round of the playoffs.
• Lakers Head Coach Damon Whitten begins his seventh season behind the bench in Sault Ste. Marie in 2020-21. Whitten has led the team to a 93-131-27 record, and playoff appearances in all but one season. 
• The Lake Superior State hockey program is approaching 1,000 all-time wins as the team earned its 995th all-time win in the game against the Bulldogs on Friday night. 

In the Last Week....                                                                                                                     

• In last Tuesday's game against the Michigan Tech Huskies, Veillette scored the lone goal of the game for the Lakers. The goal, which was assisted by Jack Jeffers and Boudon, marked the 50th point of Veillette's collegiate career. 
• Mitens finished the game with 32 saves on 36 shots as the senior goaltender gave up more than two goals for only the third time this season.
• The Lakers played a single WCHA game against the Ferris State Bulldogs on Friday, Feb. 26 and posted a 4-2 win on the road. 
• Benito Posa tied the game at one for the Lakers with his third goal of the season after being setup by Jacob Bengtsson and Alex Ambrosio in the first period.
• Senior forward Yuki Miura, the NCAA's top shot-blocking forward, scored an unassisted goal at 15:42 of the second period to give the Lakers the lead over the Bulldogs. Miura's career-best fourth goal was unassisted after the senior forward capitalized on a turnover by the Ferris goaltender.
• Less than a minute later, the Lakers would take a 3-1 lead when Posa scored his second goal of the game, marking his first collegiate multi-point game. Chase Gamelin and Mitchell Oliver would notch the assists on the eventual game winner, which was Posa's first game winner in his Laker career.
• With the assist, Gamelin now has set a new career high in points with four (1G, 3A). 
• The Lakers victory was clinched when Pete Veillette forced a turnover in the neutral zone in the final minute of play to score an empty net goal at 19:13 of the third period. Veillette's ninth goal of the season ties him with Ashton Calder for the team lead. 
• Mitens finished the game with 23 saves on 25 shots to secure his ninth win of the season and the 31st of his career, which moves him into sole possession of the 10th place spot on the all-time wins list in program history.
• This season, the Lakers power play has gone 7-for-78, totaling a 9.0% success rate while the team's penalty kill has killed off 69 of 81 power play opportunities (85.2%).

In the Polls                                                                                       

• For the sixth time this season, the Lakers are nationally ranked as LSSU holds the No. 20 spot in the USCHO poll. For the 14th straight week, the Lakers have received votes in at least one of the two national polls (USCHO and the USA Today). Previously this season, the Lakers have been ranked four times in the USCHO National Poll (No. 20, No. 19, No. 18), marking the first national ranking for the program since the 2018-19 season.
• In the WCHA Preseason Polls,  Lake Superior State was picked to finish in the sixth spot in both polls, receiving 49  total points in the 2020-21 WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll and 44 total points in the 2019-20 WCHA Preseason Media Poll.

Keys to Success                                                                                        

• With a 7-1-0 record on the road this season, the Lakers were the last Division I program with an undefeated road record this season. The Lakers dropped a 4-1 game on the road to Michigan Tech on Feb. 23 but previously posted three consecutive road wins, all against ranked teams (No. 12 Bowling Green, No. 18 Michigan Tech). 
• When the Lakers have scored the game's first goal, the team holds a 7-0-1 record this season. LSSU has posted a 6-0-1 record when leading after one period and a perfect 7-0-0 record when leading after two periods of play. 
• For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the Lakers have recorded a five game win streak (12/17/2018 - 1/11/2019, 8 wins). The win streak began with a road sweep of the then-ranked No. 12 Bowling Green Falcons. With a 2-1 win in overtime in Friday's game and a 5-2 victory on Saturday night, the Lakers earned a sweep over a ranked team for the first time since the 2013-14 season. The Lakers, the road team in that series, swept then-ranked No. 16 Union by final scores of 6-5 (OT) on Friday, Oct. 18 and 3-2 on Saturday, Oct. 19.
• With a .690 win percentage this season, the Lakers rank third among WCHA teams in the category, trailing only Minnesota State and Bowling Green.

Balanced Attack                                                                                        

• 21 Lakers have notched at least a point this season and nine players have recorded at least 10 points through the first 21 games of the season. 14 skaters have scored a goal for the Lakers this season with nine of them scoring four or more goals. 
• The Lakers 13 game winning goals this season have been scored by eight different players (Calder, Boudon, Eriksson, Jeffers, Mucha, Oliver, Posa, Riedell, Veillette). 
• Lake Superior State's skaters will return 60% of last season's goal scoring (58 of 96 total goals), 81% of last season's assist totals (142 of 176 total assists) and 74% of the total points recorded (200 of 272 total points). 
• Four of the Lakers top five goal scorers from last season are back this season (Calder, Veillette, Boudon, Eriksson), nine of the top 10 assist scorers (Boudon, Eriksson, Calder, Veillette, Riedell, Miura, Nordqvist, Kaelble, Oliver), and nine of the top 10 point getters (Calder, Boudon, Veillette, Eriksson, Riedell, Miura, Nordqvist, Kaelble, Manz). 
• LSSU had five players among the top 33 scorers in the WCHA last season, with all but one returning to the lineup this season. 
• Last season the Lakers had nine players record 10 or more points with eight of those skaters returning this season. Five players registered at least 24 points and four of them are returning members of the 2020-21 squad. 
• Nine different players netted the game winning goal for the Lakers in 2019-20 - with six of those players returning to the lineup this year. 

Anchored Down                    

• The Lakers return a strong back end presence with five defensemen who played 30 or more games last season as well as the team's starting goaltender, Mareks Mitens.
• Heading into the series against the Beavers, two Laker defensemen rank among the top ten point scorers among their conference peers (Riedell, Kaelble). 
• Senior defenseman Lukas Kaelble, the Laker captain, has recorded 12 multi-point games in his career, including three this season. Most recently, the defenseman posted a two assist game at Northern Michigan on Jan. 8 in the Lakers 4-1 win. Kaelble's most recent point came in the Lakers 2-1 win against Alabama Huntsville as he assisted on the Lakers first goal. 
• Kaelble leads the team in assists this season with 11 and is tied for fifth on the team in points (11). The Laker captain is tied for eighth among all WCHA defensemen in points (11) and ranks second among WCHA defenders in assists per game (0.58). 
• The senior strung together a three game point streak (0-5-5) earlier this season, spanning from Nov. 29 at Adrian to Dec. 6 against UAH, and heads into the series against the Falcons with four assists in his last four games. 
• Senior defenseman Will Riedell scored his first goal of the season on Nov. 27 in the Lakers 5-3 win over Adrian College and would add an assist later in the game to record his first multi-point game of the season. Riedell's third and fourth multi-point games of the season career came in the Feb. 6-7 series against Northern Michigan as he posted one goal and three assists in the pair of games. Heading into the game against Ferris State, Riedell has totaled 12 career multi-point games. 
• Most recently, Riedell scored a power play goal with 9.2 seconds left in regulation in a 1-1 game against UAH on Feb. 19. Riedell's fourth goal of the season would mark the first game winner for the senior defenseman. 
• With 13 points (4G, 9A) this season, Riedell is fifth among WCHA defensemen in points and also ranks third among WCHA defensemen in points per game (0.65).
• Junior Jacob Nordqvist and junior Mitchell Oliver round out the remaining upperclassmen returning on the blue line for the Lakers. Nordqvist played in 35 games for the Lakers in 2019-20 and finished the season with 13 points (2G, 11A). He was tied for second on the team in game winning goals with two. 
• This season, the Swedish defenseman has ten points (2G, 8A) in 21 games played and was named the WCHA Defenseman of the Week on Feb. 25 after posting three points (1G, 2A) in the week of play. 
• Oliver competed in 38 games for the Lakers last season and recorded eight assists.  In his first game back into the lineup this season following an off-season injury, Oliver scored the shootout winning goal in the fifth round of the Lakers 2-2 tie against UAH on Dec. 5. The junior defender scored his first career goal, which proved to be the game winning goal, in the Lakers 4-1 win over the NMU Wildcats on Jan. 8. Oliver added an assist in the game to record his first multi-point game of the season and the second of his career. 
• Oliver scored his second career goal in the Lakers 5-4 overtime win and two of his three career goals have been scored on the power play. Most recently, Oliver added an assist in the team's 4-2  win on Feb. 26. Through 17 games this season, Oliver has notched three goals and four assists for seven points. 

Between the Pipes                                                                                                                              

• Senior goaltender Mareks Mitens has started 18 games this season for the Lakers, posting a 9-4-3 record with a 1.89 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. In all but three of his 18 appearances this season, Mitens has allowed two or fewer goals. 
• Among WCHA goaltenders this season, Mitens ranks third among WCHA goaltenders in goals against average (1.89), fifth in minutes played (982:57), fourth in saves (435), and second in save percentage (.933) this season. 
• The senior netminder earned his 30th career win on Feb. 19 in a 2-1 win over the Alabama Huntsville Chargers which ties him for 10th all-time in program history with Gordon Defiel. Mitens' 31st career win on Feb. 26 at Ferris State gave him sole possession of the tenth spot in program history.  
• For his play in the series against the Falcons on Feb. 12-13, Mitens was named the WCHA's Goaltender of the Week. Mitens totaled 120:17 minutes in goal for the Lakers as he stopped 61 of the 64 shots he faced from Bowling Green. The 61 saves ranked second among all WCHA netminders during the week and Mitens recorded a 1.50 goals against average and a .953 save percentage in the series. 
• Freshman goaltender Ethan Langenegger has played five games for the Lakers this season, including his first career appearance on Nov. 29 against Adrian and his first career start on Feb. 7 against Northern Michigan. Langenegger earned his first colleigiate win on Dec. 6 against Alabama Huntsville as the freshman goalie played the final twenty minutes of the 3-2 game.
• Most recently, Langenegger led the Lakers to a 4-1 win over the Alabama Huntsville Chargers on Feb. 20 as the freshman goalie made 19 saves for his second career win. 
• Sophomore goaltender Seth Eisele entered the game for the Lakers at the start of the third period on Nov. 22 against Michigan Tech anad saved all seven shots he faced from the Huskies. Eisele, who recorded an assist on Calder's goal, earned his first collegiate win in his first appearance in net as a Laker. 
• Eisele made his first career start on Feb. 6 against Northern Michigan and stopped 29 shots he faced in the game for his second career win. 
• For his play in the Lakers series against Northern Michigan on Jan. 2 and 3,  Mitens was named the WCHA  Goaltender of the Week, his third league award of the season. The senior goalie stopped 59 of the 62 shots he faced from the NMU Wildcats to record a 1.50 goals against average and a .952 save percentage in the series. Mitens led all WCHA netminders in both goals against average and save percentage over the weekend, and was one of two goaltenders in the league this week to record two wins. 
• On Thursday, Dec. 3, Mareks Mitens was named WCHA Goaltender of the Month for his play in the month of November. Mitens allowed five goals over the course of four games for the Lakers, posting a 2-0-1 record which included his sixth career shutout on Nov. 21 in a 0-0 tie against Michigan Tech. Among WCHA goaltenders in the month of November, the senior netminder ranked first in minutes played (204:33), first in saves made (77), first in shots faced (82), first in wins (2), and tied for first in shutouts (1). 
• Mitens was awarded the WCHA's Goaltender of the Week award for his play against Michigan Tech on Nov. 21-22, as he stopped 41 of the 42 shots he faced in 105:00 minutes in net. The senior goalie finished the weekend with a .976 save percentage and a 0.57 goals against average. 

Lakers vs. Bemidji State                                                                                      

• The Lakers and Bemidji State Beavers will meet for the second this season as the two WCHA opponents played each other in a non-conference series to open 2021 in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The Beavers won the first game, on Jan. 2, by a final score of 4-1 and the teams would skate to a 2-2 in the second contest on Jan. 3.
• The Lakers and Beavers were supposed to play the conference series during the final weekend in January but was postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests within the Laker hockey program. 
• In the all-time series between the two teams, the Lakers hold the advantage by an overall record of 34-32-6 against the Beavers. 
• Against Bemidji State, Eriksson leads the teams with nine points (3G, 6A) while Calder ranks second among his teammates with six career points (1G, 6A) against the Beavers. Riedell (2G, 4A) and Miura (1G, 5A) have posted six career points each against BSU. 

Scouting the Beavers                  

• Bemidji State is led by Tom Serratore, who is in his 20th season as the head coach of the Beavers this season.
• This season, the Beaver have compiled a 10-7-3 overall record and a 5-4-1 record in WCHA play. Most recently, Bemidji State posted a split in a WCHA series against then-No. 3 ranked Minnesota State. The Beavers fell in overtime to the WCHA's top team by a final score of 4-3 in the first game and followed with their own overtime win on Saturday night, 4-3. 
• Offensively, the Beavers are led by junior forward Alex Ierullo, who leads the team with 17 points this season. Norris also ranks first among his teammates in assists this season with 12. 
• Bemidji State has six players with at least 10 points this season, includng senior forward Ethan Somoza.  Evennou leads the Beavers in goals with 11. 
• In goal, junior Zach Driscoll has played the bulk of minutes in net this season for the Beavers. Driscoll has played 19 games for the Beavers this season (1143:50 minutes) and has totaled a .920 save percentage and a 2.52 goals against average. 
• Through 20 games, Bemidji State's special teams have combined for a penalty kill percentage of 92.3% (48-for-52) while the power play is running at a 15.4% (10-for-65) success rate.

VOTE FOR HOBEY                                                                                                

• Three Lakers - Ashton Calder, Lukas Kaelble, and Mareks Mitens - have been nominated for the 2021 Vote for Hobey Baker. Awarded annually to college hockey's top player, the Hobey Baker's tremendously popular fan-voting will run from now until Sunday, March 7 at midnight. College hockey fans can cast their vote by going to the voting website; https://www.hobeybaker.com/vote.

Other Information                                                                                       

• Every week Bill Crawford and Matt Pocket along with Head Coach Damon Whitten, the assistant coaches and players take a look at the Laker Hockey program.  A review of past games, a look ahead to future action and more information and insight on the team and players.  The show airs live every Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. on ESPN 1400. 
• All Laker home and away games during the 2020-21 season will be available to watch live on FloHockey, the WCHA's streaming partner. For more information or to sign up for a subscription, visit https:/www.flohockey.tv. 
• Bill Crawford and Matt Pocket will be calling the Laker games this season. The radio call will be available to listen to on 99.5 Yes FM, the official radio station of Laker hockey. The broadcast stream can also be accessed at www.yesfm.net