Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State defender Bronwyn Bjarnason (4) crosses the blue line in an exhibition game played earlier this month at Maysa Arena in Minot.

MCKINNEY, Texas –Teams in the ACHA Division II women’s national tournament will probably be happy to see the Beavers go. But, before the developing powerhouse can depart, there is still a national championship waiting to be claimed.

The Minot State women’s club hockey team strolls into the 2018-19 national tournament with a 24-1-0 record in pursuit of the program’s first national title. The Beavers will have to make this postseason run count because there is no turning back, as MSU will be moving up to ACHA Division I next season.

The top-seeded Beavers out of the West Region are currently riding a 12-game win streak. MSU’s only defeat this season came on the road in a rematch of last year’s national championship game against Lakehead University.

That loss in early November will keep the Beavers from a perfect season, but it hasn’t derailed them in their quest to get back to the national title game and bring home the hardware this time.

Outscoring their opponents 146-38 in the regular season, the Beavers are lethal at both ends of the ice. The 146 goals scored is the most in the league.

Offensively, ACHA First Team All-Athletic honoree Mackenzie Balogh leads MSU with a team-high 33 goals and 29 assists. Sophomore captain Sami Jo Henry, who made the ACHA Second Team All-Athletic, has chipped in 27 goals and 21 assists.

Seven players are averaging more than a point per game. The other five Beavers are Vanessa Grimstad (46 points), Haley Wickham (35), Bryanna Bergeron (34), BethAnn Goudy (27) and Clarissa Lewis (25).

Defensively, MSU allows 1.52 goals per game and has posted five shutouts. Junior Shelby Tornato holds down the starting goaltending gig with a 93.4 save percentage.

The ACHA Division II women’s national tournament opens with three days of pool play. Each team will play three games in pool play with the top team from each of the three-team pools advancing to the single elimination semifinals.

In Minot State’s pool are East Region No. 4 Boston College and East Region No. 6 Rowan University. The Beavers will also play a third game against East Region No. 5 Mercyhurst University.

All pool play games will be played at the Children’s Health StarCenter in McKinney, Texas.

Minot State will play all of its pool play games at 10 a.m., starting with Rowan this morning, followed by Mercyhurst on Thursday and then Boston College on Friday.

The semifinals will be held on Saturday with the national championship game on Sunday.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.