The Beavers, who lost to Lakehead University in the 2018 national title game, have some unfinished business to clean up. And, so far, everyone who has stood in the Beavers’ way has been steamrolled.

East Region No. 1-seeded Bishop’s University resisted and put up a valiant fight Saturday morning in the ACHA Division II national tournament semifinals. But, West Region No. 1-seeded Minot State still strolled to a lopsided 6-2 victory at the Children’s Health StarCenter in McKinney, Texas.

Now, MSU stands one win away from the program’s first-ever national title, just like it did a season ago.

“This is exciting,” MSU head coach Ryan Miner said. “And this year we are going for it all.”

Alex Eisen/MDN MSU senior Vanessa Grimstad (right) scores her seventh goal of the national tournament Saturday against Bishop's University in McKinney, Texas.

Bishop’s didn’t make it easy. The Gaitors from Sherbrooke, Quebec, outshot the Beavers, 14-9, in the first 20 minutes.

It marked the first time in the national tournament that MSU had been outshot in a period, as the Beavers sprayed shots at-will during the three-game pool play portion of the tournament.

MSU goaltender Shelby Tornato didn’t let anything through, and her teammates made the most of their chances.

Beth-Ann Goudy and Haley Wickham were at the right place at the right time to put MSU up 2-0 after the opening period.

Goudy followed up a breakaway attempt by Vanessa Grimstad to net the first goal.

“It was like a rock had been lifted off our shoulders,” Goudy said. “It felt really good and got the nerves out of us.”

Miner added: “The last couple of games we have kind of waited until the third period to get scoring opportunities. So, I told the girls before the game that we had to be the first ones to score to control the tempo of the game.”

The second goal came off another rebound. Freshman defender Bronwyn Bjarnason shot the puck in from the point, and Wickham was waiting on the backside for an easy tap-in.

“I’ve never felt more at home,” Wickham said. “Even being across the county, it feels like we are in Minot (with all the support) and we are ready to take (the championship) home.”

A sing-along session of Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” occurred on the Beavers’ bench prior to the start of the second period.

Relaxed and energized, MSU went on to score two more goals in the middle frame.

Goudy got the first, her second goal of the game, on a puck that fluttered through traffic and glanced off the glove of Bishop’s goaltender Maude Russell.

That power play goal was matched three minutes later by Grimstad, who went straight to the net on a 2-on-1 break and flipped the puck over Russell’s stretched-out pad.

MSU killed off a 5-minute major for boarding prior to reaching the second intermission with a 4-0 lead.

“(Bishop’s) is a very aggressive team, and we played more of a defensive-minded game today,” Miner said. “Although we didn’t have more shots than them, I think we definitely had the better scoring opportunities.”

Bishop’s caught the Beavers day dreaming to start the third period. Three minutes into the period, both Jessica Belanger and Katie Locke scored to cut MSU’s advantage in half, 4-2.

“I think we were more focused on tomorrow’s (championship) game at that point,” Goudy said. “We just had to get back into today’s game.”

The slip up was quickly straightened out.

“At that point, it was just trying to get the girls settled down and make sure their heads were still into it,” Miner said. “We knew moving forward that as long as we were working hard and moving our feet that they weren’t going to get another one.”

Bryanna Bergeron delivered the dagger with 2:11 remaining. The Minot native poached a power play goal as the puck sat in the crease just waiting to hit the back of the net.

To inflate the final score even more, Wickham redirected in another power play tally for her second goal of the game. This came 32 seconds after Bergeron’s second goal of the tournament.

The four-goal margin in the 6-2 win is the closest game MSU has played in at the national tournament — the Beavers swept pool play by scores of 16-1, 6-1 and 5-0.

“We are ready for finals,” Wickham said. “I can’t express how excited I am. I’ve never been so excited for a game. I know we got this, this year.”

After the semifinal victory, Miner and many of the MSU supporters rushed over to the other rink at the Children’s Health StarCenter to see the conclusion of the other semifinal contest.

Assiniboine Community College got a third-period goal from Simone Turner-Cummer to knock off the two-time defending national champions Lakehead, 2-1.

Lakehead is the only team that has beat Minot State (28-1) this season. Assiniboine, on the other hand, went 0-6 against the Beavers during the regular season.

The final scores of those contests: 9-2 (Feb. 24 at home), 7-1 (Feb. 23 at home), 3-1 (Feb. 3 at a neutral site), 2-0 (Nov. 9 on the road), 3-2 (Oct. 14 at home) and 5-1 (Oct. 13 at home).

A seventh straight win would bring home some hardware.

Puck drop in Minot State’s final ACHA Division II appearance — since the Beavers are moving up to the ACHA Division I tier next season — will be at noon this afternoon at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.

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