Sean Williams/MDN Jordan Kulbida (94) of Minot State scored two goals in a 7-0 win over Miami (Ohio) to open the ACHA National Championships on Thursday night.

Postseason play has arrived for the Minot State women’s hockey team, as the Beavers made their way to Boston, Mass. for the 2023 American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championships.

Entering the tournament as the third-ranked team, MSU matched up with the No. 10 Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. Despite the tournament pool consisting of some unfamiliar teams from across the country, the Beavers have played the RedHawks twice, with the Beavers winning both games during the 2019-20 season.

Putting forth a blazing start, the Beavers tallied five goals in the opening period to take a commanding lead and never looked back. Goaltender Jordan Ivanco orchestrated an excellent performance as well, helping the Beavers advance in a 7-0 shutout win over the RedHawks.

Even though the RedHawks brought pressure out of the gates by testing Ivanco with a handful of good looks early on, it was the Beavers who struck first in period one and they did so with authority.

Breaking the scoreless tie was Cameron Schmidt, who got on the board thanks to a beautiful cross-crease pass from Riley Ball to make it a 1-0 Minot State lead with 16:40 to go in the opening frame. Less than a minute later, the Beavers doubled their lead courtesy of an unassisted goal by Jordan Kulbida to make it a 2-0 game.

Not stopping there, the Beavers once again doubled their lead after Gracie Perry added an unassisted goal and Kulbida tallied another on an assist by Megan Norris. After seeming like the RedHawks were ready to score early, it was the Beavers who flipped the script by netting four goals in the first seven minutes of action.

The Beavers proceeded to get into their groove defensively, as they limited the chances for the RedHawks through the rest of the first period. Offensively, they continued to do damage by adding one more goal with 0:07 left in the period. Paige Ackerman scored a power-play goal to bring the game to its 5-0 total after one, in favor of Minot State.

Refusing to let a break in the action slow down their relentless attack, Norris opened the scoring in the second period by going top shelf on a breakaway rush and cashing in to make it a 6-0 Beavers’ lead with 18:48 left.

On the other end of the ice, the Beavers were tasked with their first penalty kill of the game during the period. They succeeded, holding the RedHawks scoreless with 13:19 to go.

A few minutes later, the RedHawks had a great opportunity to get on the board, but Ivanco fought off a shot on a breakaway advantage to keep the game at 6-0, which the Beavers took into the final intermission.

Joining the scoring party with 18:33 left in the game was Ball, who cleaned up a rebound on a three-on-two rush, extending the Beavers’ lead to 7-0 on an assist from Norris. Despite going on the penalty kill twice the rest of the way, the Beavers and Ivanco held strong to preserve a 7-0 shutout win.

The seven goals the Beavers scored came off the sticks of six different players, as they spread out the scoring and found the back of the net at least once in each period for a complete team effort.

From start to finish, Ivanco was dominant in net. For all the times her defense put up a wall in front of her, she equaled the effort by eliminating multiple strong scoring opportunities put forth by the RedHawks. Ivanco finished the night stopping all 16 shots she faced.

With the win, Minot State will play at noon on Saturday against Maryville University. The Beavers get today off, while there will be a variety of games played as the tournament continues to roll on.