Mike Kraft/MDN File photo of UNLV goaltender Douglas Wakelyn making a save while Minot State’s Slade Stanick looks for a rebound attempt during the second period at Maysa Arena on Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Both of the Minot State men’s and women’s hockey teams are back in town on Friday, Jan. 9, at the North Dakota State Fairgrounds at the All Seasons Arena to kick off their first games of the new year.

The Beavers men’s hockey team is scheduled to take on No. 10 University of Mary for the second time this season. The Beavers faced off against the Marauders earlier this season in late October and early November both in Minot and Bismarck. The Beavers’ record for the pair of games ended at 1-1 with Minot State taking a decisive 5-1 victory in the first game and the Marauders taking a win of their own at 2-1 in the second game.

The then undefeated Beavers headed into their second game against the University of Mary ranked third in NSIC contention. The Beavers took an early lead in the first period of the game, but the Marauders were able to tie that game at 1-1 in the second period. Just one minute 30 seconds into the third period, the Marauders scored their second goal of the game that put them over the Beavers. Minot was unable to score a responding goal, despite outshooting the Marauders all game at 39-27 on the night. The Beavers still have an overwhelmingly positive record against the Marauders at 17-3 since the 2021-2022 season, but a loss in Friday’s game would put them with a losing season record against the University of Mary for the first time since at least the 2021.

Junior Colby Joseph is the top scorer for the Beavers men’s team at 21 total points for the season. The Beavers’ game against the University of Mary will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the All Seasons Arena on Friday.

The Minot State women’s hockey team is scheduled to take on the University of Jamestown Jimmies in a two game series this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 9-10, at the All Seasons Area at the North Dakota State Fairgrounds. The Beavers are going into this weekend’s games with an overall season record of 7-5-5, but they have already taken on the Jimmies in another pair of games earlier this season. The Beavers first played the University of Jamestown in Jamestown in mid-November, and the Beavers walked away with two more wins for their record. The Beavers took the first game in the two game series in a 3-0 shutout. Their second game also ended with a Beaver victory at 5-3. Though the Beavers have a close amount of wins and losses on the season so far, they are still undefeated against the Jimmies since late 2022. Since the beginning of the 2022-2023 season, the Beavers are 25-0 against the Jimmies. If the Beavers lose one of their games against Jamestown this weekend, it will be their first loss against the team in four seasons. Friday’s game will begin at 3:45 p.m. at the All Seasons Arena and their Saturday game will also begin at 3:45 p.m.