Mike Kraft/MDN Minot State’s Jay Buchholz battles with Midland’s Matthew Odoherty (77) and Jacob Measel (12) for possession of the puck during the third period on Saturday, Jan. 17, at Maysa Arena.

For the first time this season, the Minot State men’s hockey team entered the weekend with the distinction of being the No. 1 team in the ACHA, according to the computer poll released earlier in the week.

It only took 15 wins – 14 against ranked opponents at the time, including former No. 1 and defending national champion UNLV – and 10 weeks worth of coaches and computer polls for the Beavers to finally get the nod for the top spot in the ACHA after bouncing between No. 2 and No. 3 all season. They joined UNLV, Ohio and Niagara as the only four teams to receive the top spot in the rankings this season.

The Beavers couldn’t care less. All they are concerned about is being the No. 1 team at the conclusion of the National Tournament in March. That being said, Minot State isn’t going to just hand over its No. 1 ranking, as Midland University found out over the weekend.

The Beavers swept a weekend series with the Warriors for the second time this season, posting 5-2 and 4-1 victories at Maysa Arena.Trenton Curtis finished with three goals over the weekend and Sheldin Howard and Jaxon Grosdidier each netted two as Minot State completed its fifth series sweep of the year.

“For us, we don’t focus on it whatsoever,” Minot State coach Wyatt Waselenchuk said of the rankings. “It’s nice to be there and the guys’ hard work is recognized, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t mean anything. There are so many darn good teams at this level and the National Tournament is a grueling test. It’s definitely not something we’re focused on.”

It was by no means a slow start for the Beavers in the opening period on Friday, as the Beavers recorded 14 of the 15 shots on goal in the frame. All 14 shots ended up either in the glove or chest of Midland goaltender Elijah Marchese to keep the game scoreless entering the first intermission.

The Beavers (17-1-2) solved Marchese twice in the second period. Sheldin Howard opened the scoring at 6:21 of the period with Brett Tataryn earning his first assist of the season. Christian Kadolph was credited with the secondary assist.

Slade Stanick doubled the advantage late in the stanza, taking a pass from Logan Rands and getting a shot past Marchese for his first goal of the season and second in a Beaver uniform. Minot State held a 29-8 advantage in shots through 40 minutes of play and finished with a 43-16 margin for the contest.

Joey Moffatt added a power-play goal in the opening minute of the third period before the Warriors (7-13-4) rallied with a pair of unanswered goals midway through the stanza to cut Minot State’s lead down to 3-2 with 12:31 remaining.

The Beavers (17-1-2) responded late, icing the game with a pair of goals in the final two minutes. Trenton Curtis netted his first of the season after missing all but two games in the first half of the year because of injuries and Logan Cyca scored with 45 seconds left to open the weekend series with a win for the Beavers.

The first-period shots on Saturday weren’t as lopsided as the night prior, but unlike the previous evening, Minot State struck for two quick goals to establish the momentum. Grosdidler planted himself right near the crease and stuffed home a pass from Ben Johnson to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead 6:45 into the contest. Neither Grosdidier nor Johnson were in the lineup on Friday.

“I love our group,” Waselenchuk said. “We have a super, super deep group. We had two guys sitting last night that were in on two goals tonight. I love our team from our net out and it’s building and being at your best at the end of the season and I think we took another step forward there to accomplish that this weekend.”

Curtis scored his first of two goals on the night and third of the series 45 seconds later. Curtis one-timed a pass from the slot from Austin Clyne, beating Marchese with a shot from the faceoff circle to his right.

Howard joined Curtis as multi-goal scorers on the weekend, netting his second midway through the second period for a 3-0 lead. Howard rocketed a shot through a screen in front for his seventh goal of the season.

“We started off better,” Howard said. “There were times where we let off a bit, but I thought for the most part we were pretty good. Everyone just kind of flows off each other. It’s nice to get a couple goals early and try to stomp on them early.”

Marchese’s night in net was finished not long after that, but it wasn’t due to performance, but injury. Marchese collided with a Minot State skater 11:29 into the second period and wasn’t able to continue after remaining down on the ice for several minutes. Liam Terepoksy took over goaltending duties the rest of the way.

Marchese finished the weekend with 55 saves.

Tereposky kept the Warriors in it, allowing just one goal on 19 shots faced. The lone goal he surrendered came off the blade of Curtis with the Beavers on the power play 2:22 into the third period.

Assisting on the goal was Minot State’s newest addition and only midseason transfer Sean Williams. The freshman forward comes to the Beavers by way of Oswego State, a Division III school in upstate New York. In three games in a Beaver sweater, Williams has two assists, playing on the top line with Curtis and captain Jay Buchholz. While Curtis is not a new face, his presence in the lineup this season has been after injuries kept him out of the lineup since Oct. 11. He has three goals in as many games since returning to the lineup on Jan. 9.

“Sean’s been great,” Waselenchuk said. “He comes as advertised. He shoots the puck incredibly well and sees the ice very well. Trenton Curtis is another big piece to our puzzle. He only played two games in the first half of the season due to injuries. Bringing Sean in and getting back Curtis has been huge for us. They’re playing with our captain and that line looked great all weekend long.”

Also seeing some playing time was goaltender Blake Sittler, who started both games over the weekend, earning a pair of wins. Sittler stopped 14 of 16 shots on Friday and added 15 more saves on Saturday for a 29-save weekend and two victories.

“He was great,” Waselenchuk said. “He’s a starting goalie on a whole heck of a lot of teams at our level and we’re so fortunate to have him here. He was rock solid both nights and he definitely earned another one tonight.”

Sittler’s last start came on Nov. 23 against Arizona State. He is 5-0-0 with a 1.62 goals against average and .929 save percentage this season.

“It was awesome to get some playing time and the team played really well in front of me,” Sittler said. “We had a really good weekend. We held them to around 30 shots through two games, which is unbelievable. It makes my job pretty easy.”

Minot State travels to St. Louis, Mo., for a weekend series against Maryville beginning on Friday, Jan. 23. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.