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The Pioneer is introducing a new feature to annually recognize the accomplishments of one area team from the preceding school year that most impressed fans and media alike. The inaugural 2019-20 winner of the Pioneer Team of the Year is the Bemidji State men’s hockey team.

The 2019-20 season was a special one for the Bemidji State men’s hockey team, even if it didn’t receive a proper ending. The Beavers nearly snapped a decade-long NCAA Tournament drought and wound up ranked No. 11 in the final national polls, as well as No. 12 in the ever-important Pairwise rankings after finishing 22-10-5 overall and 20-5-3 in WCHA play.

Statistically, the team put together one of the best seasons in the program’s Division I era, rivaling even the 2009 Frozen Four campaign. As a program known for stifling defense, BSU challenged those perceptions in 2019-20 by becoming one of the top goal-scoring teams in the nation. That offense had one of the country’s best goaltenders backing them up in Mike Richter Award semifinalist Zach Driscoll.

Those elements add up to why the Pioneer has selected the Bemidji State men’s hockey team as its 2019-20 Team of the Year.

As the 2019-20 school year comes to an end, let’s take a look back at what made this past season’s Beaver team so special.

First-half ups and downs

The way the season began left the Beavers with a sour taste in their mouths.

Having spotted itself a 4-0 lead, Bemidji State conceded four third-period goals in a season-opening tie to St. Cloud State. The teams tied again the next night with Bemidji’s own Nick Leitner lighting the lamp for the tying goal late in regulation for BSU.

Two weeks later, the Beavers were six minutes away from upsetting North Dakota before eventual Hobey Baker finalist Jordan Kawaguchi leveled the score at 1-all late in the third period. UND would go on to win 2-1 in overtime and 4-1 one night later, though BSU challenged the Fighting Hawks -- who’d go on to finish No. 1 in the final Pairwise rankings -- for most of the weekend.

Bemidji State picked up its first win at Alaska Fairbanks Nov. 1 as the team went on to win seven of its next 10 games, though a 5-3 loss to the Nanooks in Bemidji on Dec. 7 was not the way it wanted to end the season’s first half.

The Beavers returned from Christmas break with a trip to their first Mariucci Classic in nearly a decade. Their semifinal game with Minnesota was locked at 2-2 throughout the third period before the host Gophers broke the tie with 2:50 to play, later adding two empty netters in a 5-2 win. A lackluster opening 20 minutes against Minnesota State in the consolation game cost BSU in a 2-0 loss with both goals coming in the first frame.

Its second half off to a rocky start, Bemidji State was 8-7-3 and No. 34 in the Pairwise on Dec. 30. An NCAA Tournament appearance did not appear imminent.

New year, new life

With 2019 in the rearview mirror, the Beavers turned the corner.

Few teams nationally showed the kind of form BSU displayed in 2020. Bemidji State (12-2-2) tied for the third-best win percentage (.813) of any team in the nation after Jan. 1, level with American International (.813, 13-3-0) and behind only Minnesota State (.844, 13-2-1) and Cornell (.833, 13-1-4). In fact, Bemidji State and Minnesota State were responsible for each other's two regular-season losses in 2020.

Hot out of the gates, the Beavers won five in a row to begin the new year, a streak that was only snapped by a tie with Michigan Tech.

Next up was a trip to Mankato, where the Mavericks held on for a 3-2 win in the series opener. BSU scored in each of the first three periods to take a 3-0 lead in the series finale. MSU wasn’t out of it yet, netting goals 94 seconds apart to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 2:27 remaining. Driscoll’s goaltending preserved the lead and Nick Cardelli finalized the score at 4-2 with an empty netter.

Now fully in the brunt of their schedule, the Beavers didn’t let up. They swept Bowling Green at home and dominated Northern Michigan in a pivotal series in Marquette, Mich., outscoring the Wildcats 10-1 for the weekend.

A series-opening win at Alaska Anchorage extended the win streak to six, though the Seawolves gave BSU a scare in the finale. Trailing UAA 2-1 with 2:49 to play and down a skater, Alex Ierullo buried a shorthanded goal to send the game to overtime. After playing to a tie, Tommy Muck scored in 3-on-3 overtime to secure a crucial extra standings point that kept second-place Bemidji State in the hunt for a share of the MacNaughton Cup with first-place Minnesota State set to visit Bemidji for the regular-season finale.

Playing arguably the biggest series in Sanford Center history, the Beavers rose to the occasion by taking the first game 3-1 to set up a WCHA title game of sorts. A win Saturday would have clinched BSU a share of the title and the No. 1 seed in the WCHA playoffs. The cup was in the building, though it was MSU that celebrated with it following a 4-1 win.

Sudden ending

Bemidji State earned the No. 2 seed for the league playoffs and had risen to No. 10 in the Pairwise ahead of its quarterfinal series with Lake Superior State, 24 spots ahead of where the team had been two months earlier. The team’s ranking took a slight hit after a Game 2 loss to LSSU, though a Game 3 victory advanced BSU to the semifinals for a date with Bowling Green.

An NCAA Tournament berth was not yet guaranteed, but wins against BGSU -- resulting in the program’s first WCHA title game appearance -- would’ve gone a long way toward securing a bid.

Nobody will ever know what could’ve happened since the coronavirus pandemic brought the season to an unceremonious end March 12.

One thing that is certain is the 2019-20 Beavers will go down in the record books as one of the program’s best since moving up to Division I in 1999-2000. This BSU season was the team’s best in the D-I era for goals allowed (1.92 per game), goal differential (+1.3 per game), power play efficiency (23%) and penalty kill efficiency (91.2%). It was also the sixth-best for goals scored at 3.22 per game, the best mark since 2009-10, the last time the Beavers made the NCAA Tournament.

Pandemic or not, the Bemidji State men’s hockey team put together the best season Pioneer reporters witnessed in 2019-20, and that’s why the group is our inaugural Team of the Year winner.

1/2: Bemidji State goalie Zach Driscoll (33) eyes the puck against Lake Superior State in Game 3 of the WCHA quarterfinals on March 8 at the Sanford Center. (Jillian Gandsey / Bemidji Pioneer)

2/2: The Beavers celebrate after defeating Michigan Tech in 3-on-3 overtime on Jan. 18 at the Sanford Center. Senior Adam Brady scored the overtime-winning goal. (Jillian Gandsey / Bemidji Pioneer)