COLUMBUS, Ohio — A day after the Minot State men’s hockey club fled Columbus with dashed championship aspirations, the MSU women’s hockey club rolls into Ohio to begin its national tournament journey.

The Beavers (21-4-1), seeking their first national title, finished as the second-best team out of the West Region. The Top 6 teams from both regions – determined by computer rankings – reach the women’s ACHA Division II National Tournament in Columbus, Ohio.

The 12 tournament teams are then split evenly into four groups for a pool-play format. The winner of each pool advances the single elimination semifinals.

Joining the Beavers in Pool B are East Region No. 3 Liberty (12-2-1) and East Region No. 5 the University at Buffalo (10-2-0).

MSU hasn’t faced either team this season.

But, the Beavers do have some noteworthy victories on their resume this season with a pair of wins over Division I Midland and West Region No. 3 Assiniboine.

A 1-1 tie and 3-1 loss in the middle of February against West Region top seed and defending national champions Lakehead ended up costing the Beavers the No. 1 spot in the region.

After opening the season with two defeats against Division I Minnesota, MSU had won 19 out of its next 20 games before running into Lakehead.

Offensively, the Beavers were led this season by sophomore assistant captain Mackenzie Balogh with the fifth-most goals (33) and points (51) in the league.

Balogh was named to last year’s All-Tournament first team after scoring the most goals (10) and collecting the most points (13) in the 2017 National Tournament.

MSU reached the national semifinals last year, despite being ranked No. 6 in the West Region.

In the semifinals against North Dakota State, the Beavers overcome a 3-0 deficit in the third period – Balogh scoring twice with Angela Lothspeich getting the other – to nearly force overtime. Instead, the Bison got the game-winning goal with 2:22 left in regulation.

Now-senior Lothspeich is one of four Beavers with 10 or more goals with Balogh, junior Vanessa Grimstad (19) and freshman Sami Jo Henry (13).

Sophomore forward Beth Ann Goudy finished with eight points, as did Minot native Bryanna Bergeron with seven assists in 10 games after joining the team at the start of the winter semester.

Junior captain Cassidy McGree anchors the Beavers’ blue line with fellow junior Tylar Holland and another Minot native Alex Harrom.

They are protecting sophomore goaltender Shelby Tornato, who posted eight shutouts in the regular season with a sparkling .947 save percentage.

MSU’s first game of the tournament is 12:25 p.m. (central time) this afternoon against the University at Buffalo at the Chiller Easton in Columbus.

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