Beavers travel to Mankato for final series versus Mavericks
The Bemidji State University women’s hockey team faces Minnesota State University, Mankato for the final time this weekend by traveling to Mankato to face the fifth-place Mavericks. Bemidji State and Minnesota State has faced-off for four meetings already this season, setting up the season’s final series this weekend. The Beavers (2-8-2, 2-8-2 WCHA) and Mavericks (4-9-1, 4-9-1 WCHA) begin their series with game one Friday, Jan. 29 from the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center followed by game two Saturday, Jan. 30. Game one is slated for a 6:07 p.m., puck drop while game two is at 3:07 p.m. Bemidji State chases the Mavericks in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings and can only jump into fifth place with a series sweep.
Bemidji State and Minnesota State will meet for the 92nd and 93rd meetings in the all-time series history and the fifth and sixth meetings this season. The Beavers lead the all-time series record at 44-33-14 (.560) and are 23-17-5 (.567) when playing in Mankato. Bemidji State and Minnesota State will meet for the fifth and sixth time this season and last played each other Jan. 8-9 in Bemidji. The Mavericks swept the Beavers in the series by scores of 2-1 and 4-0 and currently have a three-game winning streak against BSU.
The Beavers are 1-3-1 in their past five games against the Mavericks
Head Coach Jim Scanlan is 15-8-3 (.635) coaching against the Mavericks while sixth-year head coach John Harrington is 8-11-4.
Bemidji State is led by senior captain Clair DeGeorge who has posted 15 points (4g-11a) in 17 career games against MSU while senior Paige Beebe follows closely with 14 point off of seven goals and seven assists in 17 games.
Senior blueliner Mak Langei paces the Beavers’ defense with nine points off of three goals and six assists in 17 games.
Senior Kerigan Dowhy has appeared in five games in net against the Mavericks with four starts. She has posted a 0-3-1 record against the Mavericks to go along with a .908 save percentage and 2.76 goals against average.
Bemidji State stands seventh in the WCHA with a .264 point percentage and has earned 9.5 points in league play with a 2-8-2 record. The Beavers snapped an eight-game winless streak (0-6-2) this past weekend after upsetting No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth with a 1-0 overtime victory, Jan. 22. Minnesota Duluth bounced back with its own 1-0 overtime victory in game two to earn the series split.
Bemidji State senior goaltender Kerigan Dowhy was exceptional between the pipes and stopped a 76-of-77 shots by the Bulldogs including a career-high 46 Jan. 22. For her efforts, she was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Week for the first time this season. Dowhy kept opposing teams off the scoreboard for a total of 177:54 spanning three games and over eight periods and set a new program record for the longest shutout streak in green and white history.
Of the Beavers’ 12 games this season six have gone into overtime. Four games have been decided in the extra 3-on-3 period including two this past weekend while two have gone into the shootout. BSU is 2-2 during the 3-on-3 overtime period and have won the extra point in the shootout twice this season.
Bemidji State is led offensively by Clair DeGeorge who has totaled nine points in 12 games (4g-5a) to tie for eighth in league scoring. She is followed by sophomore Reece Hunt who has posted seven points (7a) in 12 games and is tied for sixth in the league in assists.
Seniors Paige Beebe (3g-2a) and Tina Kampa (5a) follow with five points each while Kampa paces the Beavers’ blueline and is tied for sixth in scoring among league defenders.
Senior Mak Langei paces the WCHA and the nation with 47 blocked shots while Kampa follows closely with 36 for second and third in the WCHA and nation, respectively.
Bemidji State leads the nation with 229 blocked shots as a team this season. That is 40 more than second place Minnesota Sate.
Bemidji State is led in net by senior Kerigan Dowhy who has posted a 2-7-2 record in 11 games this season. She boasts a 2.22 goals against average and .929 save percentage to rank fifth in the WCHA in both categories. After stopping 76-of-77 shots this past weekend, Dowhy’s goals against average dropped from 2.62 to 2.22 (.40) while her save percentage increased from .912 to .929 (.017).
Listen to the games on 94.3 The Legends and online at beaverradionetwork.com.