Beavers close season series with No. 15 Huskies this weekend in St. Cloud
BSU Women’s Hockey travels to No. 15 St. Cloud State Friday-Saturday
With just eight games remaining in the 2022-23 regular season, the Bemidji State University Women’s Hockey team makes its second to last road trip this weekend and travels to St. Cloud, Minn., to face No. 15 St. Cloud State University for a pair of Western Collegiate Hockey Association games.
The Beavers (4-21-1, 1-19-0 WCHA) visit the Huskies (13-14-0, 6-14-0 WCHA) for their second and final meeting of the regular season. St. Cloud State earned a series sweep over BSU in Bemidji back on Nov. 4-5. The two teams begin their conference series Friday, Jan. 27 at 6:00 p.m., and then play the series finale Saturday at 1:07 p.m.
Each game will be streamed online at B1G+ with play-by-play provided by the Beaver Radio Network. Saturday’s game will be televised on Bally Sports North Extra. A Beaver Radio Network broadcast with Kelly Schultz on the call will be available for each game and can be found on the radio dial at 94.3 FM or online at www.beaverradionetwork.com.
Bemidji State is 51-46-10 when playing the Huskies and are 24-23-6 when playing in St. Cloud.
The Beavers are currently on a two-game losing streak to the Huskies after SCSU earned a series sweep in Bemidji earlier this season on Nov. 4-5.
St. Cloud State earned a 2-0 shutout over the Beavers in their first meeting with junior Husky goaltender Sanni Ahola blanking the Beavers with a career-high 47 saves. The Huskies then earned a 3-1 victory in game two after Ahola stopped 22-of-23 shots in the game.
Junior Anika Stoskopf scored the lone goal for the Beavers in that series which was also her first collegiate goal.
Senior Reece Hunt leads active skaters with seven points (3g-4a) in 17 career games against St. Cloud State while Taylor Nelson (1g-3a) and Gabbie Smith (2g-1a) follow with four and three points, respectively, in 12 career games.
Junior Hannah Hogenson is the lone BSU netminder to see action between the pipes against SCUS and has posted a 3-2-0 record with a .929 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average in 299:17 minutes.
Head coach Jim Scanlan is 22-15-1 versus SCSU in his nine seasons at the helm of the Bemidji State Women’s Hockey program.
The Beavers and Huskies have met just once in the WCHA Playoffs with the Beavers earning a 2-1 series victory in St. Cloud in the first round of the 2010 WCHA Playoffs.
Bemidji State will attempt to end its season-long eight-game losing streak this weekend but will face its third consecutive nationally ranked opponent. It is the longest losing streak for the Beavers since BSU lost nine consecutive games to end the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season.
Bemidji State has faced a top-15 nationally ranked opponent in 19 of the teams 26 games this season (73.1 percent).
St. Cloud State is one of five WCHA teams ranked in the DCU/USCHO.com and USAToday/USAHockeyMagazine top-15 national polls this week re-entering the poll after a week hiatus. Minnesota State University, Mankato is also receiving votes in both polls as the sixth WCHA team.
BSU enters the weekend’s action eighth in the WCHA standings with three points and an 1-19-0 league record while the Huskies sit sixth in the standings with 20 points and a 6-14-0 league record.
Bemidji State is looking for its first road win of the season yet and are 0-12-1 when playing on the road. BSU’s last road win came back on Dec. 4, 2021 a 2-1 overtime victory over the Huskies at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Bemidji State’s last win was Nov. 26, a 4-1 victory over Sacred Heart University at the Nutmeg Classic. BSU is just 1-14-0 in its last 15 games.
BSU hosted No. 3/4 University of Minnesota in last weekend’s action falling to the Gophers by scores of 7-0 and 4-1.
St. Cloud State has lost its last four games including being swept by No. 1 Ohio State University last weekend in St. Cloud. The Buckeyes skated to a 6-2 victory in game two but then SCSU rebounded and forced overtime but fell 3-2 during the three-on-three overtime.
Bemidji State has had its issues scoring the puck this season and are last in the conference in goals for (30) as well as goals against (122).
BSU is seventh in the WCHA with a power-play percentage of .145 (8-of-55). Bemidji State went 1-for-4 on the power play last weekend snapping an 0-for-7 scoreless streak.
The Beavers also rank seventh with a penalty-kill percentage of .790 (64-of-81). The Beavers allowed three power-play goals on 10 chances last weekend against Minnesota.
The Beavers are the second-most penalized team in the conference by averaging 7:20 penalty minute per game. They trail conference leader St. Cloud State who averages 8:46 penalty minutes per game.
Bemidji State is second in the WCHA in blocked shots with 397 trailing conference leader SCSU by seven.
Bemidji State is led on offense by sophomore defenseman Adriana Van De Leest who has totaled seven points (7a) in 23 games. She is followed by Reece Hunt (3g-3a) and Shelby Breiland (2g-4a) who have each totaled six points.
Sophomore Claire Vekich leads the team with four goals and scored BSU’s lone goal last weekend to snap a three-game scoreless streak.
The Beavers have seen 17 different goal scorers this season including nine with two or more goals.
Bemidji State is seventh in the conference with a team face-off win percentage of .498. Senior Paige Anderson leads the team and is 10th in the conference with 194 face-off wins and is .505 percent on the draw.
Junior Hannah Hogenson leads BSU netminders and has played in 83.1 percent of the team’s minutes in goal this season. She is 3-19-1 with a 4.38 goals against average and .875 save percentage. She leads the conference and is fifth in DI with 668 saves.