Beavers Travel to Duluth with League Points at Stake

One of the best rivalries in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association gets renewed this weekend and an important six conference points are on the line as the Bemidji State University women’s hockey team travels to face No. 10 University of Minnesota Duluth. The Beavers (13-10-1, 7-7-0-0 WCHA) hold a six-point lead over the Bulldogs (9-8-3, 4-6-2-0 WCHA) in the league standings and can significantly increase their lead for fourth place and home playoff positioning. BSU and UMD faceoff for a two-game, league series at AMSOIL Arena beginning Friday, at 7:07 p.m., followed by game two Saturday at 4:07 p.m.

Friday’s meeting between the Beavers and Bulldogs will be the 100th meeting between the two programs in a series that began on Oct. 22, 1999. Minnesota Duluth dominates the all-time series by holding a 75-20-4 lead. However, the Beavers are 16-16-2 against the Bulldogs under the leadership of sixth-year head coach Jim Scanlan. UMD won the last meeting between the teams when it defeated BSU 2-0 in the championship game of the Minnesota Cup, Jan. 5 but in league play, Bemidji State earned a series sweep over the then eighth-ranked Bulldogs back on Oct. 18-19.

Senior Haley Mack leads the Beavers with four goals against the Bulldogs this season while juniors Paige Beebe (1g-2a) and Tina Kampa (0g-3a) each have three points. Mack also paces the team with 13 points (9g-4a) in 17 career games versus UMD while junior Clair DeGeorge follows with 11 points (3g-8a) in 17 games. Redshirt junior Lauren Bench leads BSU’s netminders with 11 career games against the Bulldogs and has posted a 4-6-0 record to go along with a 2.74 goals against average and .910 save percentage.