Beavers look to bounce back by hosting Minnesota State

A week removed from being swept at No. 10 University of Minnesota Duluth, the Bemidji State University women’s hockey team hopes to rebound by hosting Minnesota State University, Mankato for a pair of Western Collegiate Hockey Association games. The Beavers (13-12-1, 7-9-0-0 WCHA) have just four league series remaining in the regular season and fight for home playoff positioning. BSU is tied for fourth with Minnesota Duluth at 21 points and hold an eight-point lead over the sixth-place Mavericks (8-13-4, 3-11-2-1 WCHA).

The Beavers and Mavericks will meet for the 86th and 87th meeting in the all-time series that dates back to Feb. 20, 1999. Bemidji State owns the all-time series record at 43-30-12 and are 20-13-8 on home ice. In their first meeting this season, the Beavers earned a series sweep over the Mavericks with a 1-0 victory in game one followed by a 5-2 victory in game two. Redshirt junior Lauren Bench backstopped the Beavers to two victories and was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Week after posting a 1.00 goals against average and .962 save percentage.

Junior Clair DeGeorge leads all active skaters with 11 points off of two goals and nine assists in 11 career games against the Mavericks while junior Paige Beebe follows with 10 points off of four goals and six assists in 11 games. Bench leads the BSU netminders with 11 games played against MSU and owns a 6-2-2 record with a 1.63 goals against average and .938 save percentage. Sixth-year head coach Jim Scanlan is 14-5-2 coaching against the Mavericks while fifth-year head coach John Harrington is 5-10-2 coaching against the Beavers.