Beavers continue homestand and welcome No. 2 Buckeyes to Sanford Center
Bemidji State Women’s Hockey hosts No. 2 Ohio State this weekend at Sanford Center
The Bemidji State University Women’s Hockey team faces its fourth consecutive nationally ranked opponent this weekend and hosts No. 2 Ohio State University Friday and Saturday at Sanford Center.
The Beavers (0-9-1, 0-6-0 WCHA) host the Buckeyes (7-1-0, 6-0-0 WCHA) for a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series beginning Friday, Nov. 3 at 6:01 p.m., and concluding Saturday at 3:01 p.m.
Each game of the series will be streamed online at B1G+ with play-by-play provided the Beaver Radio Network. A Beaver Radio Network broadcast will also be available for each game on the radio dial at 94.3 FM or online at www.beaverradionetwork.com.
The Beavers remain at home for the second consecutive weekend and hosts their third home series of the 2023-24 season.
Bemidji State faces another nationally ranked opponent in the second-ranked Buckeyes for the fourth consecutive series.
Of the Beavers’ six opponents so far this season, four have been ranked in the top-15 national polls including having faced the No. 1 and No. 2 teams.
Five of the eight member teams in the WCHA are ranked in the national top-15 polls.
The Beavers look to upset the Buckeyes this weekend pick up their first win of the season.
BSU has started 0-9-1 through the first 10 games and has not won since Feb. 4, 2023 (0-15-1).
Bemidji State is coming off a 0-2-0 series against No. 7/8 University of Minnesota Duluth last weekend at Sanford Center.
The Beavers were outscored 8-1 in the series with senior captain Taylor Nelson scoring the lone goal in Friday’s 2-1 loss.
Bemidji State is fueled by its top line of Nelson, senior Gabbie Smith and freshman Hailey Armstrong.
The three have combined for 15 of the team’s 25 points this season and eight of the team’s nine goals.
Smith center’s the line of Nelson on the left and Armstrong on the right and is third on the team with four points off one goal and three assists.
Armstrong has had a quick start to her collegiate career scoring in four of the first 10 games and leads the team with five goals. Although she didn’t score last weekend, she is tied for eighth in the WCHA in goals.
Nelson paces the team with six points off two goals and four assists while Armstrong follows with five points (5g).
Junior Makenna Deering powers the Beavers’ blueline leading the group with three points off three assists and is tied for eighth in the league with 16 blocked shots.
Smith anchors the Beavers in the face-off circle and has seen the second most face-offs in the WCHA (218). She has won 43.1 percent of her face-offs, eighth best in the league.
Junior Abbie Thompson has been the workhorse in between the pipes for the Beavers starting eight of the Beavers’ 10 games this season.
She has stopped the most shots in the WCHA (250) and ranks 10th in all of Division I.
The Forest Lake, Minn., native is 0-7-1 on the season and has posted a .903 save percentage and 3.57 goals against average.
Ohio State comes to Bemidji as the No. 2 ranked team in both the USA Hockey/The Rink Live and USCHO.com national polls.
The Buckeyes are 7-1-0 to start the season and sit second in the WCHA standings with 17 league points (6-0-0).
The two teams will meet for the 99th and 100th meetings in the all-time series this weekend with Ohio State holding a 56-29-13 record in the series.
In Bemidji, the Buckeyes are 22-17-7.
The Buckeyes have won the last seven meetings between the two teams, the longest winning streak in the series.