BSU Women’s Hockey continues play on the road with series at St. Thomas

Beavers make second trip to Twin Cities to face-off against Tommies for first time this season

For the second time in consecutive weeks, the Bemidji State University Women’s Hockey team will make the trip south to the Twin Cities Metro area and this weekend will face University of St. Thomas in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action.

The Beavers (1-14-1, 1-11-0 WCHA) face-off against the Tommies (6-13-0, 0-12-0 WCHA) for the first time this season and will play a two-game, league series at Saint Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. The series begins Friday night at 6:01 p.m., and is followed with game two at 2:01 p.m. Saturday.

Each game of the series will be streamed online at B1G+ with play-by-play provided Tommies Sports. 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.

Bemidji State plays its second consecutive series on the road this weekend.

The Beavers are 0-8-0 on the road this season and are looking for their first road win since Dec. 4, 2021 (0-34-1).

Bemidji State is 1-14-1 through the first half of the season and sit seventh in the WCHA standings with three league points.

The Beavers are coming off a series at then No. 3 University of Minnesota falling in both games against the Gophers by scores of 2-9 and 1-9.

The Beavers were powered by its Warroad line in the series in Genevieve Hendrickson, Talya Hendrickson and Kate Johnson who all hail from Warroad, Minn.

The line scored all three goals in the series with each member potting a goal and two assists.

All three members recorded their first career multi-point nights on Friday with freshman Kate Johnson scoring her first collegiate goal.

Johnson has recorded a point in the last three games and leads the Beavers with a three-game point streak (1g-3a).

Bemidji State is led by its top line of Taylor Nelson, Gabbie Smith and Hailey Armstrong.

The three have combined for 11 of the team’s 18 goals including leading goal scorer Hailey Armstrong (7).

The line was held off the scoresheet in the Beavers’ last series at Minnesota, however.

Smith center’s the line with Nelson on the left and Armstrong on the right. Nelson (3g-4a) and Armstrong (7g) have each recorded seven points to tie for the team lead while Smith follows with six points (1g-5a).

Johnson follows with five points (1g-4a) while her linemates, the Hendrickson sisters, each have four.

Armstrong leads the team goals through 16 games and is tied for the 13th in the WCHA. Five of her goals have come against conference opponents which is tied for the eighth most.

Gabbie Smith’s five assists paces the team.

Smith has taken 39.6 percent of the team’s face-offs and is fifth in the WCHA with 341 total draws. She has won 147 for a 43.1 win percentage ranking 21st in the WCHA.

Genevieve Hendrickson paces the team in face-off winning percentage and has won 51.3 percent of face-offs, 14th in the league (79-154).

Bemidji State leads Division I Women’s Hockey with 285 blocked shots led by freshman Riley Reeves who is third with 41 blocked shots.

Along with tying for the team lead in points (7), Taylor Nelson leads the BSU forwards with 17 blocked shots.

Junior Makenna Deering powers the Beavers’ blueline leading the group with four points off four assists. She is third on the team and seventh in the league with 32 blocked shots after blocking seven shots last weekend.

In net the Beavers utilize the tandem of juinor Abbie Thompson and freshman Eva Filippova.

Thompson leads BSU netminders with 12 appearances and is 0-10-1 while Filippova has made seven appearances and is 1-3-0.

Thompson leads the WCHA and is 17th in DI with 375 saves and has posted a .882 save percentage along with a 4.58 goals against average.

Filippova has compiled a .881 save percentage and 4.03 goals against average. Hailing from Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia she is the first Russian born student-athlete for the BSU Women’s Hockey team.

Bemidji State and St. Thomas will meet for just the ninth and 10th meetings in the all-time series after the Tommies joined the WCHA in 2021-22.

The series is tied 4-4-0 but the Tommies earned three wins against the Beavers last year.

Bemidji State won the last meeting however with a 4-1 victory on Feb. 4 at Sanford Center.

The Beavers are just 1-3-0 when facing St. Thomas in Mendota Heights.