Beavers travel east to compete in Battle at the Burgh tournament

BSU Women’s hockey returns to action following Holiday break

The Bemidji State University Women’s Hockey team returns to action following the Holiday break and travels east to Pittsburgh, Pa., to compete in the Battle at the Burgh tournament.

The Beavers (2-15-1, 2-12-0 WCHA) face-off against Robert Morris University (7-11-0, 4-4-0 CHA) for their first game of the tournament held at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. The Beavers and Colonials drop the puck on their matchup at 6:01 p.m. CT Friday, Dec. 29 and will face either No. 4 Colgate University or University of Maine Saturday.

Bemidji State returns to action after a 20-day break for the Holidays.

The Beavers last played Dec. 9 where they earned their second win of the season and snapped a 36-game road losing streak.

Bemidji State is 2-15-1 through the first half of the season and sits seventh in the WCHA standings with six league points.

The Beavers split their last series at University of St. Thomas falling 2-4 in game one but bounced back with a 4-0 victory in game two for their first shutout of the season.

Freshman Eva Filippova backstopped the Beavers to victory collecting her first collegiate shutout after she stopped all 35 shots she faced.

The Beavers’ offense supported their netminder by scoring the most goals (4) this season with Shelby Breiland, Taylor Nelson, Kate Johnson and Mya Headrick all scoring.

Freshman Riley Reeves earned two assists in the game for her first collegiate multi-point effort.

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

The three have combined for 13 of the team’s 24 goals including freshman Hailey Armstrong who leads the team with seven goals.

Nelson paces the Beavers with nine points off five goals and four assists while Armstrong (7g-1a) and Smith (1g-6a) follow.

Freshman Kate Johnson has adjusted to the collegiate game as of late and has five points (2g-3a) over the last five games.

Johnson is fourth on the team with six points (2g-4a) through 18 games.

Bemidji State leads Division I Women’s Hockey with 320 blocked shots led by freshman Riley Reeves who is second in the nation with 47.

Reeves and junior Makenna Deering lead BSU’s blueline with the pair each recording four assists.

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

Thompson leads BSU netminders with 13 appearances and is 0-11-1 while Filippova has made eight appearances and is 2-3-0.

Thompson leads the WCHA with 405 saves and has posted a .882 save percentage along with a 4.54 goals against average.

Filippova has compiled a .903 save percentage and 3.29 goals against average with one shutout.

Hailing from Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia Filippova is the first Russian born student-athlete for the BSU Women’s Hockey team.

Bemidji State and Robert Morris will meet for just the 13th meeting in the all-time series and first time since the 2015-16 season.

The Beavers have dominated the all-time series going 8-3-1 against the Colonials including a perfect 6-0-0 record when facing the Colonials on the road.

No active skater for the Beavers has played against Robert Morris.

Head coach Jim Scanlan is 3-1-0 in 10 seasons coaching against the Colonials.

2023-24 is the 26th season of Bemidji State Women’s Hockey. In 26 seasons, the Beavers are 273-527-79 (.356).

Head coach Jim Scanlan is in his 10th season at the helm of the Bemidji State Women’s Hockey program. He is 120-187-22 (.413) in his coaching career. He is one of 22 head coaches in Division I Women’s Hockey with 100 career victories and is sixth among active WCHA coaches in victories.