Women’s Hockey begins November action by hosting No. 3 Gophers

BSU Women’s Hockey hosts No. 3 Minnesota to begin four-game homestand

The Bemidji State University Women’s Hockey team returns to Sanford Center and begins a four-game homestand by hosting No. 3 University of Minnesota this weekend at Sanford Center.

The Beavers (1-8-1, 0-6-0 WCHA) host the third-ranked Golden Gophers (6-3-1, 2-3-1 WCHA) for a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series beginning Friday, Nov. 1 and ending Saturday. The Beavers drop the puck on their two-game set with the Gophers at 3:02 p.m. CT Friday and then at 2:02 p.m. Saturday.

The Beavers kick-off play in November by hosting the third-ranked Gophers for the first time this season.

This weekend marks the fourth time this season the Beavers have faced a nationally ranked opponent and second straight weekend facing an opponent in the top five.

Bemidji State is seeking its first victory over a ranked opponent of the season (0-6-0) and first since Feb. 11, 2022, a 3-2 victory over No. Ohio State.

The Beavers begin a four-game homestand this weekend but will have its first bye week in between home series with Minnesota and University of St. Thomas (Nov. 15-16).

The Beavers are 1-4-1 at home this season with their lone win of the season occurring on home ice.

Bemidji State is returning to Sanford Center after a road trip to Madison, Wis., where the Beavers took on No. 1 University of Wisconsin.

BSU fell in both games at LaBahn Arena by scores of 4-0 and 6-0.

Freshman goaltender Kaitlin Groess made 77 saves for the Beavers over the weekend including 44 in game two.

Bemidji State wrapped up the month of October and went 1-6-1 during the month.

The Beavers welcome the Golden Gophers to Bemidji for the first time this season.

The weekend will also be Organ Donation Awareness Weekend for Bemidji State in an effort to bring awareness to the need of Organ Donors.

The last time the Beavers played at Sanford Center, they went 1-0-1 against Lindenwood University.

First-year head coach Amber Fryklund earned her first collegiate victory and is the program’s career points leader (122).

The Beavers scored a season-high six goals in the victory and the most goals since also scoring six against Lindenwood on Sept. 24, 2022.

Sophomore Hailey Armstrong was awarded the WCHA Forward of the Week for that week and was the first Beaver since Reece Hunt (2021-22) to be named the league’s forward of the week.

Minnesota travels to Bemidji as the No. 3 ranked team in both the USA Hockey/The Rink Live and USCHO.com top-15 national polls.

The Gophers are sixth in the WCHA standings with six league points while the Beavers are eighth looking for their first league points.

Minnesota is coming off a series sweep of Minnesota State University, Mankato at Ridder Arena this past weekend and outscored the Mavericks 11-4 in the series.

Bemidji State is 9-94-7 all-time against Minnesota while the Gophers have won the last 22 meetings between the two teams.

The Beavers last win over Minnesota was Dec. 2, 2017 in Minneapolis. The Beavers last defeated the Gophers at home was Oct. 8, 2016.

Bemidji State is 3-45-3 when hosting the Gophers.

The Beavers are led by their Warroad, Minn., natives with Genevieve Hendrickson, Talya Hendrickson and Kate Johnson each posting three career points against the Gophers.

All three recorded three points in last season’s four-game series which each posting a goal and two assists.

Bemidji State is led by Armstrong and redshirt freshman Isa Goettl who have each recorded five points through the first 10 games.

Armstrong paces the team with four goals while Goettl has tallied three goals and two assists.

Freshman Morgan Smith leads the team with three assists and has added a goal for four points.

Sophomore Riley Reeves leads the Beavers’ blueline also totaling four points off two goals and two assists. She also leads the team with 34 blocks in the defensive zone which is tied for the most in DI Women’s Hockey.

Bemidji State’s line of Goettl, Smith and senior captain Alyssa Watkins has been its most productive. The trio have combined to score six of the team’s 14 goals (43%).

Bemidji State’s blueline group is one of the best in collegiate women’s hockey when it comes to blocking shots.

The Beavers have laid out to block 169 opponent shots this season, the most in the WCHA and second in the nation.

Bemidji State earned 40 blocked shots last weekend at Wisconsin.

The Beavers rank 1-2-3 in the WCHA in blocked shots with Reeves leading the way followed by senior Kendra Fortin (25) and sophomore Olivia Dronen (17).

Freshman Kaitlin Groess has earned the starters crease for the Beavers and has made seven starts posting a 2.88 goals against average and .916 save percentage.

She leads the WCHA averaging 31.00 saves per game while her .916 save percentage is seventh in the league.

Her 217 saves on the season are most in the league and sixth in Division I.

Bemidji State’s penalty kill has made improvements this season and ranks sixth in the WCHA with a penalty-kill percentage of .792 (19-of-24). The Beavers are 4-for-5 on the penalty kill over the last three games.

In her first season as head coach, Fryklund has welcomed back 15 returners from the 2023-24 season while adding 12 newcomers to the squad.

The Beavers will have one graduate and six seniors lead the team followed by three juniors, eight sophomores, and nine freshmen.

The Beavers’ roster consists of 15 forwards, eight defensemen and four goaltenders.

Senior Alyssa Watkins was voted by her peers to captain the team during the season and is the 40th team captain in the program’s history. She is joined by senior Genevieve Hendrickson and junior Mya Headrick who will serve as alternate captains.

Eight freshmen join the program for their first season in NCAA Division I women’s hockey. The group consists of five forwards, one defenseman and two goaltenders.

The Beavers’ roster consists of 17 Minnesotan’s, 19 from the U.S., five from Canada, and three from Europe.

2024-25 is the 27th season in Bemidji State Women’s Hockey history and the program is 276-550-81 (.351) in 907 games played.