Beavers return to ice with road trip to (RV) Minnesota State

BSU Women’s Hockey returns after 19-day hiatus for road trip to (RV) Minnesota State

After a 19-day break from competition, the Bemidji State University Women’s Hockey team returns to action for a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at (RV) Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The Beavers (3-12-1, 2-10-0 WCHA) play their first series since Nov. 23 with a road trip to face the Mavericks (6-9-1, 2-9-1 WCHA) at Mayo Clinic HSEC in Mankato, Minn. The Beavers and Mavericks drop the puck on their two-game set Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., followed by the series finale Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

The Beavers return to action after a 19-day break following their last series at No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth Nov. 22-23.

The Beavers are on games three and four of a 13-game road trip that ends on Hockey Day in Minnesota Jan. 25.

Bemidji State faces-off against Minnesota State this weekend for the first time this season, the last WCHA opponent it has yet to face.

This weekend’s series is the first and only series during December for the Beavers and will next play Jan. 1 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Face-Off Classic in Lakeville, Minn.

The Beavers are hoping to come out of the break well rested and ready to bounce back from a tough series at No. 4 Minnesota Duluth in their last competition.

BSU fell in both games at AMSOIL Arena and were out-scored in the series 10-1.

Historically the Beavers have bested the Mavericks winning 47 of 105 meeting with 15 ties.

However, the Mavericks are winners of the last three meetings and are 8-2-0 over the last 10 games against the Beavers.

The Beavers have fared better at home when facing the Mavericks but are 23-25-5 when facing MSU in Mankato.

In last season’s series, the Beavers went 1-3-0 against the Mavericks with their lone victory in game one on Nov. 17, 2023.

The Beavers downed the Mavericks 3-2 in overtime at Sanford Center for their first victory of the 2023-24 season.

Seniors Makenna Deering and Genevieve Hendrickson lead all active skaters with three career points against the Mavericks while sophomore Hailey Armstrong paces the team with two career goals.

Sophomore Eva Filippova posted a 1-2-0 record against MSU with a 3.66 goals against average and .866 save percentage.

Minnesota State enters the weekend sixth in the WCHA standings with 10 points while the Beavers trail in eighth by just four points.

MSU is 6-9-1 on the season and are coming off last weekends series where they were swept by No. 1 Wisconsin in Mankato.

The Beavers are led on offense by a pair of underclassmen in sophomore Hailey Armstrong and redshirt freshman Isa Goettl.

Each has recorded seven points through the team’s first 16 games while sophomore Kate Johnson follows closely with six points.

Armstrong also paces the team with six goals while Johnson’s five assists leads the team.

All six of the Beavers’ top scorers are underclassmen (Armstrong, Goettl, Johnson, Morgan Smith, Riley Reeves and Talya Hendrickson).

Sophomore Riley Reeves paces the Beavers’ blue line with five points (2g-3a). She also leads the WCHA and fourth in the nation with 47 blocked shots.

The Beavers are second in the WCHA and 10th in the nation with 268 blocked shots.

Freshman Morgan Smith paces the team and is 14th in the WCHA with a .498 face-off winning percentage. She has accumulated five points (2g-3a) in her first collegiate season and her 253 face-offs taken is 11th most in the WCHA.

Freshman Kaitlin Groess has earned the starters crease for the Beavers and has made 112 starts posting a 3.11 goals against average and .908 save percentage.

She has started seven of the last eight games for the Beavers and is fifth in the league with 695:40 played between the pipes.