Beavers hit the road to face No. 2 Gophers
BSU Women’s Hockey travels to No. 2 Minnesota

The Bemidji State University Women’s Hockey team continues Western Collegiate Hockey Association play this weekend and travels to No. 2 University of Minnesota for a two-game, league series in Minneapolis.

The Beavers (3-6-1, 1-6-1 WCHA) and Golden Gophers (10-2-0, 6-2-0 WCHA) begin their series Friday, Nov. 14 and will play in 3M Arena at Mariucci as the Gophers host Field Trip day. The teams then return to Ridder Arena Saturday will they will play their series finale.

Bemidji State his the road for third road trip of the season.

The Beavers are coming off a series split with No. 14 University of St. Thomas at Sanford Center.

Following a 5-0 loss to the Tommies is game one, the Beavers responded to upset the Tommies 2-1 Saturday afternoon to earn their first win in conference play.

The Beavers also upset a ranked opponent for the first time since the 2021-22 season.

Despite a 28-15 shot advantage for the Tommies in the game, the Beavers battled to earn the victory and stop a five-game winless streak.

Sophomore Kaitlin Groess was tremendous between the pipes stopping 27-of-28 shots by the Tommies and was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Week.

Groess earned the award for the first time this since, a first for the team as well, and is the second time in her career she was recognized by the WCHA.

Sophomore Izy Fairchild scored the Beavers’ first goal in the game, a short-handed marker, which was also her first goal of the season.

Junior Shelby Sandberg scored the game-winning goal early in the third period for her first goal of the season as well.

Sophomore Morgan Smith earned an assist in the game increasing her season point total to seven (2g-5a) leading the team.

Junior Hailey Armstrong continues to pace the Beavers with six goals on the season. She is tied with junior Kate Johnson for second on the team with six points.

Johnson is tied with Smith for the team lead with five assists.

Bemidji State has split time in net between Groess and senior Ava Hills.

Groess paces the team with six starts and is 3-3-0 on the season while Hills leads BSU and is third in the conference with a .933 save percentage.

Izy Fairchild scored the first short-handed goal since last season’s season opener and is just the second short-handed goal in the WCHA this year.