Beavers close out first half of 2025-26 by hosting No. 5 Bulldogs
BSU Women’s Hockey hosts No. 5 Minnesota Duluth to renew Highway 2 rivalry
Just one week remains before the Holiday break and the Bemidji State University Women’s Hockey team welcomes U.S. Highway 2 rival No. 5 University of Minnesota Duluth to Sanford Center this weekend to conclude the first half of the 2025-26 season.
The Beavers (4-10-2, 2-9-1 WCHA) face their fifth ranked opponent of the season in the No. 5 Bulldogs (10-6-0, 6-6-0 WCHA) for a two-game, Western Collegiate Hockey Association series. Game one is slated for Friday, Dec. 5 at 6:02 p.m., with game two to follow Saturday at 3:02 p.m.
The Beavers are looking to bounce back from a tough Thanksgiving weekend at Lindenwood University where they went 0-1-1 against the Lions in Maryland Heights, Mo.
BSU scored six goals in the series, tied for the second most goals scored in a series this season but surrendered nine goals to the Lions falling 4-7 in game one and skated to a 2-2 tie in game two.
Hailey Armstrong and Kate Johnson led the Beavers in the series each recording three points with Armstrong scoring twice and Johnson collecting three assists. Armstrong recorded a point in each game of the series and leads the team with a three-game active point streak (3g-1a).
Sophomore Morgan Smith leads the team with 13 points (6g-7a) through the first 16 games of the season. Smith’s 13 points through the first 16 games of the season are the most by a Beaver since Kaitlyn Tougas has 14 points (6g-8a) through the first 16 games of the 2014-15 season.
Armstrong paces the Beavers with nine goals through the first 16 games of the season. Armstrong’s nine goals through 16 games are the most by a Beaver since Emily Erickson had 10 through the first 16 games of the 2011-12 season. Armstrong’s 0.56 goals per game average in 2025-26 is the third highest in the program’s 27 seasons.
Junior Kate Johnson leads the team with 10 assists and is tied for second on the team with Armstrong with 11 points. Her 10 assists through the team’s first 16 games are the most since Ivana Bilic had 10 assists through the first 16 games of the 2014-15 season.
Junior Carmen Bray leads the Beavers’ blueline with six points off six assists.
Head coach Amber Fryklund has split time in net between senior Ava Hills and sophomore Kaitlin Groess. Groess leads the team with a 3.83 goals against average and a 3-6-1 record while HIlls paces the team with a .901 save percentage and is 1-4-1. Hills leads the WCHA averaging 30.8 saves per game while Groess is fifth (24.7).
Bemidji State’s penalty kill is sixth in the WCHA at .825 (33-40) and is 12-of-14 (.857) over the last three games.
Hailey Armstrong’s three game-winning goals this season is the third most in the WCHA and 10th in DI. She is two shy of tying a career program record from most game-winning goals.
Bemidji State leads the WCHA averaging 13.1 blocked shots per game.
Freshman defender Katy Comstock leads the team and is tied for fourth in the WCHA with 29 blocked shots despite her 5-foot 0-inch stature.
Bemidji State is 22-96-4 all-time against Minnesota Duluth. UMD is on a 17-game winning streak versus the Beavers dating back to Jan. 22, 2021.