Beavers get back to WCHA play at (RV) St. Thomas
BSU Women’s Hockey travels to St. Thomas to make Lee and Penny Anderson Arena debut
The Bemidji State University Women’s Hockey team resumes Western Collegiate Hockey Association play this weekend and travels to (RV) University of St. Thomas for a two-game series.
The Beavers (5-12-3, 2-11-1 WCHA) face-off against the Tommies (8-12-0, 3-11-0 WCHA) for the second time this season and begin their league series Friday, Jan. 9 at 5:02 p.m. Game two will be held Saturday at 2:02 p.m. This marks the Beavers’ debut at the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena on the campus of St. Thomas.
Each game will be streamed exclusively online on B1G+ with play-by-play provided by St. Thomas Athletics. A Beaver Radio Network broadcast is also available for each game online at www.beaverradionetwork.com or on the radio at 94.3 FM The Legends.
The Beavers return to WCHA play where they are 2-11-1 this season.
Bemidji State faces St. Thomas for the second time this season after the two teams met previously on Nov. 7-8.
The Beavers split the series with the then ranked No. 14 Tommies bouncing back from a 5-0 shutout loss in game one to win 2-1 in the series finale.
Bemidji State returns to WCHA action after opening the second half of the season at non-conference opponent Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass.
The Beavers earned their first road victory of the season after defeating the Warriors 3-1 in the series opener.
The teams then skated to a 2-2 tie in the series finale with BSU taking the shootout victory.
10 Beavers recorded a point in the series and were led by Morgan Smith (2g), Raeley Carney (1g-1a), Hailey Armstrong (1g-1a) and Talya Hendrickson (2a) who each had two points.
BSU also had sophomore Hannah Graves, freshmen Paige Smith and Katy Comstock record their first collegiate points with assists in the series.
Sophomore goaltender Kaitlin Groess was dominant in net starting both games and made 42-of-45 saves.
BSU snapped a four-game winless streak with their series opening victory.
14 WCHA games remain before the WCHA Playoffs begin Feb. 27.
Sophomore Morgan Smith leads the team with 15 points (8g-7a) through 20 games.
She has six points (4g-2a) over the last seven games.
Junior captain Hailey Armstrong paces the Beavers with 10 goals in 20 games and is tied for 12th in the WCHA.
She reaches double-digits in goals for the second time in her career and ties a career-best of 10 set last season.
Junior Kate Johnson leads the team with 10 assists and is third on the team with 11 points.
After a slow start, senior alternate captain Raeley Carney has come on strong over the last seven games posting seven points (3g-4a) and has tied a career-high in points.
The Beavers’ goals per game average of 1.80 so far this season is the best since the 2019-20 season (1.92).
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 3.43 goals against average and a 4-7-2 record and has started the last three games.
Hills paces the team with a .900 save percentage, is 1-5-1 and leads the WCHA averaging 29.9 saves per game.
Bemidji State’s penalty kill has been excellent as of late and has not allowed a power-play goal since Nov. 28 killing of its last 16 opponent power play.
It ranks 4th in the WCHA and 13th nationally with a penalty-kill percentage of at .854 (41-48).
Redshirt sophomore Isa Goettl leads the team scoring three of the Beavers’ six power-play goals.
Hailey Armstrong’s three game-winning goals this season and is tied for fifth most in the WCHA. She is two shy of tying a program career record from most game-winning goals.
Bemidji State leads the WCHA and is 18th nationally with 266 blocked shots.
Freshman defender Katy Comstock leads the WCHA with 37 blocked shots despite her 5-foot-0-inch stature.
Junior Raeley Carney leads the team and is ninth in the WCHA with a .558 face-off winning percentage.