A week after facing No. 2 University of Wisconsin, the Bemidji State women’s ice hockey team travels to play No. 1 University of Minnesota this weekend in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action. The series will commence at 7:07 p.m. Friday with the series finale scheduled for 4:07 p.m. Saturday at Ridder Arena.

About the Beavers
Juniors Kristin Huber and Megan Lushanko, who both have five points, have paced the Beavers’ offense this season. In addition, fellow juniors Kaitlyn Tougas, Stephanie Anderson, Hanna Moher and Ivana Bilic each have contributed four points.

Sophomore Brittni Mowat and freshman Erin Deters have split the goaltending duties for BSU so far this season. Mowat is 2-2-0 with a 2.25 goals against average (GAA) and .917 save percentage, while Deters is also 2-2-0 with a 1.51 GAA and .948 save percentage.

Under the direction of eighth-year head coach Brad Frost, the Golden Gophers have a record of 86-2-2 in the last three seasons, including a 7-0-1 mark so far in 2014-15. Frost has also guided Minnesota to a pair of national championships and five frozen four appearances during his tenure.

Minnesota has three players ranked in the top 12 nationally in scoring. Heading this group is junior Hannah Brandt, who leads the country in scoring with 18 points (9g, 9a) this season.

Minnesota also has one of the stingiest defenses in the nation as it ranks second nationally allowing 1.12 goals per game. Goaltender Amanda Leveille is the backbone of that defense . Leveille is 6-0-1 this season with a 1.26 goals against average and .951 save percentage.