BEMIDJI, Minn. – After an eight-game stretch of road games, the Bemidji State University Women's Hockey team finally returns to Sanford Center to host No. 4/5 University of Minnesota this weekend, Jan. 19-20.
 
The Beavers (3-18-1, 2-14-0 WCHA) return home from a 63-day period from its last home game (Nov. 18) to host the Golden Gophers (16-5-1, 10-5-1 WCHA) for a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series. Game one of the series will be Friday, Jan. 19 at 6:01 p.m., with game two to follow Saturday at 3:01 p.m.
 
Each game of the series will be streamed online at B1G+ with play-by-play commentary provided Rob Aitken from the Beaver Radio Network. Fans can listen to the Beaver Radio Network broadcast on the radio dial at FM 94.3 or online at www.beaverradionetwork.com. Saturday's game will also be televised on FOX9+ with Kelly Schultz and Brian Bissonette providing play-by-play.
 
Bemidji State Notes

• Bemidji State plays its first series at home since Nov. 17-18, a 63-day stretch away from home.
• The Beavers face their eighth nationally ranked opponent this weekend in the No. 4/5 Golden Gophers.
• Eight of the Beavers' 11 opponents this season have been ranked in the national polls including  four in the top five.
• Bemidji State will face its third consecutive top-10 opponent this weekend.
• The Beavers are 0-13-0 versus nationally ranked opponents.
• Bemidji State is returning home from a series at No. 7 University of Minnesota Duluth.
• The Beavers fell in both games against the Bulldogs with UMD earning 2-0 and 7-0 victories.
• BSU has lost three consecutive games and is looking for its first win since Dec. 29.
• The Beavers sit seventh in the WCHA standings entering the weekend holding six points and are 2-14-0 in league play.
• Bemidji State will face Minnesota for the second series this season. The Gophers swept the Beavers in their last series on Dec. 1-2, outscoring BSU 18-3 in the series.
• The line of Genevieve Hendrickson, Talya Hendrickson and Kate Johnson scored all three goals and nine points in the series at Ridder Arena.
• All hailing from Warroad, Minn., and played high school hockey for the Warriors, the trio is nicknamed the "Warroad Line".
• Bemidji State is 9-92-7 all-time against the Gophers and 3-43-3 at home.
• Minnesota has won the last 20 meetings between the two teams, the longest winning streak in the series history.
• Bemidji State's last win over Minnesota was Dec. 2, 2017.
• Head coach Jim Scanlan is 5-34-1 against the Gophers in his 10 seasons as the leader of the Bemidji State Women's Hockey program.
• The Beavers have four home series and two road series remaining on 2023-24 regular season.
• Bemidji State is led by its top line of Taylor Nelson, Gabbie Smith and Hailey Armstrong.
• The three are the top three leading scorers on the team and have combined for 16 of the team's 27 goals (.593).
• Nelson paces the team with 11 points after recording six goals and five assists through 22 games.
• She is followed by freshman Hailey Armstrong who leads the team with nine goals and has totaled 10 points.
• She is tied for 14th in the WCHA in goals and her five goals in conference play is tied for the 16th most.
• Senior Gabbie Smith rounds out the top three scorers totaling nine points and leads the team with eight assists.
• The Beavers are desperate for scoring however, and have not scored a goal in the last three games.
• Bemidji State leads the nation with 381 blocked shots led by national leader freshman Riley Reeves with 59.
• Reeves (4a), Deering (4a) and senior Khloe Lund (1g-3a) lead BSU's blueline with four points each.
• In net the Beavers utilize the tandem of junior Abbie Thompson and freshman Eva Filippova.
• Thompson leads BSU with 14 appearances  and 13 starts but Filippova has started five of the last seven games.
• Filippova paces the team with a .913 save percentage and has recorded all three wins for the team.
• She is coming off a weekend at Duluth where she turned aside 55-of-58 shots in 85 minutes against the seventh-ranked Bulldogs.
• Filippova ranks 10th in the WCHA with a .913 save percentage and has stopped the fifth-most shots in the league.
• Thompson leads the WCHA with 405 saves and has posted a .877 save percentage along with a 4.73 goals against average.
• Hailing from Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Filippova is the first Russian born student-athlete for the BSU Women's Hockey team.
• She is the first freshman goaltender to appear in 500 or more minutes in between the pipes since Lauren Bench (2017-18).
• She boasts the best save percentage (.913) by a freshman at BSU since Brittni Mowat (.918) in 2013-14 (minimum 500 minutes played).
• Filippova currently owns the third-best save percentage by a freshman goaltender at BSU trailing Beaver greats Brittni Mowat (.918) and Zuzana Tomcikova (.917).
• 2023-24 is the 26th season of Bemidji State Women's Hockey. In 26 seasons, the Beavers are 274-530-79 (.356).
• Head coach Jim Scanlan is in his 10th season at the helm of the Bemidji State Women's Hockey program. He is 121-190-22 (.413) in his coaching career. He is one of 22 head coaches in Division I Women's Hockey with 100 career victories and is sixth among active WCHA coaches in victories.
• Senior Taylor Nelson was voted by her teammates to lead the 2023-24 Beavers on and off the ice and will dawn the "C" on her sweater. She will be assisted by fellow seniors Khloe Lund and Gabbie Smith who will serve as alternates and wear the "A".
• The Beavers have 24 student-athletes rostered for the 2023-24 season with 14 forwards, six defensemen and four goaltenders.
• BSU returns 15 athletes from last year (10 forwards, three defensemen, two goaltenders) and lost 10 athletes (4 forwards, five defensemen, one goaltender) to graduation or the transfer portal.
• Scanlan has added nine newcomers to the squad with four forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.
• Bemidji State's nine newcomers to the team are Olivia Dronen, Ana Davis, Talya Hendrickson, Kate Johnson, Shelby Sandberg, Riley Reeves, Hailey Armstrong and Eva Filippova.
• The 2023-24 BSU Women's Hockey roster consists of 16 Minnesotans, one Alaskan, one North Dakotan, one Wisconsinite, four Canadians and the program's first Russia native in freshman goaltender Eva Filippova.

For more information on the Bemidji State women's hockey program, tickets or schedules, visit BSUBeavers.com, follow the Beavers on X or Instagram (@BSUBeaversWHKY), or like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers).
 
Located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men's and women's hockey membership in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
 
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