Beavers travel to Lakeville for the US Hockey Hall of Fame Museum's Face-Off Classic Wednesday

BEMIDJI, Minn. The Bemidji State University women's hockey team kicks off the 2025 calendar year on Wednesday by participating in the US Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Face-Off Classic, held at Lakeville Hasse Arena in Lakeville, Minnesota.

The Beavers (3-14-1, 2-12-0 WCHA) will take on No. 3 University of Minnesota (13-4-1, 9-4-1 WCHA) for a single non-conference game on New Year's Day. Puck drop between the Beavers and Golden Gophers is scheduled for 5 p.m

The game will be streamed online on B1G+, but a Beaver Radio Network broadcast can be heard on the radio at 94.3 FM The Legends or online at www.beaverradionetwork.com, with Rob Aitken providing play-by-play commentary.

Bemidji State Notes

• The Beavers kick off the Face-Off Classic against the Gophers on Wednesday night in Lakeville.
• The Beavers will remain in the Twin Cities area the next three nights to participate in the University of Minnesota Showcase at Ridder Arena, where they will face Penn State University and Brown University Jan. 3-4.
• The annual game will raise awareness of the US Hockey Hall of Fame Museum in Eveleth, Minnesota, showcase women's hockey at the highest level and raise money for the Hendrickson Foundation.
• The game will also feature an all-female crew on the ice.
• 2025 will mark the eighth time the Beavers have played in the annual game, but the first time since 2018.
• Bemidji State is 4-3-0 all-time while playing in the Face-Off Classic.
• The Beavers will face a familiar conference foe in the Minnesota game, but it will be a non-conference game.
• Bemidji State is 9-96-7 all-time against the Gophers and 2-7-0 when facing Minnesota in non-conference action.
• The Beavers and Gophers met earlier this season on Nov. 1-2 for a WCHA series at Sanford Center, where Minnesota posted 2-1 and 4-1 wins over BSU.
• Bemidji State will play its first game since Dec. 13-14, an 18-game stretch.
• The Gophers have an even longer period between games, last playing on December 6 and 7 (25 days).
• The Beavers finished the first half of the season with six points in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings, while the Gophers are third with 27 points.
• Minnesota is on a 24-game winning streak over BSU, with the Beavers last winning at UMN on December 2, 2017.
• Minnesota enters Wednesday's game ranked third in both the USA Hockey/The Rink Live and USCHO.com top-15 national polls.
• Senior Genevieve Hendrickson is the Beavers' leading scorer against the Gophers with four points (1g-3a) in 10 career games against Minnesota.
• First-year goalkeeper Kaitlin Groess started both games in their first series of the season and stopped 55 of 61 shots, but four of the Gophers' six goals that weekend were power-play goals.
• Bemidji State is led by freshman and transfer from Minnesota Isa Goettl who has nine points (3g-6a) in 18 games.
• She is followed by a second-year student Hailey Armstrong (6g-2a) and freshmen Morgan Smith (5g-3a) who each achieved eight points.
• The Beavers' top six scorers are all underclassmen, with four sophomores and two freshmen leading the way.
• Freshman Kaitlin Groess leads the Beavers in net and starts 13 of the team's 18 games.
• She is 3-10-0 this season with a .904 save percentage and a 3.18 goals against average.
• However, second year Eva Filippova has started two of the last three games.
• Freshman Morgan Smith scores her first collegiate hat trick at Minnesota State on December 14. She became the first Beaver freshman since Reece Hunt (2020) to record a hat trick.
• Sophomore Riley Reeves runs on the Beavers' five-point blue line (2g-3a). She also leads the WCHA and is fourth in the nation with 50 blocked shots.
• Bemidji State ranks sixth in DI Women's Hockey with 290 blocked shots and Reeves, Kendra Fortin And Olivia the drone are ranked first, fourth and fifth respectively in the WCHA.
• Senior Alyssa Watkins was voted team captain during the season by her peers and is the 40th team captain in program history. She is accompanied by senior Genevieve Hendrickson and junior Mya Headrick who will serve as alternate captains.
• The Beavers' roster consists of 17 Minnesotans, 19 from the U.S., five from Canada and three from Europe.
• 2024-25 marks the 27th season in Bemidji State women's hockey history and the program is 278-556-81 (.350) in 913 games played.

For more information about the Bemidji State women's hockey program, tickets or schedules, visit BSUBeavers.com, follow the Beavers on X or Instagramor like them Facebook.

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 are members of the Northern Sun. Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

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