The Bemidji State Beavers are a women's college hockey team representing Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota, United States. They play at the NCAA Division I level, and compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
The Bemidji State University intercollegiate women's ice hockey program began competition in the 1998âÂÂ1999 season. The first head coach was Ruthann Cantile. She was head coach from the program's founding to the start of WCHA play, and the beginning of national NCAA Championships in 2001.
Over the next several years, Bemidji State met with little success, while playing against the best teams in the nation, in conference play. The Beavers were able to recruit 2002 German Olympian Defender Nina Zieganhals in 2003. After disappointing seasons under Jason Lesterberg (2000âÂÂ01) and Bruce Olson, who left the program during the 2005âÂÂ06 season, Bemidji State hired Steve Sertich for the 2006âÂÂ07 season. Sertich presided over the team for eight years until his retirement in 2014.
On February 27, 2010, Bemidji State ended its 14-game playoff losing streak in a 2âÂÂ1 victory over St. Cloud State. The next day, the Beavers defeated St. Cloud State in Game 3, and advanced to the WCHA Final Face-Off for the first time in school history. Zuzana Tomcikova had 27 saves and the win was the Beavers 12th win of the season. It tied the school record for most wins in a season (accomplished in 2001âÂÂ02). The Beavers advanced to play the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in the WCHA semi-finals but were eliminated.
On October 16, 2010, Beaver goaltender Alana McElhinney made a career-high 56 saves. In the game, Bemidji State had its first-ever win over a No. 1-ranked team as they defeated the Mercyhurst Lakers by a 5âÂÂ3 mark. In addition, this was the second women's game ever played at the new Bemidji Regional Event Center.
October 29âÂÂ30, 2010: Erin Cody had the biggest weekend of her collegiate career. She was involved in all seven of the Bemidji State's goals, as the Beavers swept St. Cloud State. Cody had five goals and two assists, and was a factor in both game-winning goals. Cody earned the First Star of the Game honors in both games. In the first game, Cody scored a natural hat trick (a power-play, shorthanded, and even-strength goal). All three goals were scored in the first period and set a Beavers record for most goals scored by a single player in one period. In the second game, Cody had two goals and two assists.
On January 28, 2012, the Badgers hosted a record crowd of 12,402 at the Kohl Center as Wisconsin swept the Bemidji State Beavers. Alex Rigby made 28 saves to obtain her sixth shutout of the campaign. Her rival between the pipes, Bemidji State goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova made 32 saves.
The Beavers made history on March 7, 2015, as they defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers by a 1âÂÂ0 tally in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Face-Off. The game-winning goal was scored by Stephanie Anderson in the third period. Beavers goaltender Brittni Mowat made 37 saves, registering her seventh shutout of the season, a new program record. In addition, it marked the first time that the Beavers advanced to the championship game of the WCHA Final Face-Off.
On February 29, 2020, the Bemidji State Beavers beat the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in the fourth overtime period of their WCHA Quarterfinal match, making it in the longest game in WCHA women's ice hockey history, and the second longest in NCAA history. Beaver forward Reece Hunt scored the game-winning goal at 8:43 of the fourth overtime. The game lasted four hours and 50 minutes, with 128:43 of on-ice time. The final score was 2âÂÂ1. The victory marked Jim Scanlon's 100th win as head coach for Bemidji; he is the first coach in the women's ice hockey program's history to reach 100 wins.
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