BSU Women’s Hockey Returns to Action Against WCHA Rival Minnesota State

Birds are meant to fly, fish are meant to swim, and Beavers are meant to play hockey. The BSU women’s hockey team is ready to return to the ice after back-to-back byes, as they hit the road to continue WCHA play against rival Minnesota State.

It will be 20 days between games for Bemidji State, who are looking to build off a 2-1 loss at then #2 Ohio State. But the Beavers feel like they’ve used that time wisely to better themselves in preparation for the Mavericks.

“It was two weeks that we weren’t playing games, but it definitely wasn’t two weeks off,” said junior defenseman Carmen Bray. “I think we really took advantage of it and worked on things that maybe we can’t work on playing games on the weekends.”

Of the Mavericks, Bray said, “They’re super gritty. They’re a tough team to play against. They’re super fast, all of them. They have a lot of freshmen this year that we haven’t seen, but I think we’re a young team as well that’s ready to match up with them.”

“Mankato is going to be physical,” added head coach Amber Fryklund. “They’re going to be hard to play against. They’ve had a good start to their season. They have players that can score, they take advantage of those opportunities. And so again, it’s going to be another physical game in the WCHA, another test. Every weekend’s a challenge and we’re really excited to get back out there and compete.”

The Beavers are 2-4 overall on the season but have yet to record a win in conference play. BSU last beat the Mavericks in a 3-2 overtime win at the Sanford Center last January, but they haven’t won in Mankato since 2019.