2022 was historic for the Bemidji State women’s soccer team, where they won their second straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship and made a run deep into the NCAA Tournament, all the way to the Elite Eight.

But 2023 is a new season with lots of new faces, including the 12 freshmen all vying for a spot on the pitch. And the opportunity will be there, as the Beavers only return four starters from last year’s roster, including 5th year senior captains Maggie Cade and Halle Peterson.

Peterson was named the NSIC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year this past week after anchoring a backline last season that held opponents to just 16 goals and posting 15 shutouts in 25 matches. Both Peterson and midfielder Cade plan to use their experience to help this young squad reach their potential.

“It’s been really fun to see [the freshmen] and just kind of see their talent out on the field mixed in with the returners,” says Peterson. “It was nerve-racking, of course, all my friends graduating and all these new girls coming in, but it’s been really fun to get to know them and see them shine out there.”

“I always want to take those freshmen under my wing because I know it’s hard coming here and leaving home and some of them from far away, so you just want to make them feel like they’re a part of the family right away,” says Cade. “I’ve always just been someone to always talk to them, let them come over to my house if they need to … I just think, I want to be like a big sister to them.”

Head coach Jim Stone is now entering his 22nd season as the Beavers’ skipper and is the winningest coach in program history. Bemidji State finished 16-3-5 last year, but despite the team’s recent successes and being ranked 9th in the country to start the year, BSU was still picked to finish 3rd in the NSIC Preseason Poll.

“I think we try not to care about that kind of thing, right? But the human piece in you, the prideful piece in you can sometimes kind of jump out and use it as motivation to play a little bit harder,” says Stone. “But I think for the most part, I think it’s about us being our best us and setting goals, regardless of outside expectations whether they’re high or whether they’re low or somewhere in between.”

Bemidji State will first travel to Missouri to play Missouri Western State on Sept. 1 and Rockhurst on Sept. 3 before having their home opener on Sept. 8 against Upper Iowa.

By — Lakeland News