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Editor’s note: This story will be updated with photos from the game.
MINNEAPOLIS – By the time the puck dropped at noon on Friday at Ridder Arena, there were few vacant seats available.
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Third-ranked Minnesota opened its doors to host the Bemidji State women’s hockey team and over 3,000 grade school students for the Field Trip Day in Minneapolis. Metro area schools bussed in kids to pack the area’s premier women’s hockey venue for a matinee between the Beavers and Gophers.
“Someone dropped off some earplugs for us if we needed them,” quipped BSU head coach Amber Fryklund.
Students ranging from pre-K to eighth grade, along with staff and chaperones throughout the state, got out of school to watch the U of M notch a 4-1 win over Bemidji State.
“I made a comment while we were walking out for the game that all of the kids here are cheering for the Beavers,” Fryklund said with a laugh. “It’s just about enjoying the moment, enjoying the opportunity to play and coach this incredible sport we love every day.”
A back-and-forth battle slowly shifted in favor of the Gophers in the first period. Heidi Strompf took a body checking penalty midway through the frame, breathing life into the high-powered U of M offense.
Despite surrendering 11 shots on goal in the final 10 minutes before the first intermission, sophomore goaltender Eva Filippova and the BSU defenders killed off the penalty and held Minnesota scoreless.
“We did a great job on our (penalty) kill today,” Fryklund said. “That was a key focus for us, our penalty kill and our power play. Our penalty kill did a great job for us.
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“I thought we came out and played really hard and gritty in the first period. We were on our toes, and that’s what we talked about. We wanted to play with confidence, and we came out confident. We played really well defensively and won our stick battles. Then we took our foot off the gas as the game went on there in the second period.”
Bemidji State finally cracked seven minutes into the middle frame. After the Gophers killed off their first penalty, Peyton Hemp cashed in on a 3-on-2 rush to put the U of M ahead 1-0.
“We got out-worked,” Fryklund said. “Credit Minnesota, they’re a great team who’s going to come out hard in the second (period). But I thought we had a lapse. We came back in the third period a little bit, but I thought as the game went on, we let our foot off the gas.”
After Minnesota took a one-goal lead, it gave Bemidji State plenty of chances to get the goal back.
The Gophers took a pair of penalties in the back half of the second period. However, their pointed penalty killers limited the Beavers to just one shot on goal during those power plays.
“Minnesota is really aggressive on their kill,” Fryklund said. “Your time and space is really limited. They were working really hard. That was an area that we talked about because I don’t think we were moving the puck as quickly as we could’ve. I think there’s some opportunities for us tomorrow to look at that and make some adjustments, not even just scoring but with momentum and building it.”
The U of M doubled its lead midway through the third period on Audrey Wethington’s back-door tap-in goal. But BSU had an answer.
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Mya Headrick was credited with a goal in traffic two minutes later to get Bemidji State on the board with 11:25 left in regulation.
“After the second period, we talked about how it’s a one-shot game,” Fryklund said. “We talked about the importance of winning every battle, and if you have an opportunity to get pucks on net, get pucks on net. (Headrick, Autumn Cooper and Talya Hendrickson) consistently went out for their shifts and worked hard, and it’s great to see them rewarded for their hard work.”
From there, it was Abbey Murphy’s game to close. She sniped the top-right corner to regain Minnesota’s two-goal lead with three and a half minutes left. She scored her team-leading 22nd goal this season with 42 seconds left with the goalie pulled.
The Gophers beat Bemidji State for the fourth time this season, but they had to overcome a 35-save effort from Filippova and a formidable defensive showing.
“When (the Gophers) were moving around in the offensive zone, I thought we did a good job sorting and communicating, keeping things to the outside,” Fryklund said. “Eva was outstanding tonight. She played really, really well and played with confidence. For us, it’s about owning that net front and clearing pucks. We might’ve cleared too many up the middle, but we did a good job of sorting in our defensive end.”
After the game, Fryklund commended the U of M for giving players on both teams a chance to play in front of a sold-out crowd again. The two teams met on New Year’s Day in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Face-Off Classic in a packed Lakeville Hasse Arena.
“It’s so special to see how far women’s hockey has come,” Fryklund said. “To have a very unique and special game like this today for our players, you could hear the screaming even before the game started. What an environment we had today, and kudos to Minnesota for the idea of bringing the elementary kids here today to watch women’s hockey at the highest level.
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“Hopefully, there are young girls that were in the stands today that saw that and want to become women’s hockey players one day, too.”
Minnesota and Bemidji State have one more marquee regular-season meeting against each other on Saturday at Valleyfair in Shakopee. The two programs will square off for the fifth time this season at 11:30 a.m. as part of the 2025 Hockey Day Minnesota celebration.
“This day has been circled on our calendar for a long time,” Fryklund said. “It’s the same thing as playing here in this game, just really grateful for the opportunity we have to play in a special game like that.”
No. 3 Minnesota 4, Bemidji State 1
BSU 0 0 1 – 1
UM 0 1 3 – 4
First period – No scoring.
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Second period – UM GOAL: Hemp (Huber) 6:55.
Third period – UM GOAL: Wethington (Morrow, Mlynkova) 6:26; BSU GOAL: Headrick (T. Hendrickson) 8:35; UM GOAL: Murphey (Primerano, Huber) 16:45; UM GOAL: Murphy
Saves – Filippova (BSU) 35; Clark (UM) 17.
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