BEMIDJI – Wisconsin is still Wisconsin, and the Bemidji State women’s hockey team found out the hard way.
The Beavers fell 9-2 on Friday night in their season and home opener against the Badgers. The 2024-25 national champions scored five times in the second period and three times in the third en route to their 19th straight win over BSU.
“It’s a tough start for us; obviously not the start we wanted,” Bemidji State head coach Amber Fryklund said. “Wisconsin is the number-one team in the country for a reason, and they lost two players last year. They’re the national champs, and there’s no question they’re a great hockey team. That’s the opportunity we get in our league. We get to play against the best in the country.”
The first 10 minutes to open the season were a bit of a feeling-out process for both teams, then Wisconsin put its foot on the gas just before the media timeout. BSU bent, but didn’t break until late in the first period.
Kirsten Simms finally broke through for the Badgers with four and a half minutes left in the first period. She picked the top-right corner over goaltender Kaitlin Groess’ right shoulder for a 1-0 lead.
Early in the second period, Izy Fairchild was denied on the Beavers’ best chance to level the score. She forced a neutral-zone turnover for a breakaway, but Wisconsin goaltender Ava McNaughton turned aside her five-hole shot.
Groess did her best to one-up McNaughton’s save. She robbed Charlotte Pieckenhagen on the back door. The rebound shot was blocked in front of the crease before the puck was pulled off the goal line by BSU freshman Maddie Kaiser.
Bemidji State sophomore goaltender Kaitlin Groess makes a save against Wisconsin on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at the Sanford Center
Courtesy .=/ Brent Cizek Photography
Bemidji State couldn’t stave off a second close call on the back door just seconds later. Lacey Eden doubled the lead with an assist from Ava Murphy with just under 11 minutes left in the frame.
However, 61 seconds later, Kaiser was rewarded for her aforementioned defensive effort with her first collegiate goal. She tipped in Carmen Bray’s shot from the point to get the Beavers on the board.
“She played a lot of minutes for us tonight,” Fryklund said of Kaiser. “She’s playing with Morgan (Smith) and Izy, so she’s relied on a lot with a lot of minutes. Her play tonight, being rewarded for her defense and getting pucks to the net on offense, was fun to see.”
It was a goal that gave a jolt to the defending champs. Maggie Scannell made it 3-1 with under six minutes left in the second period.
From there, the wheels fell off for BSU.
Kelly Gorbatenko, Cassie Hall and Simms each scored in the final three minutes before the second intermission, putting the Bagers firmly ahead 6-1. Wisconsin picked up where it left off in the third period. Pieckenhagen scored to make it 7-1 three and a half minutes into the frame.
Kate Johnson got one back for Bemidji State 75 seconds later. It was the sixth career goal from the Beavers’ junior forward.
Bemidji State sophomore Autumn Cooper battles after a faceoff against Wisconsin on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at the Sanford Center
Courtesy .=/ Brent Cizek Photography
“She looks stronger,” Fryklund said of Johnson. “It’s one thing we talked with her about at the end of last year – being harder on pucks and winning stick battles. She has incredible speed and incredible hands; she makes good plays. The next step with that is winning those puck battles, those stick battles and maintaining the puck.
“There’s a lot of players who came back this year and their scores were significantly higher than they were last year in the weight room. It’s really good to see.”
Eden and Scannell each scored their second goals of the game before time ran out.
“We’re young,” Fryklund said. “It’s going to take us a while to find our stride. There’s a lot of things we can take away from tonight – some things we did well – but we need to be more consistent.
“This is new for 11 of our players. At one point in the third period, we looked at each other on the bench and said, ‘We have six first-year players out there right now.’ That’s part of the growing pains. But we got away from our systems and our game plan tonight. We didn’t execute that. I think we’re better than the outcome today.”
The Beavers celebrate Maddie Kaiser’s goal against Wisconsin on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at the Sanford Center
Courtesy .=/ Brent Cizek Photography
Groess finished with 28 saves in two periods. She was relieved by freshman goaltender Ashlynn Hazlett before the third period. Hazlett made five saves in her first collegiate appearance.
“It could’ve been a different game without Kaitlin,” Fryklund said. “She had some incredible saves. They were firing pucks up high. When you see 35 shots in a game, that’s pretty tiring, especially early in the season. She played well. She had some really good saves. It was an opportunity to get Ashlynn some minutes, too.”
No. 1 Wisconsin 9, Bemidji State 2
UW 1 5 3 – 9
BSU 0 1 1 – 2
First period – UW GOAL: Simms (Eden) 15:39.
Second period – UW GOAL: Eden (Murphy, Simms) 9:03; BSU GOAL: Kaiser (Bray, Senden) 10:04; UW GOAL: Scannell (Hall Potter) 14:11; UW GOAL: Gorbatenko (Scannell) 17:01; Simms (Halverson, Picard) 17:35; UW GOAL: Hall (Gorbatenko, Harvey) 19:41.
Third period – UW GOAL: Pieckenhagen (McCarthy) 3:19; BSU GOAL: Johnson (unassisted) 4:34; UW GOAL: Eden (Sapovalivová) 8:57; UW GOAL: Scannell (Murphy, Gorbatenko) 9:54.
Saves – Groess (BSU) 28; Hazlett (BSU) 5; McNaughton (UW) 14.