2001-02 Team Preview: Bemidji State University Beavers
A team roster loaded with experienced players at every position, an emerging star and an exciting new head coach to lead the charge will come together to make year four of Bemidji State University women's ice hockey perhaps its most exciting campaign to date.
The 2001-02 campaign will usher in the Jason Lesteberg era at BSU. Lesteberg takes charge of the program after a brief but exceptional coaching career, with three years as assistant men's coach at Gustavus Adolphus and the 2000-01 season as the head coach at Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Coming off a 13-win improvement from 1998-99 to 1999-2000, a school record for any sport, the Beavers appeared to take a step back in 2000-01, finishing 9-24-1. A closer look at the season indicates that may not be the case.
BSU continued it's improvement in the competitive WCHA, finishing sixth for the second consecutive season. However, the Beavers improved their record vs circuit foes from 5-17-2 to 6-17-1 and improved their goals scored from 54 to 62. The Beavers jumped out of the gates quickly with a 3-3 league start, highlighted by a 2-1 home win over Ohio State that helped propel goalie Bre Dedrickson to WCHA Player of the Week honors and back-to-back road shutouts at MSU-Mankato. BSU also had league wins over St. Cloud State and completed its first-ever sweep of a season series with two more wins over MSU. And, while BSU has yet to get over the hump against the WCHA's elite, the Beavers served notice that their time will come to join that group. BSU scored three unanswered goals in the second period to cut into a 5-0 Minnesota lead on the road, Dec. 2, in an eventual 8-4 loss, held a 4-3 lead at 7:13 of the third period on the road at SCSU before falling 5-4, Jan 8, held a 6-6 tie with SCSU at 7:23 of the third before falling 8-6, Jan. 19, and jumped to a 2-0 lead at Wisconsin and held the lead into the second period in a 4-2 loss on Mar. 3.
The Beavers enter the 2001-02 campaign returning every player from last season's roster and will watch developing star Amber Fryklund and standout performers Bre Dedrickson, Caesare Stimson and a host of others help position Bemidji State as a program to watch in year four of the WCHA.
A junior forward, Fryklund, emerged as one of the most potent offensive threats in the WCHA last season. She enters 2001-02 as an All-WCHA candidate after a strong rookie campaign that saw her earn two WCHA Rookie of the Week awards and finish in the league's Top 10 in four offensive categories - 8th in point scoring (1.44 ppg), 5th in goals (27) and she led the league with three shorthanded goals. With the graduation of UM's Nadine Muzerall, Fryklund is the fourth-leading goal scorer amongst returning players in the WCHA.
Dedrickson again provided BSU with a solid presence between the pipes last season while seeing action in 24 games. She earned the win in seven of BSU's nine victories and over the last two seasons has won 16 games. She owned a .883 saves percentage (with 818 saves) and took over sole posession of first place on BSU's career shutout list, earning her second career shutout in a 1-0 win over MSU. Anik Coté (2-7-1) earned 10 starts as the backup and had one shutout, while Katie Anderson, who won four games before injuring her knee as a freshman, started three.
Caesare Stimson provided a huge lift as a freshman, finishing second on the team with 27 points. She tied for 10th in the WCHA amongst freshmen point-scorers and tied Fryklund for the league lead in shorthanded points with three.
by Andy Bartlett, BSU SID
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