Aug. 18—BEMIDJI — This is a much-anticipated season for the Beavers.
In each of the last four seasons, the Bemidji State women's hockey team has finished in last place in the WCHA. Amber Fryklund took over as head coach ahead of the 2024-25 season and is in the process of a lengthy program rebuild.
Bemidji State has challenges in women's hockey that it doesn't have in any other sport on campus. No other BSU team competes with Big Ten schools — and Big Ten resources — in its conference.
Women's hockey only has 45 teams in Division I compared to 63 for men's hockey. There are fewer top-flight schools, resources-wise, and the game's Olympic-level players often funnel into a handful of schools.
Three of those programs — Wisconsin, Ohio State and Minnesota — reside in the WCHA. Schools like Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State, along with Minnesota State and St. Thomas last year, have found ways to remain competitive with the top three, but still trail in the WCHA's competitive hierarchy.
Fryklund's first two years as head coach saw plenty of retooling, which included a pair of large freshman classes. The Beavers brought in eight rookies and three transfers in each of the last two seasons. Even with so many new faces, BSU has managed to
keep most of its top contributors
heading into Fryklund's third year behind the bench.
It's led to an intriguing 2026-27 season. Bemidji State will comfortably field its oldest roster in Fryklund's three seasons as head coach. Raeley Carney and Heidi Strompf are the only two graduates from last year. The Beavers only lost one major point driver — winger Isa Goettl — to the transfer portal, along with three depth options (forward Paige Smith, defenseman Ana Davis and goaltender Eva Filippova).
Along with the sophomore portal additions of former Quinnipiac forward Ruby Rauk and former Minnesota Duluth goaltender Sophia Villanueva, Bemidji State will have eight seniors and graduate players, six juniors and seven sophomores.
"Because we've had such a large class of incoming players over the past two years, this year's incoming class wasn't a huge one for us, needs-wise," Fryklund said. "As you go into 2027-28, we'll be a lot older. We'll have a lot of juniors and seniors. This is a huge conversation about our plan, long-term."
That conversation officially changed — and became even more important — on June 23 when the NCAA's Division I Cabinet
adopted the age-based eligibility model.
In an overhaul of the NCAA's eligibility rules, the Cabinet approved a model in which all Division I student-athletes receive five years of eligibility if they enroll at their respective institutions no later than the academic year after their 19th birthday. This model was
adopted by Division II on Aug. 5.
While the Beavers only have two freshmen in their 2026-27 incoming class — forwards Davina Davis and Dior Stringer — current student-athletes are also impacted by age-based eligibility, which was implemented ahead of this athletic season. Players who were previously enrolled will choose between the old and the new eligibility models to follow, whichever gives them more eligibility.
"It's going to change everything differently for everyone," Fryklund said. "How it impacts women's hockey in different ways is certainly different from men's hockey. For us, the immediate impact is on current players and their ability to play that fifth year.
"All of us coaches are navigating this right now."
Aside from graduate goaltender Ava Hills, who will enter her fifth season after taking a redshirt year while playing for New Hampshire — the redshirt rule is also eliminated through age-based eligibility — current student-athletes can now play one more year of women's college hockey than they previously thought.
Traditional seniors for 2026-27 will get one more season in 2027-28. Juniors have two more years, and so on. Whether those years will be used by the players or the programs they play for will be sorted on a case-by-case basis.
One big question revolves around which WCHA schools will reap the benefits of the age-based eligibility model more than others in the immediate future. One might ask, "If Bemidji State wants to bring older players back for an extra year, wouldn't the other WCHA schools do the same?" Yes, of course, but in having the ability to bring back more established collegiate players than its counterparts, BSU could close the gap on the like-sized schools ahead of them sooner than it would have.
In returning over 80% of its points from a year ago, Bemidji State players and coaches believe this is the year to get out of the bottom of the WCHA. That runway could extend beyond this season if its top players want to come back for a fifth year.
"Those are current conversations that we're having," Fryklund said. "For some players, they might have aspirations to continue playing beyond college. Having that extra year could be beneficial. ... But then you have the academic piece. What are the academic options for them to continue playing? You also have players who were not planning on playing beyond college, and maybe they already have those plans in place.
"Every player is different in their goals and aspirations. As a program, we're having those conversations with players and figuring out what it looks like for them. We're figuring out what their options are and what options we have as a program."
Because age-based eligibility is a uniform rule for all NCAA-sponsored sports in Division I and II, each BSU program has to find answers to the same questions Fryklund currently has about her roster. But as the Beavers enter a season with more in-game experience at the WCHA level than they've ever had before under Fryklund, finding a way to keep high-impact players for an extra year could be an added boost to the rebuild.
Fryklund said these conversations with players and coaches have already begun and will continue to happen throughout the season. She did not name specific players she wants to bring back for the 2027-28 season who would have previously expired their eligibility, but there are a few obvious difference-making candidates.
Forward Hailey Armstrong is entering her second season as the Beavers' captain and is coming off of a career-high 22-point season.
Forward Kate Johnson is coming off her best season as a junior, where she turned into one of the Beavers' best puck-distributors (11 assists).
Shelby Sandberg took a leap as a junior on the third line with a career high in goals (four), assists (five) and points (nine).
Rising junior center Morgan Smith is another interesting five-year candidate. She had 28 points as a sophomore with career highs in goals (13) and assists (15). Forward Izy Fairchild should also be considered after a jump as a sophomore, as well as goaltender Kaitlin Groess.
These considerations, however, are certainly a two-way street. Just because a player can play college hockey for five seasons does not mean they will, or even want to.
"To have those players who are great leaders, and then have the ability to keep them around for another year, it can be super valuable to programs like ours to have that experience (another year)," Fryklund said. "You want that leadership from the kids who have already made that impact in the classroom and on the ice. It's an invaluable thing to have in your program.
"The days of projecting and planning out your roster changed with the transfer portal. You have some unknowns and have to adapt quickly in some situations. You can't just wait until the season is over to have those conversations. You have to always be thinking years out, and it's something that's a constant conversation."
One ripple effect of age-based eligibility is the ensuing logjam of players trying to enter the collegiate ranks. We saw it in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic when players were granted an additional year to play. Coaches will be forced to make tough decisions and have even tougher conversations with current players and recruits for limited spots on rosters, which should lead to huge numbers in the transfer portal.
But for Bemidji State, which is eager to make a jump with an experience-laden team over the next two years, that decision-making process could present some obvious answers.
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