Keeping Them In The Hunt

While the WCHA quarterfinal games are normally entertaining, I don't spend much time covering the women's US collegiate game for the simple reason that I never get to see the games. I hadn't been following the action early in the evening, but it seemed like more and more people were talking about a game between the Bemidji State Beavers and the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs as the night went on. UMD had defeated Bemidji State last night in overtime by a 2-1 score, and tonight these two teams decided that one overtime period wasn't enough.

Gabbie Hughes put the Bulldogs up 1-0 at 8:48 of the first period before Reece Hunt replied at 11:36 for the Beavers to make it 1-1. From there, Maddie Rooney in the UMD net and Lauren Bench in the BSU net put on clinics for how to defend the nets over 120 minutes of play - that's six periods if you're doing the math - as Game Two rolled into a fourth-overtime period tied at 1-1.

Rather than describe the winner, here is the video of the game-winning goal. I'll have more on this player below as you watch an oddly-silent video of the fourth-longest game in NCAA women's hockey history come to an end!

Here is tonight's game-winning goal in tonight's record setting game.Courtesy of @reecehunt44 #GoBeavers #BeaverTerritory pic.twitter.com/RHBCak6i6r

— Beaver Womens Hockey (@BSUBeaversWHKY) March 1, 2020

So who was the game-winning goal scorer? That would be the already-mentioned Reece Hunt who forced a Game Three in this series with her goal at 128:43 in this game! If you haven't heard of Reece Hunt, here's your primer on a woman who had a heckuva freshman year for the Bemidji State Beavers under head coach Jim Scanlan.

Hunt was born in Nelson, British Columbia and played her prep hockey in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League for the Okanagan Hockey Academy after a 16-goal, 31-point season for the Kootenay Wild in BC Female Midget AAA hockey. Reece's two season at OHA were very productive as she scored well over a point-per-game pace. In 2017-18, she 8 goals and 25 points in 21 games and followed that up by scoring 14 goals and 45 points in her senior year at OHA. Needless to say, she made an impression on the staff at Bemidji State who recruited her to join the Beavers.

She continued to light the lamp at the NCAA level after adjusting to collegiate life. Hunt was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team after scoring four goals and 15 points in 34 games this season that included a February 8 hat trick against the University of Minnesota. As the season progressed, you could see she was figuring out this WCHA hockey scene as she began to pile up the points late in the campaign. Since January 1, Hunt has recorded three goals and five assists in the second-half of the regular season.

That effort has now been seen against the Bulldogs in these two quarterfinal games as Hunt has been in on every goal the Beavers have scored in this series. She recorded as assist on Haley Mack's goal in the 2-1 Game One loss before scoring both goals tonight in the 2-1 victory. Whatever changed over the December break for Hunt, it's been working well for her over the last couple of months!

Game Three between Bemidji State and UMD will happen in Duluth, Minnesota tomorrow at 4:07pm CT. It should also be noted that Bemidi State goaltender Lauren Bench stopped 70-of-71 shots tonight to set a program record for most saves in a single game, breaking the previous record of 66 set by Janet Hicks on February 1, 1999. Bench's 70 saves also tied her for ninth-most in NCAA history. Head coach Jim Scanlan also picked up the 100th win of his coaching career, becoming the first Beavers women's hockey head coach to reach that mark.

For those that may be asking for a little more about Reece Hunt, she does come from a good hockey bloodline as her brother, Dryden, plays in the Florida Panthers system, appearing with both the Panthers and the AHL Springfield Thunderbirds this season, while her dad, Jeff, played for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds! While both have some impressive credentials to their names already, it seems that Reece Hunt is just beginning to write her story as she is now in the NCAA history books with the game-winning goal in the fourth-longest game in NCAA history!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!