Bemidji girls hockey earns Team of the Year after state run
Bemidji girls hockey was named Team of the Year after a section title, a 19-year state drought ended and a standing-room crowd packed the arena.
Bemidji girls hockey’s return to the state tournament ended with one more local honor: the team was named the Bemidji Pioneer’s Team of the Year after a season that delivered a Section 8AA title, a packed Bemidji Community Arena and the program’s first state berth since 2007.
The Lumberjacks won the Section 8AA championship on Feb. 12, 2026, beating reigning champion Moorhead 4-3 at Bemidji Community Arena. Bemidji led 4-1 late before surviving a frantic finish, and the victory gave the program its third section title and first since 2007. It also ended a 19-year absence from the state stage, a drought that had kept Bemidji out of the Minnesota State High School League tournament since the 2007 season.
The section final drew a standing-room-only crowd, and players said they had never seen the rink that full. That kind of turnout reflected how much the run meant in Beltrami County, where the girls hockey program had not played for a section championship in 16 years before this winter’s breakthrough. The night at Bemidji Community Arena became the kind of packed-home-game scene the program had been building toward for years.
Bemidji entered the Class AA state tournament as the No. 5 seed and played Edina in the quarterfinals on Feb. 19, 2026, at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Bemidji rallied late and pulled within 5-4 in regulation before falling 6-4, but the state appearance still capped the program’s strongest season in nearly two decades.
Senior forward Megan Berg was a central part of that push. The two-year captain was named the 2026 Class AA Herb Brooks Award recipient and finished the run with 16 goals and 25 assists. Coach Mike Johnson said Berg was the kind of player who would do anything the team needed, including taking defensive assignments against an opponent’s top scorers. For Bemidji, Berg’s season and the team’s section title gave the program a clear measure of where it stands now, and where the next group of local players can aim.
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