Steve Sertich enters his eighth season as head coach of the BSU women's hockey program in 2013-14. Sertich has helped propel the Beavers to heights never seen before. Before a 6-26-2 finish in 2012-13, BSU had accumulated 43 wins in a three-season span, BSU's best three-year total in the program's 14 years of existence.

Sertich's 2011-12 squad was the first BSU women's hockey squad to ever achieve a national ranking after defeating eventual national champion University of Minnesota Oct. 29. The team rose as high as No. 7 in the nation and was ranked o received votes in the national polls every week from Oct. 1-Feb. 27. In addition, Zuzana Tomcikova became the program's first All-America selection with a stellar 2011-12 campaign and also became the school's first All-WCHA First Team pick. Sertich picked up a career-best 17 wins at the helm last season, including five wins over ranked foes.

During the 2010-11 season, Sertich led the team to a fifth place finish in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, a program best. The same season saw the Beavers open their new home, the Sanford Center, and claim their best home winning record in program history at 9-5-2. The Beavers also captured their first ever wins over top-ranked teams, topping Mercyhurst 5-3 on Oct. 16 and downing Minnesota Duluth for the first time ever in a 1-0 win on Nov. 5.

At the end of the 2009-10 regular season, Sertich was honored as the 2010 WCHA Coach of the Year. Finishing tied for fifth place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with a 12-19-7 overall record (9-12-7-3 WCHA), the team claimed its first-ever playoff victory. The team eventually won its playoff series in three games at St. Cloud State and made the debut trip to the WCHA Final Face-Off, where it bowed out with a loss to eventual NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth.

In the spring of 2010, Sertich was inducted into the Minnesota High School Hockey Coaches Hall of Fame. The honor, which is bestowed by the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association, is given to coaches that have made outstanding contributions to the sport of hockey in the state of Minnesota.

Under his tutelage, the BSU women's hockey team has posted its most conference wins in a single season, with nine in both 2009-10 and 2006-07. Sertich has also coached two Olympians while at Bemidji State: Nina Ziegenhals who played for Team Germany in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and Zuzana Tomickova who played for Team Slovakia in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

During summer 2008, Sertich served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women's Under-22 Select team that played in the annual three-game Women's Under-22 Series with Canada, which took place from Aug. 20-23.

Sertich came to Bemidji State University after spending 13 years as the head varsity coach at Roseville Area High School. He coached the Roseville boys' team from 1993-2003, leading it to a 156-71-11 record and two Minnesota State tournament appearances. Under Sertich's guidance, Roseville finished third in the 2002 tournament and second in 2003. He led Roseville to Suburban East Conference Championships in 2002 and 2003. Sertich earned four Coach of the Year honors, as he was named Section 3AA Boys' Coach of the Year in 1999, Section 2AA Boys' Coach of the Year in both 2002 and 2003, and Class AA Coach of the Year in 2003.

In 2003, Sertich moved to head coach of the Roseville girls' varsity team and in three seasons with the position, he led the program to a record of 62-21-2. The Roseville girls finished fourth in the 2006 state tournament and captured Suburban East Conference titles in both 2004 and 2005. Sertich was named the 2004 Section 2AA Girls' Coach of the Year. Sertich began his coaching career in 1976 as the head boys' varsity coach at Northfield High School, and over the next 20 years he held a variety of head and assistant coaching positions at the high school, college and national levels.

After one year at Northfield, he moved on to Virginia High School as head boys' varsity hockey coach for one year, was an assistant with Team Midwest in the U.S. National Development Program at the 1979 Olympic Sports Festival, spent one year as an assistant at Colorado College in 1982-83, and served three years as an assistant coach at Palmer (Colo.) High School from 1983-86.

He returned back to Minnesota in 1987 as the assistant boys' varsity coach at BlaineHigh School and later served as an assistant at Richfield High School. In 1997, he was an assistant for Team Minnkota with the U.S. Development Program Select 17 program.

Sertich also has extensive camp coaching experience, starting as the director and head coach of the Minnesota Hockey Satellite Training Program in Roseville from 1995-2003. In addition, he has been the director of the Roseville Summer Hockey School since 2000 and the director and head coach of the Roseville Hockey Satellite Training Program since 2003.

Sertich began his playing career with the Colorado College Tigers in 1970 and assembled a standout four-year career, during which he played 125 games and scored 162 points (75 goals, 87 assists). He had 53 points as a junior in 1972-73 and 61 points as a senior in 1973-74.

Sertich was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1973-75 and was also a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team, which finished fifth at the Innsbruck, Austria games. The U.S. team recorded wins over Finland and Poland en route to a 2-3 finish in Group A.

Sertich also played two years in the German Professional League, spending the 1974-75 season as captain for Fussen and two seasons from 1978-80 playing for Nurnburg.

In May 2007, Sertich became the Vice President of Board of Directors for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum located in Eveleth, Minn. Some of his responsibilities as Vice President of Board of Directors included making decisions on marketing and purchasing endeavors, along with planning and making decisions for specific operations taking place throughout the year. Currently, Sertich was behind the organizing of the women's U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game which began in 2008 in a game at the Hippodrome in Eveleth, Minn. that feature the Beavers and the University of Wisconsin.

Sertich graduated from Colorado College in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education and humanities. He received a master's degree in elementary education from Minnesota State in 1999.

Sertich's son, Marty Sertich, played for the Tigers from 2002-06 and scored 181 points (61 goals, 121 assists) during a stellar four-year career. He won the 2005 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to the most outstanding player in college hockey, and was a finalist for the award in 2006. He was First-Team All WCHA and WCHA Player of the Year in 2005 and was a second team All-WCHA selection in 2006. Marty is currently playing professional hockey in Switzerland for EHC Olten.

Shane Veenker is entering is seventh full season with the Bemidji State women's hockey team after being hired midway through the 2006-07 season. Veenker serves as the recruiting coordinator whose responsibilities include working with the Beavers' defensive unit, defensive zone coverage, and video breakdown.

Since joining the staff at BSU, Veenker has helped the Beavers earn their first winning season in program history along with the team's first and highest national ranking of No. 7. He has also coached the first All-American and Olympian in program history in goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova (Bratislava, Slovakia) and helped guide Bemidji State to the WCHA Final Face-Off in 2010.

Veenker joined the Beaver staff after serving as an assistant coach for the Bemidji High School girls' hockey team, before which he head coached the Bagley-Fosston High School boys' hockey team. The native of Windom, Minn. played high school hockey for his hometown team and before graduating from Bemidji State University in 1993 and 2001.

While attending BSU, Veenker was employed for four seasons as the manager of the men's hockey team, where he worked under legendary Beaver hockey coach R.H. 'Bob' Peters.

Veenker has worked extensively with the USA Hockey Development Program serving as a Select 14, 15, 16, and 17 coach. He also has previous work experience in the World League of American Football (NFL Europe) and as a graduate assistant for the University of Minnesota football team.

Amber Fryklund, BSU's all-time leading scorer, returned to Bemidji as an assistant coach in 2011 after concluding her playing career in 2003. She will be entering her third season as assistant coach for the BSU women's hockey team in 2013-14. Fryklund assists in recruiting, as well as overseeing the team's travel plans, their strength and conditioning program and working with the team's penalty kill unit.

Fryklund helped lay the groundwork for the Bemidji State women's hockey program in its infancy. She became the first women's player to surpass the 100-point milestone and remains the school's leader in both points and goals scored and is second all-time in assists. Fryklund was also BSU's first All-Western College Hockey Association selection with a second team nod following the 2001-02 season. As a senior, she was invited to try out for the U.S. National Team. Following her collegiate career, Fryklund went on to play for the Minnesota Blue Jays Senior A Team and Duluth North Stars Senior A team before playing professionally in 2006-07 for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the Western Women's Hockey League.

Fryklund not only brings a familiarity with the Bemidji State University women's hockey program but also a familiarity with high school hockey in the state of Minnesota. The native of Hibbing, Minn., who was a Miss Minnesota Hockey Finalist in her prep playing days, was co-head coach of the Duluth Northern Stars from 2004-09 and an assistant coach for the Proctor-Hermantown-Marshall Mirage from 2009-11. In addition, Fryklund has worked hockey camps across the state of Minnesota and also served as an evaluator for USA Hockey in Minnesota for girls ages 16 and 17.

In addition to coaching, Fryklund spent seven years teaching physical education to students in grades five through eight at the Marshall School and Duluth Public Schools Academy, both in Duluth, Minn.

Fryklund received her Bachelor of Science degree in physical education teaching K-12 from Bemidji State in 2003. She received her Master's degree in educational leadership from University of Minnesota Duluth in 2007.