Bemidji State soccer’s rise into a national power

In the early 2000s, some Bemidji State students heard a knock at their doors. Waiting for them to answer was Jim Stone, desperate to find enough players for his new team.

“I think I was hired about six weeks before the season began,” said the BSU women’s soccer head coach. “There were two failed searches, so I was like the last choice. They brought me up here, and here I am 20 years later.”

The days of ragtag rosters are long gone now. In Stone’s 20-year tenure, the Beavers have risen into a national power. The latest example of proof came Monday, when the team earned its latest bid to the NCAA Tournament. (Editor's note: The Beavers went on to reach the Sweet 16 that season, which was a new program best at the time.)

“To go from literally posting signs in dorms to getting to this point, it’s pretty phenomenal and pretty humbling,” Stone said. “It’s been a great journey.”

A program holding national championship hopes is a far cry from the program Stone inherited in 2002.

That team had to forfeit its first game of the year. Finally they convinced two women’s hockey players to join – with one of them even scoring during a 3-1 win in the season opener. But the hockey players soon returned to the ice, and the soccer team faced lopsided losses while still battling shortages on the frontlines.

“I remember one game, I hadn’t seen a kid in like two weeks,” Stone said. “Well, she shows up to pregame. And she ended up starting for us. It was an experience that I’ll never forget and one that I never want to partake in again.”

Those are certainly not days Stone misses.

“I was kind of concerned because I was only on a one-year contract,” he said. “I’m like, ‘What’s going on here?’ I was tenured where I was, too. I was thinking, ‘Did I make the right choice?’ Our (old) house hadn’t sold yet. I’m like, ‘Do I just take off and go home?’ It was a really, really stressful time.”

Stone survived his first season and even stuck around. By 2004, Bemidji State had double-digit wins for the first time ever. And the program has zero losing records since 2005, and they’ve made the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons.

Oh, and as for recruiting, Stone’s not going door-to-door anymore.

“Coach played a big role in why a lot of us want to come and play here,” junior midfielder Maggie Cade said. “He is a Godly man and he treats everyone with respect and love. You know that he cares about you.”

“Our alumni are still a big part of this program,” senior midfielder Megan French added. “They’re still a part of who we are today, and they’ve built the program into what it is.”