Cloquet’s Esse chooses Bemidji State

Carley Esse of Cloquet signed a national letter of intent Wednesday afternoon to play women’s collegiate ice hockey at Bemidji State University next winter. Esse officially signed at Cloquet Senior High School, with her parents by her side.

Esse, 18, a three-sport Cloquet senior, led Cloquet-Esko-Carlton in scoring last season with 16 goals and 12 assists for 28 points as a defenseman. The 5-foot-8 blue-liner has been a varsity player for the Lumberjacks since eighth grade and will captain CEC in 2012-13.

Esse said Wednesday afternoon that she visited BSU last January and made her official visit to campus the first week of November.

“I just really like the feel of the team, the coaching staff and the university,” Esse said of the Division I program. “It reminds me a lot of Cloquet and how hard we work. It seems like a really nice fit.”

Living just minutes from the ice arena, Esse comes from a hockey family. Her father, Dave, was an All-American at the University of Wisconsin Superior and has been the longtime CEC boys hockey coach, while Carley’s her older sister, Courtney, also played at UWS and the College of St. Scholastica.

While attending BSU, Esse plans to major in mathematics. She will also follow the footsteps of former Cloquet graduates, hockey standouts and teammates Montana Vichorek and Sadie Lundquist to play for the Beavers in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Tags: sports, cloquet, hockey, education