Box Score
BLAINE, Minn. - Bethel won its fifth game in a row and maintained sole possession of first place with a 6-2 win over visiting Saint Mary's tonight at Bethel University Arena.
Bethel jumped out to a quick lead behind Kent Bostrom's (Jr., Vadnais Heights, Minn.) ninth goal of the season, assisted by Christian Fogerty (Fr., Forest Lake, Minn.), at the 4:13 mark of the first period. Less than three minutes later, Kyle Ronning (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.) scored his first goal of the season with the help of Robby Nicholson (So., Eagan, Minn.).
Saint Mary's struck back with a power play goal by Cardinal's leading scorer Mike Glaesner 10:46 into the period. It was Glaesner's 13th goal, assisted by Anthony Bohn, and Adam Gill.
Fogerty pushed the Royals lead back out to two when he scored his 11th goal of the season with just 1:21 remaining in the period with the help of Jeff Balvin (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.) and Bostrom. Fogerty then struck again 12:14 into the second period with the help of Balvin and Bostrom again, making the score 4-1 and keeping him in the top five leading scorers among MIAC freshmen.
The Cardinals cut the Royals lead in half as Jesse Polk scored with the help of Matt Staehely and Morgan Shepherd, giving Saint Mary's their second power play goal of the evening with 3:09 remaining in the period. The Cardinals were 2-for-5 on power play opportunities on the night.
Bethel scored a power play goal of their own after Balvin scored with the help of Bostrom and Brent Kettelkamp (Jr., Richfield, Minn.). With the Royals holding a two-skater advantage, Kettelkamp scored his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Dan Bonne (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) and John Kovacs (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.), to round out Bethel's scoring.
The game saw its fair share of penalties, the most of which came in the third period. Saint Mary's earned six of their nine penalties in the third period alone, including a spraying the goalie penalty. Bethel was penalized seven times on the evening.
The win keeps Bethel in first place thanks to some help from Hamline, who defeated St. Thomas 5-4. The Royals improve to 14-5-2 overall and 9-3-1 in the MIAC. The Cardinals fall to 7-11-2 overall and 4-7 in conference play. The same two teams will face off against each other tomorrow night at the Saint Mary's University Ice Arena inWinona, Minn., 7 p.m.
