Box Score

MOORHEAD, Minn. - Bethel gained precious ground in a tightening MIAC race by defeating the Concordia Cobbers on the road 3-1.  Thanks to a Hamline-St. Olaf tie and Gustavus loss, the Royals have pulled ahead of the Gusties again and are even with the Pipers at 11 points in the conference.

Matt Hall's (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.) power play goal with the help of Brad Peterson (Jr., Bloomington, Minn.) and current MIAC Player of the Week Dan Bonne (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) at the 2:07 mark of the second period gave the Royals a 1-0 lead.  Hall then scored another goal assisted by Peterson to put Bethel ahead for good.

Jeff Balvin (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.) helped the Royals capitalize on another power play opportunity by scoring less than a minute after Hall to give Bethel a 3-0 lead.  Christian Fogerty (Fr., Forest Lake, Minn.) and Bill Menozzi (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) were credited with the assist on the goal.  The assist gives Fogerty 14 points on the season, which is good for third in the conference for overall scoring among freshman.

Concordia pulled back within two goals early in the third period when Knut Bitustoeyl scored his third goal of the  season with the help of Ryan Clukey and Michael Weiss.  However, Aaron Damjanovich did not allow any more goals the rest of the evening, finishing with 31 saves.

Bethel improves to 5-3-1 in the conference and 10-5-2 overall.  Concordia falls to 1-14-1 overall and 0-6-1 in the MIAC.  The same two teams will face off against each other again tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.