Box Score

BLAINE, Minn. - It's hard to call an 8-7 win pretty, but then again, beauty is all in the eye of the beholder. While there were certainly some pretty goals worthy of highlight reels, the cliche "a win is a win" certainly applied to Bethel's victory over the visiting Hamline Pipers tonight.

Before reading any further, consider two things: the first is that the longest stretch of game time without a goal for either team tonight was 11:17. The other is that back in October, Bethel's football team defeated Hamline 9-7. The same score almost happened tonight. With an empty net and time waning, the Royals managed to get a slow trickler of a shot off. A little more momentum on the puck and a couple more ticks on the clock, the Bethel hockey team would have matched the football team. Unfortunately, "almost" doesn't count.

Now, on to the scoring that did happen.

The goals came fast and in bunches for both teams tonight. By the time five minutes had elapsed, Hamline was up 2-0. Not to be outdone, Bethel came back and scored three unanswered goals in the span of five and a half minutes to go up 3-2 -- and, oh, there was still 7:29 remaining in the first period.

Chris Fiala (Fr., Vadnais Heights, Minn.- pictured left) began the scoring blitz for the Royals when he scored on a power play just past the seven minute mark of the first period. Less than a minute and a half later, Fiala was in on Bethel's game-tying goal as Brent Kettelkamp (Sr., Richfield, Minn.) put the puck past Hamline starting goalie Matt Wanvig with the help of Kent Bostrom (Sr., Vadnais Heights, Minn.) for another power play goal. Roughly four minutes later, it was Bostrom's turn to score, and the team captain did so with the help of Fiala and John Kovacs (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) to give Bethel it's first lead of the night - once again, on a power play.

But the period, let alone the game, was far from over.

Hamline's Ryan Kupperman, who scored the first goal of the game, knotted the game at three goals apiece when he scored with 4:10 remaining in the first period. Barely a minute later, Andrew Birkholz put the Pipers back up on top 4-3, which is where the score would stay ... for the time being.

At the beginning of the second period, both teams switched their goalies, and for the first eight minutes of the second period, it looked like the change would stop the bleeding. But at 8:08, Christian Fogerty (So., Forest Lake, Minn.) teamed up with Eric Adams (Sr., Litchfield, Minn.) and Kettelkamp to rip Hamline's Band-Aid off and tie the game at 4-4. Unfortunately, like an rash that would simply not go away, Hamline scored nearly seven minutes later to take their third lead of the game at 5-4.

Captain Bostrom (pictured right) swooped in to even the score at 17:37 into the second period, this time scoring his second goal of the game with the help of Brad Peterson (Sr., Bloomington, Minn.) and Fiala. Alas, it would not be enough. Chris Berenguer put Hamline back up on top and sent the Pipers into their locker room with a 6-5 lead when he scored with 24 seconds remaining in the second period.

Although Hamline entered the game as the #14 team in the nation according to the latest USCHO.com poll, Bethel knew they were skating right along with the Pipers and thus came out in the third period determined to win.

Hero-of-the-day Bostrom tied the game for the fifth time with his third goal of the night and eight of the season just 1:10 into the third period, with assists going to Kyle Dynan (Jr., Orono, Minn.) and Peterson. The hat trick was the first of the season for Bostrom, who would finish with five points thanks to an assist on Bethel's next goal, which happened at 6:27 of the third period. Mason Swenson (Fr., Eagan, Minn.) scored on a power play and Fiala also notched an assist to give him his first career five-point game.

Swenson's power play goal was Bethel's fourth in five opportunities. Very few teams can boast an 80 percent power play efficiency in a game, but tonight, the Royals could seemingly not be stopped with a man advantage.

With the score now 7-6 in favor of the Royals, Kettelkamp (pictured left) scored what proved to be the insurance goal Bethel would need at 7:35 with the help of Adams. Just under six minutes remained when Hamline scored to make the game 8-7 in favor of Bethel. The Pipers pulled goalie Beau Christian to skate with a player advantage for the remaining 46 seconds of the game, but the Royals defense proved to be too much and hung on to the win.

Contrary to popular belief in an 8-7 game, Bethel's winning goalie is to be recognized for his efforts. True, the goalposts may have been magnetized to attract the puck, but nonetheless, Patrick Kiely (Jr., Muskegon, Mich. - pictured right) stopped 29 of the 32 shots that came his way for his first win of the season.

Bethel's win gives them a 9-8-1 record overall and a 5-4 record in conference play, which pulls them even with Hamline at 10 points apiece in the standings. The Pipers fall to 10-5-1 overall and 5-2 in the MIAC with the loss. The same two teams are scheduled to face off against each other once again tomorrow evening at 7:15 p.m. at Drake Arena in St. Paul. While there are no promises of any scoring, if it is anything like tonight's game, fans will be in for an excellent MIAC showdown.