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BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Bethel scored three goals during the second period of today's game against Gustvus. However, the Royals were unable to hang on to their lead as the Gusties won 4-3 in the MIAC Hockey Showcase at the Bloomington Ice Garden.

The Royals were held scoreless for the entire game against Augsburg on Friday afternoon, and then for the first 25 minutes of game time against Gustavus tonight. With Bethel trailing 1-0 in the second period, Chris Fiala (So., Vadnais Heights, Minn.) broke the Royals out of that slump with a goal, assisted by Jack Paul (Fr., Minnetonka, Minn.).

Austin Hatch (So., Cloquet, Minn.) put Bethel up 2-1 a little over 10 minutes later with his first goal of the season with the help of Jon Crouse (Fr., Alexandria, Minn.) and Christian Fogerty (Jr., Forest Lake, Minn.) on a power play. Then, barely two minutes later, Fiala struck again making the score 3-1 in favor of the Royals. His goal also came on a power play, and once again, Crouse and Hatch were part of the action as they were both credited with assists on the goal.

Unfortunately, last year's national runners-up found a way to get back into the game and win it. Just 34 seconds after Fiala's goal, Gustavus scored a shorthanded goal to make the score 3-2, which is where it would stay for the remainder of the period. Less than three minutes into the third period, the Gusties capitalized on a man advantage to even the score at 3-3.

The two teams remained deadlocked for the next 11 minutes until James Leathers of Gustavus scored what proved to be the game winning goal. Bethel tried valiantly to tie the score, but the team's efforts to get an extra man on the ice were thwarted by a penalty with less than a minute and a half to play. The Royals did pull goalie Aaron Damjanovich (Sr., Remer, Minn.) with 27 seconds left, but to no avail.

Damjanovich made 26 saves on the night as the Gusties outshot the Royals 30-17. Each team was penalized six times, and the Royals took advantage of two of their power play opportunities. A Gustavus player received a game misconduct penalty in the second period, allowing the Royals to score one of their goals.

Gustavus improves to 1-0 on their season, while Bethel leaves the MIAC Hockey Showcase at the Bloomington Ice Garden (BIG) with an 0-2 record to start the 2009-10 campaign. Although the BIG was not kind to Bethel this time around, it has been beneficial in other ways over the years as it was the stage where several former Royal standouts such as Joe Eckerle, Chad Anderson, and most recently, Brad Peterson developed.