Box Score

BLAINE, Minn. - A week after two emotional and hard fought wins that helped Bethel clinch its third playoff berth in the past four seasons, the Royals were unable to sustain the momentum and fell by a score of 3-1 to the College of St. Catherine Wildcats.

The two teams skated to a scoreless tie in the first period, with neither team clearly dominating possession of the puck. St. Catherine players fired off nine shots compared to six for Bethel and each team was penalized twice.

In the second period, the Royals came out with more of a determination to score as they took 17 shots on goal compared to nine for the Wildcats. But for all their hard work to create momentum and scoring opportunities, Bethel was left empty handed at period's end while two St. Catherine shots went into the net within 21 seconds of each other making the score 2-0 in favor of the Wildcats.

The third period saw St. Catherine tack on another goal, this time by Michaela Michaelson, who earned an assist on the Wildcats second goal. Cassie Rooney was credited with her second assist of the game having also aided the second goal for St. Catherine.

Bethel was held scoreless for 59:03 of game time before Sandra Felten (Sr., Cashton, Wis.) scored her seventh goal of the season on a power play with the help of Bethany Murphy-Aultman (Sr., Grand Rapids, Minn.) to make the score 3-1. For Felten, the goal is her 90th career point in a Bethel uniform.

Royal goalie Nicole Jones (Fr., Mora, Minn.) held her own in front of the net tonight, making 24 saves. Her counterpart, Mel Gerten, skates away with the win by making 32 saves on 33 shots on goal.

The loss drops Bethel to 10-8-3 overall and 9-4-2 in the MIAC, while St. Catherine improves to 8-11-2 and 5-9-1 in the conference. The two team are scheduled to face off against each other tomorrow night at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis with the puck dropping at 7:30 p.m.