Box Score

BLAINE, Minn. - In the span of 24 hours, Bethel and Hamline played two games that were each decided in the last 10 seconds of overtime. Last night, the Royals emerged victorious 3-2. Today, it was Hamline's turn, as the Pipers scored as time expired in the extra period, thus stunning the crowd and dashing Bethel's playoff hopes by defeating the Royals 2-1.

Today's game had playoff implications. Bethel knew it, and Hamline knew it, too, though they had been out of the race for some time. A win and Bethel was in. A tie or loss, the Royals would have to see how Saint Mary's fared against St. Olaf. The only solace in today's loss is that even if the Royals had hung on for one more second and tied, a tie still would not have been good enough anyway. Saint Mary's defeated St. Olaf and the two teams finished with 20 points, leaving the Royals on the outside looking in at 18 points in the conference standings.

The game started out well for Bethel. Allison Papko (Jr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) put the Royals up 1-0 with a goal at 6:08, assisted by Hillary Hartwig (Fr., Elk River, Minn.) and Haley Toter (So., Park Ridge, Ill.). However, 10 minutes later, Hamline answered and the game was tied. The game remained an offensive stalemate for the next two periods, and a significant portion of the overtime. The Royals were unable to take advantage of four power play opportunities in the third period alone, despite creating opportunities for open shots. Hamline goalie Amanda Plumm all but stood on her head to make saves, inducing many "oh!" moments from the home crowd. 

It's fair to say Hamline did a good job of controlling the puck for the second period, but Bethel dominated the third period and the first 4:55 of overtime by outshooting the Pipers 21-6. But all it took was an errant pass to be intercepted in the Bethel end, and the ensuing 2-on-1 was enough to hand the Royals a heartbreak to end the season.

The Royals did well to even get themselves to a potential playoff spot. After getting swept by St. Catherine, the team stood at 5-7 and was in the bottom half of the conference standings with just six games left to play, including two against St. Thomas, arguably one of the toughest teams in the MIAC. But a split with the Tommies, a sweep of the Auggies, and a win last night put Bethel's destiny in its own hands. Unfortunately, destiny was far too slippery to hold, and this afternoon's game will most certainly go down in the annals of the school's women's hockey history as one that got away.

For the record, Bethel finishes the season at 9-15 overall and 9-9 in the conference, while Hamline fulfilled the role of spoiler, finishing with a record of 7-15-3 overall and 4-12-2 in the MIAC.