ST. PETER, Minn. – Bethel's women's hockey team suffered its second loss of the season Saturday on the road at the hands of Gustavus Adolphus College. The Royals allowed an opening period goal to the Gusties and stayed within one goal until the middle of the third period when Gustavus pulled away in a 6-3 defeat over BU.

At the two-minute mark in the first period Gustavus took the initial 1-0 lead when Leah Johnson managed to get the puck past Bethel goalie Sophie Borgerding (So., Minneapolis, Minn.).

Charise Kendrick (So., Scandia, Minn.) fired her third goal of the season at the 2:19 mark in the second period, equalizing the score at one. The Gusties responded with two more goals in less than four minutes, pulling ahead 3-1 with 14 minutes still remaining in the middle period. Rachael Geng (Sr., South Saint Paul, Minn.) helped cut into the GAC lead, when posting her third goal of the season. Geng capitalized on a Casie Ecklund (So., Twig, Minn.) and Biz Huss (Jr., Beaver Bay, Minn.) pass with 4:48 remaining in the period. The second period ended with BU trailing 3-2, which proved to be the closest the Royals would get throughout the game.

The third period welcomed a plethora of goals for the opposing team as Gustavus tallied three consecutive goals within three minutes, giving the Gusties a 6-2 lead at the 8:29 mark in the final period. Cristina Masten (So., Fergus Falls, Minn.) mustered her fifth goal of the year and last goal of the competition four minutes later, with assists to going to Geng and Kalie Johnson (Fr., Richfield, Minn.).

In the 6-3 loss the Royals did an exceptional job taking advantage of the opportunities it had to score. Gustavus limited BU to just 16 shots and it was Missy Vavra (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) who led the Bethel charge with three shots. A host of other BU skaters tallied two shots.

Sophomore goalie Sophie Borgerding allowed six goals to GAC, yet posted 34 saves throughout the dual. The loss hands Borgerding her second loss in as many games in the 2011-12 campaign.

Bethel is back in action next weekend as it hosts two games at home against Concordia College. The Royals will face the Cobbers at 7 p.m. Friday night and 2 p.m. Saturday at Bethel Arena in the National Sports Center located in Blaine, Minn.