NORTHFIELD, Minn. - Bethel University's men's hockey group suffered four goal in the first period and was never able to recover Saturday night, falling to St. Olaf College 6-2. The Royals allowed another 40-plus shots on goal, while only composing 27 themselves.
Before BU blinked in the opening period the Oles had already manufactured its first goal, scoring in the initial two minutes of the game. St. Olaf later added three more goals at the 10-minute, 13-minute, and 14-minute mark in the first period. Senior
Jake Kogler (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) managed to get one back when scoring with under two minutes to play in the period. Kogler's 11th goal came from fellow first-line teammates
Jack Paul (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) and
Tyler Sorensen (So., Madison, Wis.).
Defenseman
Jon Crouse (Jr., Alexandria, Minn.) opened the second period with a Royal goal at the 11-minute mark, bringing BU to within two. Crouse found the net on a
Austin Hatch (Sr., Cloquet, Minn.) and
Chris Fiala (Sr., Vadnais Heights, Minn.) assist, giving the senior pair their 10th and 13th assist, respectively. Bethel's defense shut the Ole's out in the second period, giving hope for a potential comeback - similar to Friday evening's rally.
Yet St. Olaf squashed any thought of that immediately in the third period by scoring two goals in the first three minutes of the frame. In the lat frame BU managed just four shots, being kept away from anything close to the Ole net.
Play between the two squads remained intense as the teams combined for 72 penalty minutes throughout the entire game on 21 penalties. The Ole's capitalized on two power-play goals, while the Royals happened to deliver one.
The loss drops BU to 6-11-2 on the year, however, Bethel still remains among the top four teams in the conference with a 4-4-2 MIAC record. The Royals will clash with the Tommies of St. Thomas in its next two-game series, yet will get a solid two weeks of rest until it hits the ice again.
