Blaine, Minn. – After locking its playoff fate up Friday evening with a 2-2 tie to the Cardinals, the Royals failed to move up in the standings and fell to Saint Mary's University 3-2 in its final regular season matchup. The home matinee found Bethel down early, which has been the trend as of late, only to tie it up with two second-period goals, yet SMU ended its season with a victory on a power play goal with just over five minutes remaining in the third. The loss drops BU to 9-7-2 within conference play, and lands the Royals in fifth place overall with 20 total points. Bethel tied St. Olaf College in total points, however, because of the series split between the two teams throughout the season, the tiebreaker among the top teams gave the advantage to the Oles.
Goalkeeper
Jess Newstrom (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) and the BU defense surrendered a first period goal to the Cardinal's Nicole Olson eight minutes into the frame at even strength. SMU increased its lead to two 37 seconds into the second when Alex Braun mustered her first goal of the year when playing 5-on-5 to make the score 2-0.
The Royals then began to build momentum at the 10:44 mark in the middle period when
Cristina Masten (So., Fergus Falls, Minn.) ratcheted her 16th goal of the season on a power play opportunity set up by
Rachael Geng (Sr., South Saint Paul, Minn.). The goal helped advance both Masten and Geng in power play points, who end the regular season as the No. 6 and No. 7 players among all conference competitors in power play scoring.
Haley Toter (Sr., Park Ridge, Ill.) found a timely occasion to tally the second goal of her senior season seven minutes later to help end the period in a 2-2 tie. Toter's touch shot was assisted by
Charise Kendrick (So., Scandia, Minn.), who evened the game yesterday with her sixth goal of the season.
Despite setting a new school record in games tied this season with six, Saint Mary's proved Saturday that the Cardinals were not satisfied in a 2-2 tie to end the year. With 14:33 off the clock Nicole Olson fired her second goal of the game and seventh of the season to give SMU the 3-2 victory. Braun, who scored earlier in the competition, assisted Olson's power play game-winner. Olson finished the afternoon affair with two goals and an assist.
The Royals finished the 60-minute session with 30 shots towards the Cardinals' net, yet only managed two goals. Bethel was limited to two shots in the first period, but came back with a vengeance in the second and third with 28 total shots.
Biz Huss (Jr., Beaver Bay, Minn.) posted five shots for BU, while Geng,
Casie Ecklund (So., Twig, Minn.) , and
Melanie Robertson (So., Plymouth, Minn.) each attempted four.
Newstrom finished the dual with 29 saves, including 12 in the third period. Yet, the Cardinals were able to compose a goal in each period to put the Royals away 3-2.
Bethel will travel to St. Olaf College on Tuesday, February 28 to face the Oles in the opening round of the MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs. The winner of the 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal will play No. 1 Gustavus Thursday March 1 at 7 p.m. in St. Peter, Minn.
