ST. PETER, Minn. – After knocking off St. Olaf College earlier in the week in a 5-4 overtime classic, the Royals were in range to make similar history Thursday night in St. Peter when competing against Gustavus Adolphus College. Neither team composed a goal within the 60-minute regulation, as BU goalkeeper Jess Newstrom (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) was sensational, until the Gusties rallied to score the game-winning goal at the 6:25-mark in the overtime session.
 
Gustavus statistically owned a 47-15 shot advantage, however, those watching saw that Bethel had just as many strong scoring opportunities as its opponents. The Gusties fired from all over the rink, yet BU took select shots that just missed or were saved by the GAC goalie.
 
Despite only having 15 shots, BU still did an outstanding job of making every shot count, as several pucks nearly lit the lamp for the Royals. In fact, near the end of regulation Bethel had the home crowd uneasy due to the ferocious intensity around the Gustavus goal. Rachael Geng (Sr., South Saint Paul, Minn.) ends her career as one of two leaders to lead the team in shots, as she and Biz Huss (Jr., Beaver Bay, Minn.) each totaled four shots. Cristina Masten (So., Fergus Falls, Minn.) and Kaylen Erchul (Fr., Gilbert, Minn.) each had two.
 
Coming into the night's showdown anticipation was heightened as the MIAC had released earlier in the day that Gustavus' Allie Schwab was noted as the Player-of-the-Year, however, Geng was honored with the Shelia Brown Award – which posed quite the faceoff between the two.
 
Schwab and the Gusties got the best of the Royals Thursday evening, as it was the second year in a row that Gustavus knocked BU out of the conference playoff picture (GAC defeated BU in the MIAC Championship in 2011).
 
Jess Newstrom was phenomenal for Bethel in the semifinal affair. The junior out of Cambridge, Minn. stuffed 46 shot attempts by Gustavus and kept the No. 1 seed in the playoffs scoreless for 66 minutes. The MIAC All-Conference Honorable Mention goalie kept a team that has scored 123 goals this season and averaged 4.73 goals per game to just the game-winner at 66:25.
 
The Royals end its season with an overall record of 12-11-4 and a MIAC mark of 9-7-2. For Head Coach Brian Carlson, his two-year tenure has welcomed a 27-21-6 record along with a conference total of 20-12-4. BU says goodbye to three seniors, including two All-Conference defensemen in Anna Carlson (Sr., Roseville, Minn.) and Rachael Geng.