MIAC Women's Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week

ST. PAUL - The Bethel women's hockey team scored a big weekend sweep of Augsburg to move within one point of second place in the MIAC standings, and closer to clinching a berth in the 2013 MIAC Playoffs. Junior Cristina Masten (Fergus Falls, Minn.) had a hand in both victories, scoring a goal in each game and adding an assist for a three-point weekend against the Auggies. For her performance, Masten was named the MIAC Women's Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week.
 
“Masten, along with many other skaters, was very influential to our team's success this weekend,” commented head women's hockey coach Brian Carlson. “Her goal was the game-winner in a much-needed victory against the Auggies.”

Bethel's star forward was extremely clutch on Friday. The game was tied 1-1 after two periods, but she scored the game-winning goal 1:20 into the final period in the Royals' 2-1 win on Augsburg's home ice. Masten had seven shots and a plus-minus of plus-1 in Friday's victory. She had two points in the series finale Saturday on Bethel's home ice, scoring the Royals second goal just 5:33 into the game, and assisting on the third goal just six minutes later to give her team a quick 3-0 lead. Masten had seven shots and a plus-2 rating in Saturday's game. Masten's 21 points and 13 goals this season both rank third in the MIAC, and her eight assists are tied for 12th in the conference and she's ninth with 80 shots.

Additionally, with at least four games left this season, along with her entire senior campaign, Masten has already moved into fifth place on the Royals career scoring list. She needs 34 more points during that time to move ahead of all-time leading scorer Bethany Murphy-Aultman (06-09). Her teammate Biz Huss is just eight points away from moving in to second all-time on this list.

The big sweep helped Bethel improve to 11-8-2 overall and 8-4-2 in the MIAC. The Royals now have 18 points and sit in fourth place, just one point behind Concordia and St. Thomas, who have 19 points apiece. Bethel will try to extend its three-game winning streak this weekend with a series against Saint Benedict. Friday's game in on the Blazers' home ice at 7:30 p.m. with Bethel hosting Saturday's game at 3 p.m.
 
Carlson noted, “I'm excited to see the progress we're making and hope to see it continue in that direction throughout the remainder of the season.”