BLAINE, Minn. – The Bethel University men's hockey team scored two early goals and led the No. 13-ranked University of Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons the entire game until UWRF scored with just seven seconds remaining in regulation to snatch victory away from the Royals, ending in a 2-2 tie. Bethel's Travis Payne scored twice in the early going and Jesse Garcia was outstanding in net for the Royals but using an extra skater after pulling their goalie, the Falcons were able to get the game tying goal in with just seven seconds remaining.

Bethel wasted little time in taking early control of the contest with the highly ranked Falcons, who have not lost in their last nine contests. Travis Payne took a pass from George Splichal, who had just stolen the puck deep in the Falcons zone, and finished to put Bethel up 1-0 just 1:22 into the game. Payne then added another score at 8:43 in the first period with assists to Dallas Marvin and Dylan Webster. The Royals maintained their two goal lead until late in the second period when the Falcons were able to break through to make it a 2-1 game. Garcia was outstanding throughout the entire game, but especially in the second and third periods where he made 23 combined saves to keep Bethel on top until a scrum in the final seconds. After pulling their goalie with just over a minute-and-a-half remaining the Falcons used the extra skater to be able to generate shots. UWRF fired off four shots that were stopped by Garcia before a loose puck in front of the net which Garcia was not able to reach through the sticks and bodies on the ice, was put in by the Falcons with just seven seconds remaining. The Royals would rebound in the overtime period to outshoot the Falcons 3-0 but were unable to get the game winner, settling for the 2-2 tie.

The tie for the Falcons was just their second tie, against no losses, in their last nine games. UWRF has a record of 4-2-2 against MIAC opponents this season and is now 10-4-2 overall. The tie is the second for Bethel, the last coming in the season opener, as the Royals are now 1-10-2 overall. The next action for Bethel is another home contest with the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Saturday night.