BLAINE, Minn. – The Bethel University women's hockey team rattled off five unanswered goals to run away with a 6-2 victory in the MIAC opener against Saint Mary's University. After finding themselves down 1-0 at the end of the first period and 2-1 early in the second, the Royals quickly tied the game up, exploding for five goals in the second period alone. Four different Royals scored on the night as Bethel fired off 39 shots on the night to just 22 for SMU.
The Royals outshot SMU 15-5 in the first period but it was the Cardinals who scored the lone goal of the period at 12:30 on a power play. Bethel did not wait long into the second period to tie the game up as
Sarah Moy scored off a rebound on a
Megan O'Brian shot. SMU took the lead back though at 6:06. It would be the last highlight of the night for Saint Mary's however, as Moy scored again just 37 seconds later to retie the game at 2-2. Three minutes later the Royals took the lead for good on a
Kaitlyn VanTassel goal, the first of her collegiate career.
Lauren Kolak assisted on VanTassel's score before adding a score of her own on her next shift. Kolak's goal was assisted by
Emma Johnson at 13:22.
Wendy Roberts then got in on the scoring with just nine seconds remaining in the period to make it 5-2 Royals. Roberts scored early in the third period again with assists from
Erika Geary and
Kirsten Olson. SMU was able to keep the Royals off the board the rest of the way.
Maggie Straka got the win in net for Bethel making 20 saves against an SMU team that came in at 2-0 and receiving votes in the latest USCHO.com Top 10 Poll. The win improves Bethel to 2-2 and 1-0 in the MIAC as they look to defend their MIAC championship from a year ago. The Royals will head to Winona, Minnesota in search of a series sweep, something they have not done against Saint Mary's since the 2007-08 season. The puck will drop at 2 p.m. at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena in Winona, Minnesota.
