BLAINE, Minn. — Behind a dominant second period and a three-goal night from senior forward Tyler Kostelecky, the Bethel University men's hockey team opened the 2025–26 season with an emphatic 6–2 victory over Beloit College on Friday evening at the National Sports Center.
Beloit opened the scoring late in the first period when Tommy Kundinger converted at 15:10, giving the Buccaneers a brief 1–0 advantage. From there, Bethel took control.
The Royals exploded for four goals in the middle frame — two of them on the power play — to seize momentum and never look back. Kostelecky struck first at 2:34 on the man advantage to even the score, burying a feed from Spencer Kring and Tyler Braccini for Bethel's first goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, Joe Westlund gave the Royals the lead at 4:05, also on the power play, finishing a setup from Jack Brown and Peyton Blair.
Bethel's attack kept rolling as Joe Kelly extended the lead to 3–1 at 14:37 off an assist from Max Hamstad. Kostelecky then struck again at 17:18, his second of the night, giving the Royals a commanding 4–1 cushion heading into the final period.
Kostelecky completed his hat trick midway through the third, firing home his third goal at 12:45 to make it 5–1 Bethel. Beloit's Kundinger added his second tally at 16:09, but Luke French capped the night for the Royals with a goal at 18:16, assisted by Braccini and Brown, to round out the 6–2 final.
The three-goal performance marked Kostelecky's first career hat trick and the Royals' first since the 2023–24 season. His night paced a balanced Bethel lineup that featured five different goal scorers and strong special-teams execution, converting 2-for-5 on the power play.
With the win, Bethel opens the season 1–0 and will return to action next weekend with a home series against UW–Superior. The Royals and Yellowjackets meet on Friday, November 8, at 7 p.m., before wrapping up the two-game set on Saturday, November 9, at 2 p.m. at Bethel University Arena.
