COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. –– Bethel skated to a 1–1 tie before winning the shootout on Saturday night in St. Cloud, earning an important road result against Saint Benedict to finish off the series. The two teams remained deadlocked through regulation and overtime, forcing a shootout for the second night in a row.
Saint Benedict struck first at 11:58 of the opening period, capitalizing on extended pressure when Bailey Vesper finished a feed from Chloe Lewis and Merrill Delich. Bethel responded at 16:05, when freshman Rylen Kissell buried the equalizer off a setup from freshman Sophie Martin. The Royals closed the first period tied 1–1 despite the Bennies controlling much of the early possession.
From there, senior goalie Ashley Gustafson (Hess) was the difference. The Royals goaltender turned aside 27 of 28 shots, including 12 saves in a second period where Saint Benedict tilted the ice heavily in their favor. Bethel survived a major penalty late in the frame, relying on disciplined structure and timely shot blocks from players such as senior Julia Helget and graduate student Kallie Tibbetts (Abrahamson).
Neither side could break through again in the third or overtime, with Bethel generating 17 shots overall and getting strong looks from freshman Amelia McQuay, sophomore Afton Hulke, and Martin. CSB goalie Lexi Badali matched Gustafson (Hess) save for save, finishing with 16 stops.
In the shootout—senior Beth Vincent (Velasco) converted to start the tiebreaker, CSB evened it out, and after several rounds of misses on both sides, junior Malia McKinnon delivered the deciding goal paired with a final save by Gustafson (Hess). The Royals secured the extra MIAC point, bouncing back from Friday night's shootout finish against the same opponent.
Bethel moves to 3–3–2 (1–3–2 MIAC) and continues to show resilience in back-to-back tightly contested conference games.
The Royals return to action next weekend when they travel to face Augsburg on Friday, December 13, before hosting the Auggies on Saturday, December 14 at Bethel University Arena in Blaine.
