BLAINE, Minn. – The Bethel University men's hockey team clinched its second consecutive MIAC Playoff appearance with a 3-1 win over St. Olaf in the weekend opener Friday night at home.
The Royals earned the No. 2 seed for the second straight year after Gustavus claimed the MIAC regular season title with a 6-5 overtime win at Hamline. BU will host a semifinal game on Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m. against the three seed in the playoffs.
Jake Herter tallied his third goal of the year giving BU a 1-0 lead after intercepting a St. Olaf pass in the neutral zone near the Oles' blue line and scoring the shorthanded goal with 2:14 left in the first.
Bethel went up 2-0 after
Joe Westlund's first shot on frame of the game squeaked past the Oles netminder. The Oles goalie came out to clear the puck that went right to Westlund in the right circle and the official ruled that it got under the crossbar and fully crossed the line at the 7:58 mark.
St. Olaf got one back at the 13:20 mark of the second, scoring on the man advantage where they were 1-for-5 on the night.
It was a tight third period, with BU killing off both its penalties and coming up short on its only power play despite four shots.
Tyler Braccini got his team-leading 17th goal of the year putting in the empty netter with under two seconds left.
Austin Ryman got the win in the crease with 23 saves while
Jack Brown won 16 of his 24 faceoffs.
UP NEXT
The Royals, now 13-8-3 on the year and 9-4-2 in the MIAC, close out the regular season at St. Olaf on Saturday night at 5 p.m.
