The Teams
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-3-2 MIAC, 7-7-2)
vs.
Bethel Royals (6-3-0 MIAC, 7-10-0)
The Vitals
Saturday, Jan. 20 • SMU Ice Arena • 7:05 p.m.
Last Action
Bethel raced out to a 5-0 second-period lead Friday, but needed Jared Gustafson’s second goal of the game at the 10:22 mark of the third period to beat the Cardinals 6-5.
Conference Standings
Through Friday, Jan. 19, 2001
This and That
Ryan Holland (Winona, Minn.) had a pair of assists for SMU vs. the Royals, while Todd Hangge (Rochester, Minn.) had a goal and an assist. … SMU’s Ryan Stinson’s (Winona, Minn.) nine power play goals rank him No. 2 in NCAA Division III, while teammate Matt Hangge (Rochester, Minn.) is second in the nation with three game-winning goals … As a team, SMU ranks 6th in Division III in power-play percentage (.273) and 14th in scoring offense (4.47 goals-per-game). … The Cardinals have scored 7 third-period goals in their last three games.
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CARDINAL PROFILEBryan Trottier
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big hole in rematch with Royals
WINONA, Minn. — When Jared Gustafson scored with 12:30 remaining in the second period, it gave Bethel a commanding 5-0 advantage in Friday’s Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against the Saint Mary’s University men’s hockey team.
Time to hit the panic button, right?
Not just yet … .
The Cardinals trailed UW-Eau Claire 6-2 midway through the second period, and, a week later, SMU was staring at 4-1 and 3-0 second-period deficits against St. Olaf.
And in all three of those games, SMU battled back, turning each potential blowout into a one-goal, third-period nailbiter.
SMU completed the comeback against the Blugolds, coming away with a 7-6 victory, but they weren’t as fortunate last weekend against the Oles, losing 7-5 and tying 4-4.
And, unfortunately, as gallant an effort as the Cardinals’ put forth Friday against the Royals — scoring four unanswered goals to get within 5-4 — the end result was a 6-5 loss.
So close, but … .
“We’ve got to stopping digging ourselves into holes like that,” admitted SMU coach Don Olson, whose team saw its conference record fall to 2-3-2. “Our conference is so tough, you can’t spot a team three or four goals and then expect to be able to come back.”
Bethel scored three times in the game’s opening 20 minutes, then added two more goals, the second by Gustafson at the 12:30 mark, to push their advantage to 5-0 — and leave the Cardinals teetering on the brink of disaster.
Nick Meeker (Rochester, Minn.) finally got the Cardinals on the board at the 14:18 mark of the second period, as SMU cut the lead to 4-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
Al Schumacher (Oakdale, Minn.) scored twice and Matt Hangge (Rochester, Minn.) added another as the Cardinals clawed within one at the 10:00 mark. Unfortunately, just 22 seconds after Schumacher’s second goal made it 5-4, Gustafson tallied his second of the game to ice the win.
“I would have to say the first period was the worst period of hockey we’ve played all season,” admitted Olson. “A college hockey game is 60 minutes long. You can’t sleep-walk through the first period and think you can still come out on top.”
Although the Cardinals have come awfully close.
“You work so hard to get back within one, and then, boom, (Bethel) comes right back and scores — it really takes the wind out of your sails,” admitted Olson, whose team has outscored St. Olaf and Bethel 7-1 in the third period, but only have one point to show for it. “We need to come out flying right from the opening face off. We need to find a way to turn the table on these teams — to put them in the early hole.”
The Cardinals will get a chance to do just that tonight against the Royals as the two teams complete their weekend series.
“(Tonight’s game) is a big game for us, no question about that,” said Olson. “You can just look at the standings and see how tight a race it’s going to be (for the four post-season playoff spots).
“We just need to make sure to put our best game on the ice.”
From start to finish.