ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – For the last four years, the College of Saint Benedict hockey team has come up just short against Bethel.
Thursday night, the Bennies made sure they didn't fall short again.
CSB (2-3, 1-0) started MIAC play with a 4-1 win over the Royals Thursday in St. Cloud. The Bennies dominated on the stat sheet en route to the team's first win over Bethel since Jan. 11, 2018.
Saint Benedict's first years dominated the scoring once again Thursday.
Emma Rooks got the Bennies on the board in the 16
th minute of the first period when she took a pass from
Sami Boerboom right in front of Bethel's net and sent it past their goalie to make it 1-0. That marked Rooks' first goal of the season.
The Royals (2-3, 0-1) evened the score in the second period when they scored on a scrum in front of CSB goalie
Maggie Gilchrist. Saint Benedict had several good scoring chances – including back-to-back shots that clanged off the pipe behind the Royals' goalie – but the score stayed tied at 1-1 heading into the final period.
After 13 scoreless minutes in the third, Saint Benedict's offense came alive.
Kennedy Morris scored the eventual game-winner – her second in as many games – at the 13:04 mark of the final period off an assist from
Corrine Brown. Less than a minute later,
Annika Brodt made it 3-1 when she took a long pass from
Zoe Culshaw-Klein up the middle of the ice, skated into Bethel's zone and sent the puck over the left shoulder of Bethel's goalie.
The Royals pulled their goalie with just over two minutes left to play in hopes of making it at least a one-goal game, but
Ava Stinnett scored an empty-net goal with just under a minute to play to ice the game. That marked her third goal of the season.
The Bennies finished with 36 shots on net to the Royals' 24.
Aurora Opsahl put a team-high five shots on net and Brodt and
Brynn Sexauer both finished with four. Gilchrist stopped 23 shots to pick up the second win of her senior season.
CSB and Bethel return to action at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, in St. Paul as the Bennies look to pick up the first season sweep of the Royals since the 2001-02 season.
