Game Summary

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — If Duncan Ryhorchuk's hair wasn't turning gray before this season started, it certainly is now.

After all, his Saint Mary's University women's hockey team hasn't exactly been winning hockey games by lopsided margins.

In fact, heading into Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Bethel, two of SMU's four wins had been decided by one goal, while the others were both three-goal wins.

Oh, and then there's the matter of the five overtime ties.

Can you say, "premature aging?"

In other words, it certainly would not have come as a surprise if Wednesday's game vs. the Royals went right down to the wire.

Which is exactly what it did.

Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) scored her third goal of the game with 40 seconds remaining in regulation, as the Cardinals slipped past Bethel 4-3.

"It was a little nerve-wracking there for a while, but in the end, we got the win — and that's what's important," said Ryhorchuk, who earned a few more gray hairs with the win. "We played very, very well in the first period, built a nice lead, but we let (Bethel) back in it in the second period.

"We seemed to let down a little bit (in the second period), and they took advantage of that."

Kearns sandwiched her first two goals around a short-handed goal by Jaimie Mussehl (South St. Paul, Minn.) as the Cardinals jumped out to what seemed like a commanding 3-0 first-period advantage. The Royals, however, made things interesting with a pair of goals early in the second period, and a game-tying goal by Heidi Govednik with 2:19 remaining in regulation.

Then it was Kearns to the rescue, as the junior forward took a feed from Tasa Kostel (Rochester, Minn.) and netted the game-winner with 40 seconds showing on the clock.

"It was good to see us not let down when (Bethel) scored that tying goal late in the third," said Ryhorchuk, cringing at the thought of the possibility of a sixth tie this season. "I was glad to see Emily get that (game-winning) goal — I really didn't want another overtime."