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WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's hockey coach Bill Moore must have felt like he stepped in a time machine and went back in time six days.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals head coach, the end result was just as tough to swallow the second time around.

For the second straight game, Moore's Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead Friday evening in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Bethel — and for the second straight game, SMU maintained a 3-1 advantage.

And for the second straight game, the Cardinals could not hang on to that two-goal lead, as the Royals scored three unanswered goals in handing SMU its second straight 4-3 conference setback.

“It's frustrating, because we came out and played so well in the first period,” said Moore, whose team dropped a 4-3 decision to St. Olaf last Saturday in Northfield, Minn. “We just didn't come out with that same fire in the second period and (Bethel) took advantage.”

Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season five minutes into the opening period, and Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) netted the first of his two goals at 14:50 to give SMU a 2-0 lead after the game's opening 20 minutes.

The Royals got on the board 13 seconds into the second period, as Jon Crouse took an errant Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) pass and rifled a shot that Royal teammate Jake Kogler tipped into the open net.

SMU regained its two-goal advantage at 9:45 as Balko netted completed his first collegiate two-goal game. The Royals would knot things up late in the period as Austin Hatch and Kogler scored 33 seconds apart to make it a 3-3 game heading into the third period.

Chris Siala scored the game-winner for Bethel midway through the period, beating Horstman with a wrist shot at 9:11.

Horstman finished with 28 saves for the Cardinals, while Bethel goalie Zac Bush also kicked out 28 shots.

The Cardinals, who fall to 3-4-0 in the MIAC and 4-12-0 overall, head to Blaine, Minn., for the rematch against Bethel on Saturday. Game time at the Schwan's Super Rink is set for 7 p.m.