Box Score  | GameDay Preview

BLAINE, Minn. — With his team mired in a two-game goalless drought, Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor know how critical it was for the Cardinals' offense to get off to a quick start Friday evening against Bethel.

Four goals in the first period certainly qualifies as a quick start.

Unfortunately for Mannor, it was the Royals whose offense was clicking on all cylinders early, as Bethel scored four first-period goals and never let the Cardinals get shifted out of neutral in handing SMU a 6-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Schwan's Super Rink.

“That first period really hurt us,” said Mannor. “We just came out flat — and Bethel made us pay for that.

“I thought after we got out of that first period, it was a great hockey game,” Mannor added. “The second and third periods were fast-paced, up-and-down the ice, we just dug ourselves too deep a hole in that first period.

“When you're down 4-0 after 20 minutes, it's pretty tough.”

The Royals didn't waste any time getting on the board, as Cristina Masten scored her team-leading 18th goal of the season just 1:33 into the opening frame. Two minutes later, Lindsay Burman made it 2-0, and at the 7:50 mark, Masten pushed that advantage to 3-0 with her second of the period. Mara Raymond rounded out the Royals' first-period barrage, scoring her first of the season at 15:49.

After a scoreless second period, the Royals pushed their lead to 5-0 early in the third period, before the Cardinals' offense finally came to life. Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) broke SMU's eight-period scoreless drought with a goal a 12:35 of the third, and Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Ile, Mich.) added her fourth of the season two minutes later to make it 5-2 with 5:18 left in regulation.

That, however, would be as close as SMU would get, as Masten completed her hat trick, adding a power play tally at 18:26 to round out the scoring.

The Cardinals (4-11-2, 6-14-2) gets another shot at the playoff-bound Royals on Saturday, as SMU hosted BU in a 2 p.m. contest at the SMU Ice Arena.