WINONA, Minn. — When it comes to games between the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and Bethel women's hockey teams, one thing has been a constant—when the game is played at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, the outcome is a one-goal game.
 
Heading into Thursday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff Quarterfinal, the Cardinals and Royals had played five straight games on Saint Mary's home ice decided by one goal or less.
 
And after the first two periods, it looked like Thursday's playoff showdown would be No. 6.
 
Then came the third period.
 
A period Cardinal coach Terry Mannor would just as soon forget.
 
Bethel, clinging to a 2-1 lead after the game's opening 40 minutes, erupted for five third-period goals in dealing the Cardinals a 7-1 setback—and earning the Royals a 2 p.m. appointment at top-seeded Gustavus on Saturday.
 
"I honestly don't know what just happened," said Saint Mary's coach Terry Mannor, who earlier in the day was named MIAC Coach of the Year, after guiding the Cardinals to a fourth-place conference finish and its first playoff berth since the 2009-10 season. "Give Bethel credit, they played very well tonight, we just couldn't shut them down in the third period.
 
"It's disappointing, but it can't take away from the great season this group had."
 
The Cardinals scored the game's first goal, as Mackenzie Klimek (Hastings, Minn.) scored her second of the year, firing a wrist shot that slipped through the pads of Bethel goalie Michelle Klimstra and into the net midway through the opening period.
 
That, however, would be the last time the Cardinals would find the back of the net—and the Royals had yet to get its offense out of neutral.
 
Lindsay Burman and Megan O'Brian scored three minutes apart early in the second period to turn Saint Mary's 1-0 advantage into a 2-1 Bethel lead after two periods of play.
 
Caroline Kivisto pushed the Royals' lead to 3-1 with the first of her two third-period goals at 5:22, and Lauren Kolak made it 4-1 two minutes later—and the Royals were just getting warmed up.
 
Kivisto added her second of the night at 14:01, and in the next three minutes, Kathryn Larson would score her team-leading 20th and 21st goals of the season to ice the win.
 
Tori Herrmann (Elk River, Minn.)—who joined Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) as First-Team All-MIAC selections—finished with 22 saves for the Cardinals, while Klimstra stopped 13 of Saint Mary's 14 shots.
 
The Cardinals closed out the season with an 11-12-3 overall record, while Bethel improved to 14-9-3 heading into Saturday's MIAC Playoff semifinal game against top-seeded Gustavus.