By
EMILY LOOF
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team was evenly matched with Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival Bethel University—so evenly matched, in fact, that neither team came away with a win.
Friday night at the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn., the Cardinals held on through a rollercoaster of a game to earn an MIAC point in a 4-4 tie with the Royals, while surrendering a second possible point in a 1-0 shootout loss.
And dèjà vu was in the air Saturday night at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, as the Cardinals once again battled the Royals to a draw—this time around 3-3—and again surrendered the extra point with a 2-1 shootout loss.
Just like the previous night, the Cardinals took the first lead. Michael Amelio (Venetia, Pa.), received the puck in the neutral zone and zipped a pass to a streaking
Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.), who broke free and easily buried it past Royal goaltender Joe Sheppard at 3:36 of the first period.
Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) was credited with the second assist.
The Cardinals were whistled for the first penalty of the game at 8:06 of the opening period, and the Royals wasted no time making Saint Mary's pay, scoring 25 seconds into the man advantage off the stick of Will Reedy.
The remainder of the period was dominated by the Cardinals, who peppered Sheppard with 19 shots, compared to just five shots from the Royals on Cardinal goaltender
Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.).
But penalties continued to hamstring the Cardinals' offensive push, and Jackson Purvis pulled the Royals ahead 2-1 with 9.8 seconds left in the first period during a four-on-three man-advantage, sending the Cardinals into the locker room facing a one-goal deficit.
The second period saw a deluge of penalties, with the Cardinals receiving a painful six penalties, while the Royals were whistled for three.
Meeh continued to assault on the scoresheet, collecting his second goal in as many nights to pull Saint Mary's even, 2-2 at 11:02 of the middle period, and, 20 seconds later,
Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.), stunned the Royal defense by winning a puck battle in front of the net and burying a shot between the legs of Sheppard, giving the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.
In a third period marred by penalties, the Royals finally broke through off a one-timer by Dallas Marvin at 12:49—and for the second straight night, the two teams were headed to overtime.
Neither team could score in the extra frame, and Bethel held a 2-1 scoring edge in the shootout to earn the extra conference point.
With their points Saturday evening, Meeh and Walz each extended their point streaks to seven straight games. Additionally, Walz took the team lead in points with 16.
Davis finished with 25 saves for the Cardinals, while Sheppard had 32 for the Royals.
The Cardinals (4-5-3 MIAC, 7-10-4 overall) continue MIAC play next weekend with a two-game series against Hamline. Game one is slated for a 7 p.m. start time at the Minnesota Wild TRIA Rink in Saint Paul, Minn., with the second game set for 7 p.m. the following evening at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
