By MEAGHAN UPDIKE
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
 
WINONA, Minn. — After tying Bethel in both games last year, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team was eager to open its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against the Royals with a win this time around.
 
Mission accomplished.
 
The Cardinals — fueled by Owen Sikich's (Wolfeboro, N.H.) first collegiate three-point game — handed Bethel a 4-1 setback Friday evening at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"It was good to see us put together a complete game tonight," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore. "I was very pleased with the overall effort, especially on the penalty kill. This was a big win for us."
 
Sikich got things rolling for the Cardinals with less than three minutes remaining in the opening period, scoring his seventh off the season — off assists from Lance Herning (St. Charles, Ill.) and Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill.) — to give Saint Mary's a 1-0 lead after the game's opening 20 minutes.
 
Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) extended the Cardinals' lead to 2-0 midway through the second period, tallying a power-play goal with Sikich and Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) collecting the assists.
 
Bethel's Josiah Roen answered Stang's goal with a power-play goal of his own just five minutes later to cut Saint Mary's lead to one, 2-1, heading into the third period.
 
Stoynich gave the Cardinals a little breathing room with his fifth of the season 5:08 into the final stanza, while Herning netted his first goal as a Cardinal — an empty-net tally — with 1:45 remaining to seal the win.
 
Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) made 31 saves in goal for the Cardinals — including 17 in the first period, when BU held a 17-11 edge in shots on goal — while Ridge Gerads made 37 saves for the Royals.
 
Saint Mary's (4-5-2 MIAC, 5-12-3 Overall) and Bethel are back in action on Saturday, heading to the Schwean's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn., for the 7 p.m. rematch.