WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team sent an offensive message early Friday evening — peppering the Bethel goal with 11 shots before the first period was even seven minutes old.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Royals' goalie Travis Allen had a message of his own — "bring it on."
 
Allen stopped 55 of the Cardinals' season-high 57 shots on goal, and Bethel broke a 2-2 tie with the game-winning goal with 6:18 remaining in regulation in dealing Saint Mary's a 3-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback Friday evening at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Cardinals dominated the game's opening 20 minutes in every facet except one — goals scored.
 
Despite outshooting the Royals 23-7 — including that 11-2 onslaught through the first seven minutes — it was Bethel that would strike first, getting a goal by Sam Wilhite with 38.7 seconds remaining to take a 1-0 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
 
Saint Mary's would fire eight more shots on Allen before shot No. 32 of the game finally found the back of the net, as Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.) pulled the Cardinals even, 1-1, with a power-play goal 12:37 into the middle period.
 
Four minutes later, the Cardinals were playing with their first lead of the night, getting a goal from Nick Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) for a 2-1 SMU advantage.
 
As was the case in the first period, the final minute of the period proved costly for the Cardinals, as Bethel's Brandon Bartoo beat SMU goalie Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.) with just 46.8 seconds remaining to get the Royals even, 2-2, after 40 minutes.
 
Already holding a 41-17 advantage in shots on goal through two periods, Saint Mary's pelted Allen with 16 more shots in the third period — only to come up empty each time.
 
The Royals, meanwhile, took advantage of a late third-period penalty to take the lead for good, getting a Jack Bayless power-play goal with less than seven minutes to play to seal the win.
 
The Cardinals (4-7-0 MIAC, 7-13-1 overall) will close out the regular-season portion of their schedule on Saturday, heading to Bethel Arena in the Schwan's Super Rink for a 7 p.m. conference rematch of the Royals.
  Read Full Article