ST. PAUL, Minn. - On Friday night, the Saint Mary's men's hockey team (8-11-1) traveled to the cities to face the Bethel Royals (11-7-2) in the first of two games in their weekend series. The Royals delivered a dominant second-period performance, ultimately defeating the Cardinals 6-3.

Laudon Poellinger had himself a game with 3 points through a goal and two assists. Colin Tushie contributed with a power-play goal, the team's only goal in that category. Joona Juntunen added offensive support with a goal and an assist. 

Neither team was able to get their offense going in the first period, with both sides being shut out and demonstrated strong defensive plays. Despite several attempts on goal, including a wide shot by Connor Abric and multiple saves by AJ Ruskowski, Saint Mary's could not find the net. 

The Cardinals took an early lead in the second period with a power-play goal by Tushie at 17:47, assisted by Poellinger and Nathan Solis. Juntunen extended their lead to 2-0 with a goal at 12:47. 
The Cardinals lead did not hold strong as the Royals responded with four consecutive goals, including a one power-play goal bringing the score to 5-2 in favor of Bethel.

In the third period, the Cardinals opened with a strong start, winning the initial faceoff and maintaining possession early. Saint Mary's managed to score at 16:01 with a goal by Poellinger, assisted by Juntunen and Ryan Berglund, narrowing the gap to 5-3. 

However, Bethel responded with a goal at 4:21 extending their lead to 6-3. 

The remainder of the period saw a series of exchanges without further scoring. The Cardinals would fall to the second ranked team in the conference. 

The Cardinals get another shot at the Royals tomorrow on home ice for a 7:05 p.m. game.