WINONA, Minn. - The Saint Mary's men's hockey team (9-11-1) earned a significant home win over the Bethel Royals (11-8-1), who are currently ranked second in the conference. The Cardinals split their weekend series, securing a 4-1 victory tonight.

Colin Tushie and Marc Fletemeyer each nailed two goal each in the victory. 

The Cardinals scored three goals in the third period to clinch the win. Despite Bethel's 35 shots on goal, the Cardinals goalie, AJ Ruskowski, made 34 saves, allowing only one power-play goal.

The Cardinals took the lead at 10:24 in the first period with Tushie's goal, assisted by Nathan Solis and Markus Andrews. The team showed strong defensive efforts, with Ruskowski making multiple saves maintaining the 1-0 advantage.

The Cardinals faced a challenging second period with Bethel controlling the faceoffs early on. Despite numerous attempts, including blocked shots by Cooper Smyl and Alex Cannon, the Cardinals struggled to convert their opportunities. 

A key moment came at 6:00 when Warner Young completed his penalty, but shortly after, Laudon Poellinger was penalized for boarding, leading to a power play where Bethel capitalized scoring at 2:35, bringing the period's score to 1-1.

The final period began with the Cardinals taking control as Blake Green won the opening faceoff, setting up Fletemeyer's rocket of a goal at 19:19, assisted by Andrews. The Cardinals maintained that momentum with Fletemeyer scoring again at 09:18, assisted by Warner Young and Callahan Nauss.

Tushie sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 00:33, assisted by Cole Mickel and Nathan Solis, leading the Cardinals to a 4-1 triumph over Bethel.

The Cardinals have snapped their four-game losing skid.

The team returns to action on Friday, February 14th at St. Olaf College for a 7 p.m. puck drop.