BLAINE, Minn. — For 45 minutes, the Bethel University men’s hockey team looked like it was going to put last year’s MIAC championship loss behind them. Clinging to a one-goal lead, the Royals took the ice in the third period, 20 minutes away from defeating their rivals in St. Olaf and advancing to the MIAC championship game for the second year in a row.
Instead, the Oles scored three unanswered goals in the span of 9 minutes and 11 seconds to take a 3-1 lead, defeating the Royals on their home ice once again.
“That’s kind of their M.O. — they hang around until we make a mistake,” head coach Chris McKelvie said. “And it’s kind of a mirror image of last year in the playoffs.”
A raucous capacity crowd greeted the Royals to open the first period, and after Bethel junior forward Tyler Kostelecky drew a hooking penalty, Bethel found itself on the power play 7:29 into the game.
After sophomore forward Connor Brazil failed to get his shot attempt to go through, he picked up his own rebound and fed junior winger Tyler Braccini at the top of the faceoff circle. Braccini promptly fired a wrist shot past Ole goaltender Thomas Lalonde for the power-play goal.
Braccini’s 19th goal of the season put the Royals up 1-0, and the sellout crowd at Bethel University Arena erupted.
In the second half of the period, the Oles found some life with multiple scoring chances down low, but Royals’ senior goaltender Austin Ryman turned them aside. A Logan Anderson hook and Max Hamstad crosscheck put St. Olaf on the man advantage twice, but the Royals’ kill came through, and they headed into the first intermission up 1-0.
St. Olaf goaltender Thomas Lalonde was replaced by freshman goaltender Matthew Malin to begin the second period after leaving due to injury.
The Royals came out firing in the second, generating multiple scoring chances and peppering Malin with shot attempts, outshooting the Oles 13-5 in the middle period.
The physicality ramped up in the second as well with plenty of big hits, including a Joe-Westlund open-ice hit on Ole freshman forward Simon Pollack in the Bethel zone that brought the Royals student section to its feet.
Still, the period came to a close with the Royals holding on to a slim 1-0 margin.
“As a team, we definitely left some chances on the board in the second,” McKelvie said. “But we played really well, that’s why we got the chances… I wish the guys would’ve got rewarded with a little bit more.”
At the 4:59 mark of the third period, Ole forward Nicholas Sewecke pounced on a rebound, crashing the net and sneaking the puck past Ryman to tie it at one.
The go-ahead goal came at the 12:38 mark from senior defenseman Ben Lusko. The eventual final blow came just 53 seconds later when Chase Beacom looked to set up a play in the Royals offensive zone. Ole forward Jonathon Panisa poke-checked Beacom, creating a turnover and breakaway opportunity before firing a shot on net that trickled past Ryman for a 3-1 lead.
In need of two goals late, head coach Chris McKelvie summoned Ryman to the bench for the extra attacker with 3:05 to play.
“We didn’t have a 5-on-5 goal, so we needed to score,” McKelvie said. “If it was a one-goal lead we probably wouldn’t pull him as early, but with a two-goal lead, we had to pull him and had to give ourselves a chance to score.”
However, it was too little, too late. As the final horn sounded, the Oles came away victorious with a 3-1 win, bouncing the Royals from the playoffs for the second straight season.
St. Olaf now advances to the MIAC championship game looking to defend their title against top-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., Saturday.
