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St. Olaf sweeps weekend series against Bethel

Mike Cassano
January 14, 2003

It was a great weekend for the St. Olaf men's hockey team, as they swept Bethel College and moved into a tie for fourth place in the MIAC. The Oles outscored their opponent 15-1 over the two game series, with an 11-0 win on Saturday night at the Northfield Ice Arena.

Playing in from of a packed home crowd for game two, the Oles pumped in 11 goals on 61 shots driving two Bethel goalies out of the net. Pat Gilles (Soph., Madison, Wis.)picked up right where he left off the night before, getting a pass from Mike Cassano (Soph., Littleton, CO.) from behind the net and beat the goalie. The Oles took a 1-0 lead into the locker room after the first period.

The Oles exploded for five goals in the second period. Nick Hanson (Sr., Eden Prairie, MN), opened the flood gates just 16 seconds into the period, deflecting a pass from Dan Norsten (Jr., Eagan, MN.) over the goalies shoulder. Joel Ihrie ( FY, Woodinville, WA.) was joined by teammates Norsten and Hanson, who scoree again in the second. Perhaps the most exciting goal of the second period was Jess Martin (Jr., Fairbanks, AK) scoring his first goal of his three year career. The score came on a breakaway, as Martin ripped a shot off the post. The puck hit the back of the goalie's leg and slowly trickled over the line. This gave the Oles a 6-0 lead after two periods.

The third period began with Martin scoring his second goal of the game. Ron Guild (FY, Kent, WA) tallied two in the third along with Norsten. Hanson completed his hatrick with three goals in the game, giving the Oles an 11-0 win over the Royals. Jordan Bronce (Sr., Eden Prairie, MN.) finished the game with three assists and Kehler got his first career shutout.

The Oles face conference leading St. Thomas next weekend for a two game series. St. Olaf will host St. Thomas on Friday, January 17th at 7:00 p.m. at the Northfield Ice Arena. On Saturday night, the team will travel to St. Paul for the second game of the weekend series at 7 p.m.

Contact Le Ann Finger at 507-786-3315 or finger@stolaf.edu.