ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Hamline men's hockey team (0-1) scored first in their season's debut against Bethel (1-0), but would eventually fall to the Royals 5-2 at TRIA Rink on Saturday night.
 
Junior Bailey Martin got the Pipers on the board less than two minutes into the game, finishing a passing play from teammates Joe Collins and Zak Lambrecht. Collins found Lambrecht breaking up the side of the ice, who fed it in front to Martin who came flying in to get it past the Bethel goalie.
 
The Royals did not waste any time in retaliating, getting a tally of their own from Luke Posner just over 30 seconds later to tie it up at one. Posner would score again before the period was over, with teammate Michael Piehler assisting both goals. This allowed BU to take a 2-1 lead into the first break.
 
Five minutes into the second frame, the Pipers took advantage of a power play opportunity as junior Brendan Sheehan chipped in a goal to tie it up. Isaac Baron and Erik Dahl tallied assists on the play.
 
Bethel once again found a way to answer, scoring a pair of goals to lead 4-2 by the end of the period.
 
In the third, the Pipers had a chance to score on a power play seven minutes into the period, but came up empty despite taking five shots. The Royals scored once more in the third period to make the final 5-2.
 
As a team, Hamline held a 32-31 shot advantage in the game, but Bethel won 44 faceoffs to HU's 28.
 
Senior Evan Robert and sophomore Kevin Lake split the goalkeeping duties, combining to make 26 saves. Robert got the start in net, making 12 saves and letting in three goals. Lake made the final 14 saves, letting in two goals.
 
The Pipers will play again on Thursday, February 4, taking on Augsburg at 7:00 p.m. at TRIA in a non-conference matchup. HU will take on Augsburg again on Saturday, February 6 for their first conference game of the season. Links to live stats and video are available on the schedule page.