Bethel began its 2013-14 season with a big series against No. 6-ranked UW-River Falls, but the Royals showed they could hang with the nation’s best as they split the series. Bethel proved it will have a high-powered offense with eight goals in the two games, led by the scoring touch of sophomore Caroline Kivisto (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato). The forward scored four goals – two in each game – to help the Royals hang with the Falcons and pull off an upset. For her performance, Kivisto was named the MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week.

Kivisto helped Bethel stay close with UW-River Falls in the team’s first game of the young season with a pair of goals in the 5-3 loss. A day later, the Royals flipped the script with a 5-3 upset win over the Falcons, with Kivisto starring again with two more goals. Thus far, her four goals lead the MIAC and she’s tied for the league lead with four points. Kivisto was efficient over the opening weekend, as she scored her four goals against UW-RF on just six shots.

Thanks to its split, Bethel started the new campaign 1-1, and now are the first team outside the Division III Top 10 in the “Others receiving votes” section. Kivisto and her teammates had last weekend off, and they’ll open conference play when they re-take the ice Friday. Bethel hosts Augsburg in both teams’ MIAC opener at 7 p.m., and the two will conclude the series Saturday at Augsburg at 3:30 p.m.

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The St. Thomas men’s hockey team is off to a great start overall and in conference play following a two-game sweep of Saint Mary’s over the weekend. The Tommies allowed just one goal in a pair of wins over the Cardinals thanks to the outstanding play of goalie Drew Fielding (Burlington, Ontario/Nelson). The UST junior stopped 47 of the 48 shots he faced over the weekend and has started the season with a 4-0 record between the pipes. Fielding also added the first MIAC Men’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week of the 2013-14 season to his tremendous start.

Friday, Fielding allowed just one goal while making 22 saves in a 3-1 St. Thomas win to start conference play. The following night, he was even better in a 25-save shutout to help the Tommies complete the sweep with a 3-0 victory. UST killed off all six Cardinal power plays, including two majors on Saturday. Fielding is the lone goalie in Division III to start out with a 4-0 record and his .939 save percentage and 1.49 goals against average both rank in the top 20 nationally. His GAA leads the MIAC, and his save percentage ranks second in the conference.

Thanks to the sweep, St. Thomas is the only 4-0 team in the MIAC after two weekends. Only four teams started conference play, but the Tommies were the only ones to sweep, as they lead the standings with a 2-0 conference mark and six points. This weekend, UST will try to stay hot as they host UW-Stevens Point Friday at 7:30 p.m. and UW-Stout Saturday at 7 p.m. in a pair of nonconference contests.

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