The St. Thomas women’s hockey team hit the net hard Friday night to secure a 5-2 win over the Bethel Royals.

The Royals scored a goal three minutes into the first period, but senior captain Kelley Fallen said she wasn’t worried after Bethel’s initial goal.

“We had the whole game ahead of us to buckle down and take it back,” Fallen said.

The Tommies did take it back, finding the net twice at the end of the first period and netting two additional goals in the second period.

“I thought we played one of our better second periods of the year,” coach Tom Palkowski said.

The Tommies had 12 shots on goal in the second period and 28 total by the end of the game.  The Royals had 20 shots on goal during the whole game.

The Royals scored in the second period, which would be their last goal of the night. The final goal for St. Thomas came in the third period when the Royals pulled their goalie and Tommie junior Justina DeBruzzi guided the puck into the open net.

The Tommies will play Bethel again at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12.

Senior captain Kristen Grossman said the team will do its best to prepare for the rematch.

“[We can] just rest and ice and get right back out there,” she said. “Sometime it’s tough playing Friday night and Saturday afternoon. It’s pretty much get home, get to sleep and get back to the rink ready to go.”

Palkowski also said the team will be tested with its back-to-back games.

“One of the things we’ve struggled with a little bit this year, with 10 freshmen, is back-to-back games,” Palkowski said. “We’ve won the last couple of Fridays but then fell victim on Saturdays, so we need to come focused and need another win.”

Lizzy Schmitt can be reached at schm9587@stthomas.edu.