Benilde-St. Margaret's Boys' Hockey

With 17 of 18 skaters scoring points, and tallying 80 shots on goal, Benilde-St. Margaret's cruised to a 15-0 win over Meadow Creek Christian.

Five different Red Knights scored their first varsity goals in the game and Pat Cron recorded his first career hat trick en route to a six-point night.

"No one ever feels good about a one-sided game like this," BSM head coach Ken Pauly said. "But you have to keep it in perspective. The Meadow Creek program is in its first year and they are looking to build a schedule.

"This game was about helping a newly formed program gain some experience and exposure. The players and coaches from both sides had the right frame of mind. I thought both teams showed mutual respect. The Meadow Creek kids kept playing hard and never quit giving an effort, and our kids played with class and treated the Saints players with the respect that they deserve."

After losing 12 letterwinners from last year, Pauly had the opportunity to give his new players some much-needed ice time.

Sophomore Dan Pemberton, playing his first varsity game, was one of the five Red Knights to record their first goal. Freshman Christian Horn scored the first two goals of his varsity career and added three assists while juniors Chase Mlnarik, Ryan Palm and David Tranvik also notched their first career goals.

The only player who failed to record a point was Will Nelson, who suffered a knee injury on his second shift of the game and did not return. It ended a four-game goal-scoring streak for the junior forward.

Among the 12 players who recorded multiple-points on the night, Patrick Duda also chipped in with five points, including a career-best four assists.

"The only thing that you can say about the actual game was that it was fun to see so many of our guys get their first varsity goal," Pauly added "It’s kind of nice to get that 'marking point' out of the way early."

With the Minnesota State High School League exempting the game from the maximum allowable number of 25, due to Meadow Creek Christian's first-year status, the Red Knights were able to fill a gap in their schedule.

BSM has an eight-day layoff before returning to action Dec. 20, in its North Suburban Conference opener, versus St. Louis Park. The varsity game is slated for a 7 p.m. faceoff.