Benilde-St. Margaret's Boys' Hockey

Brett Patterson scored a pair of goals, added a pair of assists and, in the battle of St. Louis Park, Benilde-St. Margaret's bested the host Orioles, 7-0.

"It really felt good for the guys to get back in action tonight," Red Knight head coach Ken Pauly said of his team returning after an eight-day layoff from game competition. "It’s always great to break 1-0-0 in the conference opener."

A short-handed effort by Patterson put BSM on top, 10 minutes, 38 seconds into the game. After Will Nelson cleared the puck out of the Red Knight zone, Patterson chased down the puck and, despite battling in left corner of the offensive zone with two Orioles, he managed to keep control, skated behind the SLP net and scored from the bottom of the right faceoff circle.

Less than three minutes later, a couple of quick passes by Patterson and Christian Horn got the puck to Pat Steinhauser in the slot and the sophomore center found the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.

It took just 25 seconds for BSM to extend the lead to 3-0 as Patrick Daly made a pass through the neutral zone to Bryan Glynn, who skated to the top of the right circle and ripped a wrist shot into the top of the net.

Team scoring leader Patrick Duda scored just 52 seconds into the second period, a goal set up by Nelson and Glynn, and Patterson and Horn scored before the midpoint of the period to make it a 6-0 score.

Pat Cron scored on a rebound of a shot by Daly late in the third period to finish the scoring.

“It was very good to see Brett Patterson have a big night," Pauly said afterwards. "We need for  him to put up points if we are going to go places this year.

"I also liked the play of Will Nelson, especially since he was coming off a knee injury in last week’s game. His knee looked strong and that’s a relief."

BSM held a 34-11 advantage in shots on goal, posting its second consecutive shutout as Jacob Meyers recorded his third win of the season and fifth career shutout.

"St. Louis Park is one of those rivalry games that can be very dangerous for a team that is as young as ours," Pauly said. "Our juniors and seniors set a good tone tonight."

The Red Knights will be in action again Tuesday, Dec. 23, when they host Rochester Century at 7 p.m. in their final game before Christmas.