JAMESTOWN, ND – Playing on an outdoor rink under the moon and stars with snow falling and temperatures approaching zero, the University of Mary dominated the last two periods to earn a 3-1 victory over the University of Jamestown in the inaugural Hockey Day in North Dakota.
The top-ranked team in the ACHA Division II West region, UMary scored the final three goals of the game, including two in the third period, to earn the Marauders first win over an ACHA Division I program. The win over the Jimmies, ranked 12
th in the nation in ACHA Division I, improved the Marauders season mark to 32-4-2-1.
Trailing 1-0 after the opening period, the Marauders pulled even off a defensive mistake by the Jimmies. In an attempt to clear the puck from behind their net, a Jamestown defender instead bounced his pass off the goal. In a scramble in front of the net,
Jakob Parisien pounced on the puck and fired a wrist shot on frame, beating the Jimmie netminder high on the stick side at 8:18 from an unassisted goal.
Tied 1-1 after two periods, the Marauders took advantage of another turnover by the Jimmies.
Drew Lenertz intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and played the puck forward into the Marauders offensive zone. Zach Garrett beat everyone to the puck and found
Ben Kottmeier all alone in the left circle. A native of San Mateo, CA, Kottmeier skated in and scored glove-side just 3:06 into the final period. It was his 11
th goal of the season.
Marauders goalkeeper
Aaron Nelson and the UMary defense then took control of the game and kept the Jimmies out of the net. The biggest challenge was killing off a penalty for the last 1:57 of the game.
Despite skating shorthanded, UMary finally could breathe easy when
Cyril Nagurski fired the puck from the Marauders defensive zone into an empty Jimmies net with 20 seconds remaining in the game to seal a 3-1 victory and the Marauders first win over Jamestown.
Nelson posted 34 saves in the game, including 12 in the final period. The Jimmies outshot the Marauders in each period and held a 35-20 advantage for the night.
Neither team found success on the power play as both finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Marauders return home to face a pair of Northern Sun foes. UMary hosts Minnesota State University on Friday, January 25, at 7 pm before taking on the University of Minnesota Duluth o Sunday, Jan. 27, at 2 pm as part of the ACHA Division II NSIC Cup.
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