MANDAN, ND – In a battle between a pair of unbeaten teams, the University of Mary opened its Icebreaker Tournament with an impressive 6-1 win over the University of Northern Colorado.
Johnny Witzke scored twice and added an assist for UMary and
Alex Flicek tallied a goal and three assists.
Playing their first of five games in five days, the Marauders improved to 8-0 on the season and 33-0-1 against ACHA Division II West Region foes over the last two years. UNC, the third ranked team in the final West region rankings last season behind UMary and Northern Arizona, is now 3-1.
The Marauders struck early.
Jonathan Sundell forced a turnover just outside the Bears blue line and played the puck to
Seth Cushing.
Josh Colleaux, flying down the slot, took a perfect feed from Cushing and buried the puck past Bears netminder Sean Cuscaden just 2:15 into the game.
Another mistake by the Bears led to the Marauders second goal. Halfway through the second period, Flicek stripped a UNC player of the puck in neutral ice and shot down the right side in front of the Marauders bench. Unleashing a shot from the right circle, Flicek scored unassisted for a 2-0 lead.
Witzke put the game away with the next couple goals. In the final minute of the second period, Flicek played the puck to
Kyler Moore behind the net. Spotting Witzke crashing the net, Moore fired the puck out front for Witzke to redirect into the goal for a 3-0 Marauders advantage heading into the second intermission.
Maintaining his hot hand, Witzke needed just 75 seconds into the third period to score a power play goal as he cleaned up the puck in front of the UNC net. Flicek and Moore both earned assists on the goal.
Following a UNC goal at 7:24 from Chase Upson, two more UMary power play goals ended any thoughts of a Bears rally.
Dalton Johnson scored at 16:25 with Witzke and Flicek adding to their assist totals before
Andrew Huber cashed in his first goal of the evening at 17:17 with assists from Garrett and Tschida.
Lance Knudson improved his two-year record to 23-0-1 in net for the Marauders after stopping 22 of 23 shots. Cuscaden finished with 42 saves for UNC as the Marauders fired off 48 shots.
This was the second straight game the Marauders have finished with three power play goals, this time on six opportunities. The Bears failed to score on five power play attempts.
Next up for the Marauders at the Icebreaker is a rematch against Boise State University on Friday, Oct. 4, at 7 pm on the Schwan Cadillac Rink at the Starion Sports Complex. Last weekend the Marauders defeated the Broncos 5-1 on BSU's ice. Also playing Friday is defending national champion Florida Gulf Coast University against Utah State University at 12 noon and Eastern Washington University tangles with Northern Colorado at 3:30 pm.
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