MANDAN, ND – In a battle between two-time defending champion Florida Gulf Coast University and newcomer University of Mary, it was the upstart Marauders coming out on top of the old guard Eagles 3-1 on day three of UMary's 2019 Icebreaker tournament.
In the third meeting between the second-year Marauders and the ACHA Division II champion Eagles, UMary won for the second time. The two will face each other later this month in a two-game series in Fort Myers, FL, on Oct. 18-19. The Marauders, the top-ranked team in the West Region last year but ineligible for the ACHA playoffs in their inaugural season, improve to 10-0 on the season while the Eagles slip to 1-1.
A hard-fought contest, the Marauders opened the scoring with a quick strike power play goal. Just six seconds into UMary's second opportunity with a man advantage,
Zach Garrett gave UMary a 1-0 advantage at the 10:41 mark, the only goal of the first period.
Cyril Nagurski and
Marshall Tschida provided the assists.
David Wong knotted the game at 4:09 of the second period, scoring the lone Eagles goal of the game off a rebound opportunity.
Alex Flicek wasted no time putting the Marauders back in front. With
Kyler Moore and
Andrew Heckaman working to clear the puck out of the Marauders defensive zone, Flicek took the puck away from an FGCU skater just outside the Marauders blue line and flew down the left boards unopposed. At full speed, Flicek whistled the puck from inside the left circle past Eagles goalkeeper Jordan Bustard for what proved to be the winning goal at 5:45.
Less than 30 seconds later with the Eagles on the attack, Marauders goaltender
Lance Knudson went down to the ice to make a sprawling save to maintain the UMary advantage. It was perhaps the biggest of his 24 saves in the game.
Turning once again to their potent power play, Tschida sealed the UMary win with a goal at 6:41 of the third period. Sitting alone in the slot, Moore slid the puck to the Marauders All-Region defenseman who fired a wrister into the net for the night's final goal.
Florida Gulf Coast found themselves in trouble all evening as the Eagles were whistled for ten penalties that totaled 34 minutes. UMary was cited five times for ten minutes. UMary finished 2-for-5 on the power play while the Eagles failed to take advantage of their three opportunities. UMary held a 37-25 edge in shots.
The Marauders next host Eastern Washington on day four of the Icebreaker. Face off is set for 6 pm on Sunday, Oct. 6, on the Schwan Cadillac Rink at the Starion Sports Complex.
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