MANDAN, ND – When the University of Mary hockey team took to the ice in their second of two weekend games against North Dakota State University, the temperature outside the Schwan Cadillac Rink at the Starion Sports Center was approaching a scorching 90 degrees. To the visiting Bison, the cool ice sheet may have felt more like an inferno as UMary torched the Bison 10-1 in a record-setting performance by the Marauders to complete a sweep in the opening series of the season.
Four different Marauders scored two goals in the game and three UMary skaters scored their first career goals for the Blue & Orange as the team set a program-record for goals in a game. The previous high was nine for UMary in wins last season over the University of North Dakota and the University of Colorado.
Fresh off scoring a goal and adding two assists in a 5-2 win on Saturday,
Zach Garrett tallied twice against the Bison.
Kyler Moore posted two goals and an assist. Newcomers
Seth Cushing and
Johnny Witzke also found the net twice with Cushing also adding an assist. Andrew Heckeman fired home one goal and tacked on an assist and first year player
Dalton Johnson posted his first Marauders goal and added an assist.
Alexander Horner provided a helper on a pair of counters for the second straight night.
Alex Flicek and
Matt Winkle also chipped in two assists each.
Overall the Marauders had 13 skaters who registered a goal, an assist or both.
Garrett started the scoring with a goal at the 8:59 mark of the opening period. Moore doubled the UMary advantage at 13:52 before Cushing pushed the Marauders advantage to 3-0 at 15:11. NDSU soon struck for what proved to be their lone goal of the game when Ryan Johnson tapped home the puck with less than three minutes remaining until intermission.
For the second straight game, the Marauders proved dominant in the second period. In the opening night win UMary outscored NDSU 3-1 in the middle stanza. Today the Marauders scored six times to build an insurmountable lead.
The second period onslaught started quick and continued to snowball. Using a 5-on-3 advantage, Johnson scored 46 seconds into the period. Less than three minutes later, Heckeman fired a shot from on top of the right circle from in front of the Marauders bench to beat NDSU goalkeeper Jordan Elliott top shelf.
Garret then salted the game away. With NDSU looking to fire the puck into the Marauders defensive zone with both teams skating one player short, Garrett blocked the attempt standing on his own blue line. The Creighton, SK, native then scooped up the puck and outskated the Bison defenders down the rink on nearly an end-to-end rush, facing Elliot alone and firing the puck into the net from just outside the crease before subsequently sliding into the net himself for the unassisted counter.
Witzke brought a change of goaltenders for NDSU after posting an unassisted goal. The Bismarck, ND, native stole a pass, deked past one defender and fired a puck into the top of the net to push the Marauders lead to 7-1 at 13:39.
Not done, Cushing and Moore added second period goals, the Moore counter coming just 23 seconds before intermission.
UMary closed out the scoring on a power play goal 1:53 into the third period as Witzke provided the record-setting goal.
For a second straight night, the Marauders unleashed 60 shots on the Bison netminders. Making his first start for the Marauders,
Kyle Hayden stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced.
The Marauders now begin a five-game road swing, next playing the University of Jamestown ACHA Division I squad on Friday, Sept. 20, before playing four games in Boise, ID, on Sept. 26-29. UMary returns home to host the Marauders Icebreaker on Oct. 3-7.
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