THIS WEEK
The #1-ranked University of Mary hockey team has a busy upcoming seven days, featuring a road matchup against a nationally-ranked in-state foe before the Marauders play their final two home games of February. On Wednesday, Feb. 17, the Marauders visit #4 Dakota College of Bottineau in a 7 pm start at The Lumberdome. The Marauders return home to host the University of North Dakota ACHA M2 squad at 12 noon on Sunday, Feb. 21. UMary then hosts Williston State College at 7 pm on Wednesday, Feb. 24. All Marauders home games are played at the Starion Sports Complex Schwan Cadillac Rink.
 
MARAUDERS RANKED #1 IN NATION in 1^St ACHA M2 POLL OF SEASON
In the first American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men's Division 2 (M2) national poll of the 2020-21 season, UMary is ranked first in the country. No stranger to the top slot, the Marauders spent five weeks last season atop the poll… Following the Marauders in the top ten of the poll are Lindenwood, Liberty, Dakota College at Bottineau, North Carolina State, Iowa State, Florida Gulf Coast, East Texas Baptist, Adrian and Jamestown. The next ten are Williston State College, Providence, Brigham Young, North Dakota State, Trine, Marian, St. Cloud State, University of Minnesota Crookston, Utah State and Concordia.
 
RANKED FOES
The Marauders are 2-0-1-0 against #3 Liberty, 4-0 against both #4 Dakota College and #6 Iowa State, 3-0 against #11 Jamestown, 2-0-1-0 against Williston State, 4-0 against Providence, and 2-0 against #18 Minnesota Crookston for a combined record of 21-0-2-0. UMary in undefeated against D2 foes this season and the Marauders solitary loss and only other tie came against ACHA M1 Jamestown… The Marauders have remaining games against #2 Lindenwood (1), #3 Liberty (1), #4 Dakota College (1), #6 Iowa State (2), #10 Jamestown (3), #11 Williston State (1) and #12 Providence (2).  
 
UMARY TO HOST ACHA M2 NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
The American Collegiate Hockey Association, the governing body for non-NCAA college hockey in the United States, will hold the 2021 Men's Division 2 (M2) National Championships in the cities of Bismarck and Mandan, ND, from April 15-20, 2021. Games will be held at Schwan Cadillac Rink at Starion Sports Complex in Mandan and Wachter Arena at Capital Ice Center in Bismarck. Details regarding the form and structure of M2 Nationals, including the number of teams competing and game dates and times, are currently being assessed by the ACHA staff and ACHA M2 leadership.
 
MARAUDERS HOCKEY GAMES OPEN TO GENERAL PUBLIC
All spectators are welcome to attend Marauders hockey games. Tickets will be sold to the general public at the gate only, beginning one hour prior to face off. Attendance is limited to 75% capacity of the Schwan Cadillac rink. Tickets are $10 for adults. Tickets for students ages 13-18 are $5. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Additionally all UMary student and faculty & staff are admitted free with their MCard.
 
Masking is required for all spectators in attendance regardless of state and local guidance. Additionally, fans must follow all Covid-19 safety, sanitation, and social distancing guidelines. Fans in attendance are not permitted to sit or stand within at least twelve feet of the bench area, working staff, and playing surface. Visiting Spectators are asked to abide by the University of Mary campus social distancing rules, which can be found at www.umary.edu/COVID.
 
FREE LIVE STREAMS AVAILABLE FOR HOME GAMES
Fans unable to watch home UMary hockey games in person are encouraged to watch Marauders home games live online and free of charge at www.GoUMary.com/coverage
 
RECORDS
The Marauders are 23-1-3-1 (W-L-T-OTL) this season… Dakota College is 11-7… University of North Dakota is 0-3… Williston State is 12-13-1-0.
 
HISTORY
The Marauders are 11-1 all-time against the Lumberjacks… The Marauders are 2-0 all-time against North Dakota… The Marauders are 10-0-1-0 against the Tetons.
 
LAST WEEK
The Marauders have played one game in the last week, picking up a 2-2 draw at Williston State College on Wednesday, Feb. 10. The Marauders scored twice in the final 14 seconds of regulation to force overtime. Alex Flicek scored UMary's first goal with 14 seconds on the clock and Kyler Moore followed seven seconds later.
 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
100 | Zach Garrett reached 100 career assists when he provided the helpers on the two UMary goals scored in the final 14 seconds of a 2-2 draw at Williston State. Garrett is the first player in program history to reach triple digit assists.
49 | Kyler Moore is one goal away from joining Alex Flicek, Andy Huber, Seth Cushing and Zach Garrett with 50 goals at UMary
14 | After going 3,586 seconds without a goal last week against the Tetons, the Marauders scored twice in the final 14 seconds of regulation to force overtime in what became a 2-2 draw at Williston State
13 | The Marauders are unbeaten in their last 13 games
1 | UMary is ranked atop the first ACHA M2 poll of the season
 
PULLING THE PLUG
The Marauders penalty kill unit has overwhelmed the opposition this season. During one recent stretch UMary had skated off 23 straight shorthanded situations over the span of six games, all victories. In UMary's last 20 games, opponents are 5-for-82 on power play opportunities… For the year the Marauders have allowed the opposition to score on just 10.2% (10-for-98) of their power play opportunities… Conversely the Marauders have scored on 29.2% (31-of-106) of their power play opportunities.
 
SUCCESS
In just three short seasons as a program, Marauders head coach Dan Huntley has led the UMary to a record of 101-15-5-4 overall. The Marauders finished 39-5-2-1 in their inaugural season of 2018-19 and 39-9-0-2 in 2019-20. UMary is 23-1-3-1 in 2020-21 (W-L-T-OTL).
 
GOAL SAVANT
In his second season with the Marauders, Seth Cushing continues to pile up the goals. Through 28 games he has a team-best 22 goals. Cushing also has 14 assists and 36 points. Three times he has posted the game-winning goal. Cushing is the fastest UMary player to reach 50 goals, needing just 61 games, ahead of Alex Flicek (68 games) and Andy Huber (89).
 
FLICEK FLYING
All-American Alex Flicek is off to an outstanding start. Through 28 games he is second on the team in goals (21), first in points (43) and second in assists (22). The Bismarck, ND, native earned 2019-20 ACHA D2 All-American honors after tallying 34 goals and posting 33 assists for a team-high 67 points. He scored nine game-winning goals, added two on power plays and one shorthanded.
 
RUSH TIME
Marshall Tschida is incredibly adept at both stopping the opponent's offensive rush and leading the Marauders charge towards the opposing goal. The defenseman owns 21 assists this season – including eight on power play goals – and six goals. His play on both ends the rink has led UMary to outscore the opposition 592-221 in three seasons, including a 136-52 mark this year.
 
OLD FACES
The Marauders return 15 players from last season… Nine skaters are original members of the program entering their third season at UMary (Drew Lenertz, Alexander Horner, Marshall Tschida, Alex Flicek, Cyril Nagurski, Andrew Heckaman, Andrew Huber, Zach Garrett, Kyler Moore)… Six players are in their second year with the Marauders (Seth Cushing, David Ruiz, Cody Shepard, Noah Scordato, Johnny Witzke, Kyle Hayden)… The Marauders have nine players in their first season with UMary.
 
I WANT MOORE
Third-year player Kyler Moore has reached triple digits for career points at UMary. The native of Firestone, CO, owns 113 career points. This season he has produced 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points. Moore has four power play goals and owns four game-winners.
 
CAPTAIN
Team captain Zach Garrett entered the 2020-21 season second all-time in points at UMary with 116. Able to both find the net and teammates, Garrett had 23 goals and 36 assists for 59 points last season after contributing 54 points (19 goals and 35 assists) in 2018-19. This year he owns 13 goals and 29 assists for 42 points. He is sitting at 55 career goals and owns 155 points.
 
POWER PLAYER
Drew Lenertz directs a potent power play for the Marauders. The third-year defenseman has 79 career points in 125 games. Seven of his goals have come on the power play, along with a program-record 31 assists. He has four goals (two on a power play) and 14 assists (four on a power play) this season.
 
BRICK WALL
The Marauders net-minding duo of Kyle Hayden and Conan Hayton have been spectacular and own incredibly similar numbers. In his second season at UMary, Hayden is 11-0-2-1 with a 2.17 goals against average, a 92.3 save percentage and four shutouts. His four shutouts is one shy of the school record of five, set by both Lance Knutson and Aaron Nelson... Hayton, in his first season at UMary, is 12-1-1-0 with a 1.53 GAA, a 94.3 save percentage and two shutouts.
 
A PLUS PLUS PLUS
Johnny Witzke is +33 this season to rank second on the Marauders in +/- rankings. The dynamic skater has been on the ice for 33 more UMary goals than opponent's goals when teams are at even strength or while scoring a shorthanded goal. Individually the multi-dimensional Witzke has eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points this season… Alex Flicek now leads the Marauders at +35, followed by Witzke (33), Seth Cushing (28), Kyler Moore (27), Drew Lenertz (25), Zach Garrett (24), arshall Tshida (24) and Jaren Hugelen (23)… All Marauders skaters are at least even with no skaters featuring a negative number. 
 
 
NEXT UP
After closing out their February home schedule against Williston State, the Marauders head back to Ames, IA, for a pair of games against #6 Iowa State University on February 26-27, before stopping at #10 University of Jamestown on Feb. 28.    
 
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