MANDAN, ND – A second straight overtime thriller between the University of Mary and the University of Minnesota once again broke the Marauders way. After earning a shootout win last weekend on the Gophers home ice, the Marauders skated to a near cardiac arrest-inducing 4-3 extra session victory Saturday on a goal by
Isaiah Thomas. The victory extends UMary's win streak to 26 consecutive games.
Down 3-2 late in regulation and the clock quickly running out, the Marauders (6-0) pulled
Conan Hayton from goal for an extra skater and turned to their veterans in hopes of forcing overtime. Running the attack from the blue line,
Johnny Witzke sent the puck down to
Alex Flicek on the end line. Flicek, UMary's all-time leading scorer, eyed
Andrew Huber left alone in front of the Gophers (0-4) net and delivered a laser pass. Huber didn't hesitate, knocking home the puck for his 79
th career goal with 67 seconds left in regulation.
The Marauders kept their momentum flowing and dominated the overtime session. With both teams skating 3-on-3 for the 5-minute extra period, the Marauders had the first good scoring opportunity on a breakaway by
Tanner Eskro, but he was denied by Gophers goaltender Zach Walker.
Moments later, Thomas led the next UMary charge down the ice. Playing in his first game since an injury last winter, Thomas fired high over the net and off the glass. Following the rebound,
Teddy Lillico battled for the puck in the crease and slipped it to Thomas on the left side of the net. The Bismarck, ND, native knew exactly what to do with the opportunity and immediately found the back of the net with the puck, setting off a wild celebration from a packed house of Marauders fans.
The opening two periods belied what would happen later in the contest.
With the first period rapidly winding down the Marauders opened the scoring on a rifle shot by
Lucas Medeiros. Fed the puck by
Garrett Freeman in the Marauders defensive zone, Medeiros skated the length of the ice and fired a blistering shot into the top left corner from the right circle. His first Marauders goal with 1:20 left in the opening period sent UMary into intermission leading 1-0.
Minnesota's Kaden Sandberg scored the only goal of the second period, setting up a wild third period.
Camping out to the left of the Gophers net,
Liam Massie regained the lead for the Marauders. Taking a pass by
Caleb Petrie from behind the net, Massie fired a low angle shot past Walker to provide the Marauders a 2-1 lead.
Minnesota soon responded with goals by Tim Adler and Joel Steenari to take a 3-2 lead and set up a wild finish.
Hayton finished the game with 30 saves. Walker had 35.
UMary held a 39-33 edge in shots. The Marauders also committed the only two penalties of the game.
The 2-time defending ACHA M2 national champion Marauders and the Gophers wrap up their weekend series at 2 pm on Sunday, Oct. 9, at the Starion Sports Complex Schwan Cadillac Rink.
M2 University of Minnesota 3 at M2 University of Mary 4 (OT) - Status: Final OT1
Saturday, October 8, 2022 - Starion Sports Complex
M2 University of Minnesota 0 1 2 0 - 3
M2 University of Mary 1 0 2 1 - 4
1st Period-1, M2 University of Mary, Medeiros 1 (Freeman, Thomas), 18:40. Penalties-Medeiros Umary (interference), 7:02.
2nd Period-2, M2 University of Minnesota, Sandberg 1 (Holien), 11:00. Penalties-Witzke Umary (tripping), 3:45.
3rd Period-3, M2 University of Mary, Massie 3 (Petrie), 1:56. 4, M2 University of Minnesota, Adler 1 (Tourtillott), 5:12. 5, M2 University of Minnesota, Steenari 1 (Kimlinger, Flanders), 13:17. 6, M2 University of Mary, Huber 2 (Flicek, Witzke), 18:53. Penalties-No Penalties
1st OT Period-7, M2 University of Mary, Thomas 1 (Lillico), 2:07. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-M2 University of Minnesota 11-10-12-0-33. M2 University of Mary 15-11-9-4-39.
Power Play Opportunities-M2 University of Minnesota 0 / 2; M2 University of Mary 0 / 0.
Goalies-M2 University of Minnesota, Walker 0-0-1-0 (39 shots-35 saves). M2 University of Mary, Hayton 2-0-0-0 (33 shots-30 saves).
A-955
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