BOTTINEAU, ND – A 5-point night by Seth Cushing headlined a 13^th straight win for the University of Mary hockey team. In a matchup of the top two teams in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Division 2 West Region, UMary overwhelmed homestanding Dakota College at Bottineau 8-1.
 
Ranked first in the nation and in the West region, the Marauders improved to 31-4-1-2 this season. UMary owns a 30-2-0-2 against ACHA M2 teams this year and hasn't lost to an M2 team since October. 10^th nationally and 2^nd in the West, Dakota College is 17-8-1-0. The Marauders are 6-0-0-1 this season against the Lumberjacks. UMary and Dakota College earned the two automatic berths from the West region to the national ACHA tournament.
 
Stating the Marauders started fast is an understatement. It took just 27 seconds for UMary to score when Andrew Heckaman used an assist from Cushing to find the net. The Marauders lead jumped to 2-0 only 2:50 in the game when Zach Garrett tallied for the 18^th time this year off helpers from Garrett Freeman and Kyler Moore.
 
The last five minutes of the first period witnessed three goals. Cushing beat Lumberjacks netminder Jordan Berschiminsky at 15:22. Less than two minutes later Joeben Smith cut the Dakota College deficit to 3-1 at the 16:11 mark. Alex Flicek then sent the Marauders into intermission leading 4-1 when he struck for his team-leading 21^st goal of the year at 18:11.
 
Neither team managed to score in the second. UMary made up for that drought in the third period when the Marauders scored four times.
 
Tanner Eskro opened the UMary outburst at 1:20. Cushing tied Flicek for the team scoring lead with his 21^st goal at 5:47. Garrett struck for his second counter of the game at 8:50. Closing the scoring was Braeden Zaste with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
 
Cushing led the Marauders attack with two goals and three assists. Garrett followed with two goals. Eskro and Flicek both contributed a goal and two assists. Heckaman was the fifth UMary player with multiple points, adding an assist to his goal.
 
Kyle Hayden finished the game with 21 saves in the game. Berschiminsky had 42 saves in a game the Marauders outshot the Lumberjacks 50-22.
 
The Marauders close out the regular season with a pair of games at the University of Minnesota Crookston on March 4-5.
 
University of Mary 8 at Dakota College-Bottineau 1 - Status: Final
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 - Bottineau Lumberdome
 
University of Mary 4 0 4 - 8
Dakota College-Bottineau 1 0 0 - 1
 
1st Period-1, University of Mary, Heckaman 6 (Cushing), 0:27. 2, University of Mary, Garrett 18 (Freeman, Moore), 2:50. 3, University of Mary, Cushing 20 (Flicek), 15:22. 4, Dakota College-Bottineau, Smith 9 (Dick, Rybchinski), 16:58. 5, University of Mary, Flicek 21 (Eskro, Cushing), 18:11. Penalties-Moore UMary (slashing), 14:13.
 
2nd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Rybchinski DCB (cross checking), 8:22.
 
3rd Period-6, University of Mary, Eskro 11 (Cushing, Witzke), 1:20. 7, University of Mary, Cushing 21 (Eskro, Flicek), 5:47. 8, University of Mary, Garrett 19   8:50. 9, University of Mary, Zaste 4 (Heckaman), 15:32. Penalties-No Penalties
 
Shots on Goal-University of Mary 17-20-13-50. Dakota College-Bottineau 11-7-4-22.
Power Play Opportunities- University of Mary 0 / 1; Dakota College-Bottineau 0 / 1.
Goalies-University of Mary, Hayden 20-3-0-0 (22 shots-21 saves). Dakota College-Bottineau, Berschiminsky 11-6-0-0 (50 shots-42 saves).
 
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