MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO – A second period explosion ensured a second straight trip to the national championship game for the University of Mary and the opportunity for the Marauders to defend their American Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Division 2 title. UMary scored four goals in under six minutes in the second period to carry the Marauders to a 6-1 victory over Lindenwood University in the ACHA semifinals.
The 2022 national championship game features two teams that have combined for the last three titles when the Marauders, the 2021 ACHA M2 champion, face Florida Gulf Coast University. The Eagles won the ACHA M2 title in 2016, 2018 and 2019. No tournament was held in 2020 due to the pandemic. The puck drops at 7 pm inside the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, MO.
The Eagles advanced to the championship game with a 4-1 win over Dakota College at Bottineau.
The Marauders have faced the Eagles five times in program history and own two wins with three losses. Four of the games were on the FGCU ice. The two teams have not played one another since October 2019.
The Marauders opened the game on fire, showing high energy while flying up and down the ice in the Lions home rink. The fast pace quickly paid off with UMary the first to light the lamp.
Skating four aside as both teams were cited for penalties less than 90 seconds into the game,
Alex Flicek was left alone with the puck in the left circle and rifled home a shot just 2:11 into the game.
The Marauders continued to carry the play the rest of the period, holding an 11-2 edge in shots. Despite the edge in scoring opportunities UMary was unable to add onto its lead and entered the first intermission ahead 1-0.
The Lions came out as the aggressor in the second period and needed just 83 seconds to knot the contest 1-1 on a Bobby Bruss goal. A Marauders penalty 11 seconds later opened the door for the Lions to take a lead but the UMary penalty kill unit shut down the Lindenwood attack and reversed the momentum back to the defending national champions.
With a subsequent power play opportunity for UMary winding down, the Marauders regained the lead at the halfway mark of the second period.
Andrew Heckaman picked up the puck in neutral ice and led the attack into the Lions defensive zone. Sliding the puck to
Zach Garrett, the Marauders team captain whistled a shot from the top of the slot into the top right corner of the net at 10:04 for a 2-1 UMary lead.
A Lions infraction 16 seconds later provided another Marauders power play opportunity and UMary again took advantage.
Holding the puck in the right circle, Flicek attempted to fire a pass to a teammate through the crease on the far doorstep of the net. The puck never arrived as instead a Lindenwood defender knocked the puck into the goal at 10:52 for Flick's second goal of the game as UMary doubled its advantage to 3-1.
The deflected goal opened the floodgates for the Marauders. With
Derek Dropik crashing the net,
Jaren Hugelen slipped a pass into the crease. While Dropik's first crack at jamming the puck into the net, his second attempt succeeded to increase the Marauders lead to 4-1 at 14:52.
A scant 77 seconds later,
Kyler Moore combined with Garrett for a 4
th UMary goal in under six minutes. Slipping the puck to Garrett, Moore received the puck back all alone in the slot where he whistled a shot into the net at 15:59 to chase the Lions goalkeeper and send the Marauders into the second intermission leading 5-1.
Tanner Eskro got into the scoring column at 8:52 of the third when he tapped home a pass from Garrett, the third point of the day for the reigning ACHA M2 Player of the Year.
Flicek paced the Marauders offense with two goals. Garrett had a hand in four goals, scoring once and assisting on three others. Moore finished with a goal and an assist.
Kyle Hayden posted 24 saves to earn his third win in the 2022 tournament. Including last season the All-American has won seven tourney games without a loss while posting four shutouts and allowing three goals.
The Marauders held a 31-25 edge in shots.
The victory extends the Marauders win streak to 19 games, a program record. UMary improves to 37-4-1-2 (W-L-OTL-T) overall this season. Against ACHA M2 teams the Marauders are 35-2-0-2 this season without a loss to an M2 team since October 15, 2021.
Over the course of two national tournament appearances, the Marauders are 9-0 and have outscored their opponents 44-5. In the 2022 tournament, UMary is 4-0 and have outscored the opposition 21-3.
#1 University of Mary 6 at #1 Lindenwood University 1 - Status: Final
Thursday, March 17, 2022 - USA Arena-CICC
#1 University of Mary 1 4 1 - 6
#1 Lindenwood University 0 1 0 - 1
1st Period-1, #1 University of Mary,
Alex Flicek 1 (
Marshall Tschida,
Zach Garrett), 2:11. Penalties-
Andrew Heckaman UMary (cross checking), 1:24; Braxton Walby LU (elbowing), 1:24; Flicek UMary (tripping), 4:50;
Garrett Freeman UMary (interference), 7:12; Bench served by Hart LU (too many men), 17:23.
2nd Period-2, #1 Lindenwood University, Bobby Bross 1 (Declan Carter, Nick Thorpe), 1:23. 3, #1 University of Mary, Garrett 1 (Heckaman,
Johnny Witzke), PPG, 10:04. 4, #1 University of Mary, Flicek 2 (Freeman), PPG, 10:52. 5, #1 University of Mary,
Derek Dropik 1 (
Jaren Hugelen), 14:42. 6, #1 University of Mary,
Kyler Moore 1 (Garrett), 15:59. Penalties-
Seth Cushing UMary (tripping), 1:34; Tim Marchant LU (tripping), 8:49; Carter LU (interference), 10:20.
3rd Period-7, #1 University of Mary,
Tanner Eskro 1 (Garrett, Moore), 8:52. Penalties-Michael Mullen LU (slashing), 0:41; Cushing UMary (boarding), 13:25;
Alex Flicek UMary (10-minute misconduct), 15:51;
Garrett Freeman UMary (10-minute misconduct), 15:51;
Teddy Lillico UMary (10-minute misconduct), 15:51; Praveen Dhaliwal LU (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 15:51; RJ Hart LU (10-minute misconduct), 15:51.
Shots on Goal-#1 University of Mary 11-12-8-31. #1 Lindenwood University 2-12-11-25.
Power Play Opportunities-#1 University of Mary 2/6; #1 Lindenwood University 0 / 5.
Goalies-#1 University of Mary,
Kyle Hayden (25 shots-24 saves). #1 Lindenwood University, Trevor Osborne (23 shots-18 saves); Michael Errico (8 shots-7 saves).
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