CROOKSTON, MN – In the University of Mary's final preparation before the reigning national champions defend their crown at the 2022 American Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Division 2 national tournament, the visiting Marauders overwhelmed the University of Minnesota Crookston 7-0. Seven different Marauders scored goals in the final game of the regular season as UMary extended its win streak to a program record-tying 15 games.
The Marauders improve to 33-4-1-2 with one game remaining in the regular season. UMary owns a 32-2-0-2 against ACHA M2 teams this year and hasn't lost to an M2 team since October 15, 2021. UMC concludes the regular season 15-10-2.
UMary's current win streak equals the program record set in the fall of 2018 when the Marauders were victorious in each of the first 15 games in program history.
The 2021 ACHA M2 Player of the Year
Zach Garrett started the scoring for the Marauders.
Drew Lenertz, who posted the 100
th point of his career in Friday's win over UMC, started the rush out of the UMary defensive zone with a forward pass to
Kyler Moore. Playing the puck on the left boards, Moore did a spinarama with the puck and found Garrett at the top of the slot. Without hesitation, Garrett found the top of the net for his 22
nd goal of the season midway through the first period.
Seth Cushing set up the Marauders second goal. Going to his knees in the slot, he slid the puck to
Alex Flicek inside the left circle. Flicek avoided a defender and beat Golden Eagles netminder Braeden Schmitz at 17:44 to give the Marauders a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission. Flicek's goal was his 22
nd of the season.
The Marauders increased the pressure in the second period. One night after dishing three assists,
Tanner Eskro scored at the 8:42 mark. Less than three minutes later,
Garrett Freeman scored his 22
nd goal in his first year with UMary.
Marshall Tschida then tacked on a goal at 16:01 for a 5-0 Marauders lead.
After seeing three teammates tie him for the Marauders goal scoring lead, Cushing found the net at 11:05 of the third, his 23
rd counter of the season to push him back atop the team leaderboard.
Andrew Heckaman closed out the scoring with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 12:46.
Flicek led the team with three points with a goal and two assists. Freeman, Cushing and Garrett had a goal and an assist each. Moore chipped in a pair of assists. Overall 11 Marauders had a point in the game.
Conan Hayton was stellar in net for the Marauders, stopping all 26 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season. Schmitz (24 saves) and Jake Sumner (26 saves) combined for 50 saves for UMC after UMary fired 57 shots on the Golden Eagles net.
The Marauders, ranked 1st in the nation and the #1 seed from the West Region, now turns their full attention to the national tournament. Pool play opens on Monday, March 14, when UMary faces the University of Wisconsin, the 4th seed from the Central. The Badgers ranked 10th in the final Central region rankings and 22nd in ACHA M2. Game time is 5:45 pm.
Day two features the Marauders skating against #3 seed Indiana University, the 7th ranked team from the Southeast region final rankings and 18th in the country. Face off is 5:15 pm.
In the final game in pool play on Wednesday, March 16, at 8:45 pm, the Marauders square off against #2 seed Northeastern University, ranked 2nd in the Northeast Region and 11th nationally.
The ACHA semifinal is slated for Thursday, March 17, with the championship game on Friday, March 18.
FINAL | M2 University of Mary 7 at M2 University of Minnesota-Crookston 0
Saturday, March 5, 2022 - Crookston Sports Center
M2 University of Mary 2 3 2 - 7
M2 University of Minnesota-Crookston 0 0 0 - 0
1st Period-1, M2 University of Mary, Garrett 22 (Moore, Lenertz), 10:31. 2, M2 University of Mary, Flicek 22 (Cushing), 17:44. Penalties-Neubauer Umc (high sticking), 2:14; Lillico Umary (roughing), 10:40; Neubauer Umc (roughing), 10:40.
2nd Period-3, M2 University of Mary, Eskro 12 (Garrett, Moore), 8:42. 4, M2 University of Mary, Freeman 22 (Flicek, Hanson), 11:07. 5, M2 University of Mary, Tschida 14 (Zaste), 16:01. Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period-6, M2 University of Mary, Cushing 23 (Flicek, Freeman), 11:05. 7, M2 University of Mary, Heckaman 9 12:46 (SH). Penalties-Freeman Umary (interference), 11:57.
Shots on Goal-M2 University of Mary 18-19-20-57. M2 University of Minnesota-Crookston 8-8-10-26.
Power Play Opportunities-M2 University of Mary 0 / 1; M2 University of Minnesota-Crookston 0 / 1.
Goalies-M2 University of Mary, Hayton 9-1-1-0 (26 shots-26 saves). M2 University of Minnesota-Crookston, Schmitz 7-3-0-0 (27 shots-24 saves); Sumner 3-0-0-0 (30 shots-26 saves).
A-489
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