MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO – In an American Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Division 1 tournament that opened with three straight upsets, the #10 seed University of Mary men's hockey team reversed the trend with a 3-1 win over #23 seed West Chester University.
Isaiah Thomas tallied twice and
Jaren Hugelen struck once to give the Marauders the victory in their ACHA MD1 tournament debut.
The Marauders now get a day off before facing #7 seed Liberty University in the second round of the ACHA MD1 tournament at 4:45 pm on Saturday, March 9, at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, MO.
UMary is now 13-1 all-time at ACHA national tournaments. The Marauders were 12-1 in three ACHA MD2 tournaments, including winning championships in 2021 and 2022. The Marauders moved up a level to ACHA MD1 this season.
The Marauders just missed opening the scoring five minutes into the contest. Skating shorthanded,
Tanner Eskro carried the puck into the Rams defensive zone and eventually slid the puck to
Johnny Witzke. The Marauders captain skated down the slot but his shot was blocked by Rams forward Emerson Emery.
Skating for the first time since being sidelined by injury in late January,
Seth Cushing, UMary's leading goal scorer, picked up a loose puck at the top of the crease and fired a shot off the post with 4:25 left in the first period.
Marauders goaltender
Conan Hayton kept the game scoreless with a tremendous save in the first minute of the second period, sliding from the right post to the left post to smother a shot attempt in the crease.
Earning their first power play early in the second period, the Marauders needed just five seconds to convert the man advantage into the opening goal of the game. Eskro won the faceoff to the left of the net and drew the puck back to Thomas, who slid the puck over to Witzke. The Marauders defenseman fired a long shot from the top left point that was tipped into the net by Hugelen, who was camped just outside the crease for the goal at 4:10 of the second period.
The Marauders just missed on a pair of scoring opportunities in the next couple minutes, with the Golden Rams having to clean a puck off the goal line close to the 6:00 mark. Continuing to press to add to the lead, Eskro had a shot on the left doorstep turned aside by Golden Rams netminder Chad Simmerman at just under the 8:00 mark.
After the Golden Rams nearly found the equalizer at 11:35 when a shot by Aidan Gaffney off a faceoff rang the crossbar, West Chester pulled even at 1-1 with 90 seconds remaining in the second period on a Logan Myers goal from the left circle into the top right corner of the net.
UMary tried to regain the lead in the closing seconds after a Hugelen shot bounced off Simmerman but the Rams goalie was able to pounce on the puck to force a faceoff.
Thomas regained the lead for the Marauders at 2:37 of the third period. Picking up his rebound of a shot from the left circle, Witzke fired a diagonal pass from the endline to Thomas in the slot for a one-timer and a 2-1 Marauders advantage.
A penalty committed by the Marauders with under 13 minutes to play gave the Golden Rams an opportunity by the UMary penalty kill unit maintained the lead for the Marauders.
Thomas sealed the Marauders victory with an empty net goal at the 17:41 mark.
Hayton finished with 40 saves. Simmerman had 34.
Thomas finished the game with two goals and an assist. Witzke and
Andrew Huber both had a pair of assists for UMary.
The Marauders scored on their only power play opportunity of the night as the Golden Rams were called for one penalty. UMary was called for four penalties but held West Chester without a goal in four chances with a man advantage.
MD1 West Chester University 1 at MD1 University of Mary 3 - Status: Unofficial Final
Thursday, March 7, 2024 - Centene Community Ice Center (MO)
MD1 West Chester University 0 1 0 - 1
MD1 University of Mary 0 1 2 - 3
1st Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Freeman M1umy (interference), 4:03.
2nd Period-1, MD1 University of Mary, Hugelen 1 (Witzke, Thomas), 4:10 (PP). 2, MD1 West Chester University, Myers 1 (Sheppard, Crain), 18:30. Penalties-McCuen M1wcu (tripping), 4:04; Massie M1umy (roughing), 16:26.
3rd Period-3, MD1 University of Mary, Thomas 1 (Huber, Witzke), 2:37. 4, MD1 University of Mary, Thomas 2 (Huber), 17:41 (EN). Penalties-Dropik M1umy (cross checking), 6:42; Nagurski M1umy (interference), 17:59.
Shots on Goal-MD1 West Chester University 11-10-20-41. MD1 University of Mary 9-18-10-37.
Power Play Opportunities-MD1 West Chester University 0 / 4; MD1 University of Mary 1 / 1.
Goalies-MD1 West Chester University, Simmerman (36 shots-34 saves). MD1 University of Mary, Hayton (41 shots-40 saves).
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