ALBERT LEA, MN – Penalties proved incredibly punishing for #11 University of Mary in the Midwest College Hockey playoff championship game. All three goals scored by #1 Minot State University came on the power play as the Beavers downed the Marauders 3-1 to claim the Lindsay Cup and earned the MCH automatic bid to the American Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Division 1 national tournament.
Three of the four penalties called against the Marauders came in a decisive third period. The Beavers took full use of the man advantage opportunities to score two power play goals and break open a game tied 1-1 after two periods. All three Beavers goals came with the Marauders skating shorthanded.
Including the lone UMary goal scored by
Amraj Gill, all four goals scored in the MCH championship game came on power plays.
National tournament information for UMary will be announced Tuesday, February 24, at 8 pm when the ACHA MD1 Selection Show will unveil the 24 teams qualifying for the 2026 national championships. The ACHA MD1 selection show is streamed live at
https://tinyurl.com/2026m1.
UMary slips to 26-13-0-0-0-1 (W-L-OTL-T-SOW-SOL) overall. Minot State improves to 30-1-1-0-0-1 overall.
Minot State opened the scoring in the first period with a power play goal by Colby Joseph at 12:02.
Taking advantage of their second power play of the opening period, Gill scored the equalizer at 17:27. With a man advantage and
Isaac Flatley camped in front of the Beavers net, Gill took a pass atop the slot and fired a long shot through traffic that eluded Minot State goaltender Will Dyke just inside the right post.
Derek Dropik and
David Loahr earned the assist on the eighth goal of the season for the UMary defender.
UMary's defense claimed top honors in the second period as the Marauders held the Beavers to just four shots.
The third period swung to the Beavers early on as the Marauders were whistled for hooking just outside the UMary net only 84 seconds into the final stanza. With nine seconds remaining before the power play was set to expire, Walker Jerome tapped home the go-ahead goal at 3:15.
Minot State sealed the MCH playoff title with another power play goal by Matthew Yakubowski at 12:00.
Caleb Cross was again strong in net for UMary, stopping 23 of the 26 shots he faced in the game. In three MCH playoff games, Cross allowed six goals with three coming on the penalty kill. Over the span of six periods beginning with the third period of the Marauders 5-3 quarterfinal win over Iowa State University, a 1-0 win over #7 Jamestown and the first two periods of the championship game against #1 Minot State, Cross allowed one goal while stopped 42 of 43 shots.
Dyke made 26 saves for the Beavers as UMary held a 27-26 edge in shots.
UMary was called for four penalties for eight minutes while Minot State was cited for a pair of minor penalties, both in the first period.
MD1 University of Mary 1 at MD1 Minot State University 3 - Status: Final
Sunday, February 22, 2026 - Albert Lea City Arena (MN)
MD1 University of Mary 1 0 0 - 1
MD1 Minot State University 1 0 2 - 3
1st Period-1, MD1 Minot State University, Joseph 23 (Logan Rands, Buchholz), 12:02 (PP). 2, MD1 University of Mary, Gill 8 (Dropik, Loahr), 17:27 (PP). Penalties-Dropik M1umy (hooking), 10:49; Dewar M1msu (slashing), 12:18; Tataryn M1msu (hooking), 16:54.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period-3, MD1 Minot State University, Jerome 6 (Kadolph, Clyne), 3:15 (PP). 4, MD1 Minot State University, Yakubowski 6 (Buchholz, Moffatt), 12:00 (PP). Penalties-Gill M1umy (hooking), 1:24; Flatley M1umy (holding), 10:47; Mangan M1umy (delay of game), 17:38.
Shots on Goal-MD1 University of Mary 10-10-7-27. MD1 Minot State University 12-4-10-26.
Power Play Opportunities-MD1 University of Mary 1 / 0; MD1 Minot State University 3 / 0.
Goalies-MD1 University of Mary, Cross 20-9-0-0 (26 shots-23 saves). MD1 Minot State University, Dyke 20-1-1-1 (27 shots-26 saves).
A-0
#marauders#
