HANCOCK, Mich. – Marian University men’s hockey (17-7-1, 13-7-0 NCHA) defeated Finlandia 5-2 to close out the regular season.
The Sabres once again opened the scoring for the game when sophomore Salvatore Scalise scored his third goal of the year at the 7:10 mark of the first period with assists to junior Anthony Orubor and senior Lawson MacDonald. Finlandia would score an equalizer just 1:37 later to put the score at 1-1 after the first period.
Marian once again struck first when senior Brett Radford scored his ninth of the year just 33 seconds into the second period with assists to senior Chris Deprez and sophomore Troy Ring. Senior Conner Blanck extended the lead with a power-play goal at the 4:09 mark, his ninth of the season, assist to fellow senior Clay Cross. The Lions were able to bounce back with a power-play goal of their own to put the score at 3-2 heading to the final period.
A pair of Marian power-play goals would come in the third period with sophomore Blaine Caton scoring at the 7:29 mark, his ninth of the year, with an assist to Cross. Ring then closed out the scoring at the 10:18 mark with his third goal of the year with assists from sophomores Parker Colley and Gianni Vitali.
Marian finished with a 32-19 advantage in shots for the game led by senior Davis Ross who had a game-high five shots. Senior Hunter Vorva (14-5-1) bounced back to earn the win stopping 17 of the shots he faced.
The Sabre power play finished the game with three scores on six opportunities.
Marian opens the NCHA Harris Cup taking on St. Scholastica February 21-22 with the opener at 7 p.m. and the finale at 4 p.m. A mini-game will immediately follow the finale, if necessary.
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