Marian University men’s hockey (17-8-1, 13-7-0 NCHA) couldn’t overcome a slow start falling to St. Scholastica 5-3 in the opening game of the NCHA Harris Cup quarterfinals.
The Saints scored the first pair goals finding the back of the net 25 seconds and 8:41 into the game. Junior Anthony Orubor would bury a bouncing puck at the 10:49 mark for his fourth goal of the season to cut the Sabre deficit in half after one period. Sophomore Troy Ring and senior Lawson MacDonald assisted the goal.
A power-play goal from St. Scholastica just 28 seconds into the second period brought their lead out to 3-1 before sophomore Yuri Chernichko lit the lamp off of a faceoff to put the game at 3-2. The goal was his fifth coming at the 10:58 mark with an assist to sophomore Blaine Caton who won the draw.
St. Scholastica once again found the back of the net to open the third period at the 7:09 mark only to have the Sabres score 1:17 later. Freshman Ty Enns was able to light the lamp for the 11th time this season with assists to sophomores Gianni Vitali and Parker Colley to once again put the Sabre deficit down to one. An unlucky bounce closed out the scoring as St. Scholastica would score at the 13:16 mark to set the final at 5-3.
The Sabres dominated in shots outshooting the Saints 46-22 led by seven shots from Enns. Senior Hunter Vorva (14-6-1) made 17 saves between the pipes for the Sabres.
Marian closes out the series tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 22, needing a win to force a mini-game that would take place immediately after.
–FightBlueFight—
