FREMONT, Neb. – In a matchup of the top two teams in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey (MCH) conference, Midland University and Maryville University took to the ice inside Sidner Ice Arena this weekend. In a series that could very well decide the MCH champion and with it a trip to the national tournament, the Warriors dropped both games to the Saints, 4-3 and 9-1. The losses drop Midland to 6-14-0-0 on the season while the victories improve Maryville to 7-5-0-0.
FRIDAY: Maryville 4, Midland 3
After a slow start in the opening period on Friday, Midland’s offense started to manufacture opportunities against the Maryville defense. Facing a 2-0 deficit, the Warriors’ Luke Sanko got the first goal of the game for the home team two minutes into the second period. Ondrej Blaha sent a pass to a charging Ryan Donovan who then found Sanko on the backside of the two-man rush. The goal was his 10th of the season.
Before the end of the second, Maryville would get the score and their two-goal lead back as they lit the lamp with 3:20 to go in the period.
In the final period, Mason Cirone found Kolten Wright who then found the back of the net at the 7:13 mark to pull the Warriors back within a goal. Things would stay that way for the next ten minutes.
With just under two minutes to play, Midland pulled their goalie to get the extra man on the attack, looking for the tying goal. However, a bad turnover compounded by a miscalculated defensive move allowed the Saints to score an empty-net goal to go up 4-2.
After winning the puck back, the Warriors again pulled their goalie and this time around had a better outcome. With 55 seconds to play, Wright scored his second of the game off a feed from Donovan and Blaha.
Still playing with an extra attacker the final stretch, Midland ran into the ultimate defender in the game clock as they were unable to move the puck into the net to force overtime.
Jaden Gardner played 58:14 in net, stopping 28 attempts by Maryville on the night.
SATURDAY: Maryville 9, Midland 1
Looking for the split of the weekend and season series, Midland had good energy to start the game on Saturday night. They took advantage of an early power-play opportunity midway through the first. With 9:27 on the clock, Zach Eddington found the back of the net off a feed from Ryan Donovan and Ondej Blaha. However, the Warriors’ sails quickly deflated as Maryville responded with three goals in a stretch of two minutes. They scored twice on the power-play and once more even-strength to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
The onslaught continued after the break as the Saints found the back of the net five times in the second period. Midland tried everything they could to stem the tide, swapping goalies not once but twice in the period. Maryville took a commanding 8-1 lead into the second intermission.
During the final period of action, Midland held their own despite a noticeable shortening of their lines. Despite a last-minute goal allowed which could be attributed to exhaustion, the Warriors played even with the Saints over the final period of play.
Angus Laing was dealt the loss. He went a combined 26:10 in net, allowing seven goals.
Midland (6-14-0-0) will be back in action this next weekend as they take on Waldorf (2-12-0-1) in a split series. The teams will play Friday night in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and then in Fremont on Saturday night. Saturday’s game will be senior night for the Warriors as they honor the Class of 2021.
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