FREMONT, Neb. – It was a matinee matchup for Midland University and the University of Mary as the teams squared off inside Sidner Ice Arena on Monday. The Warriors’ stretch of challenging foes continued as they hosted the Marauders, the reigning back-to-back national champions of the ACHA Division 2. Despite a valiant effort, the shorthanded Midland team fell to UMary by a 6-2 score.
The Marauders struck first with a shorthanded goal at the 8:33 mark when the Warriors’ goalie got caught out of his crease, trying to direct the puck to a teammate. They would add a second goal before the intermission, scoring at the 11:42 mark of the period.
Before the break, Midland netted its first goal as Cody Shearer found the back of the net off a feed from Trevor Timm. The goal was Shearer’s first as a collegian.
In the second, UMary netted what would be the eventual game-winner just over two minutes in via a power play chance. While killing off another penalty, the Marauders were able to strike once more for a shorthanded goal at the 5:27 mark. Before the period ended, UMary added two more goals to make it 6-1 after 40 minutes of play.
Midland continued to work through their shifts throughout the game. Three minutes into the third, Fletcher Chun netted a goal off a feed from Zach Weber and Jared Wisely.
Ondrej Patha picked up 31 saves in net for Midland. The shots on net gap were fairly close with the Marauders getting 37 on frame and the Warriors getting 29.
“We didn’t have very good energy to start the game,” commented head coach Jan Dam. “We talked to the team after the game about how we’ve got to create that energy no matter who or when we are playing. We did a great job of that against Minot, but today it was missing. We’ll give the guys some time off of the ice this week as we prepare for three games down in Oklahoma. They’ll get in the training room and also do some work in the gym before we skate next.”
Midland (3-14) will travel down to Edmond, Oklahoma for the Battle at the Edge Showcase. They’ll face Oklahoma (4-9) on Friday, Oregon (6-10) on Saturday, and Central Oklahoma (18-4) on Sunday.
