FOND DU LAC, Wis. - Marian University men's hockey (14-9-2, 12-7-1 NCHA) defeated Aurora 5-0 to clinch a berth into the NCHA Harris Cup and home-ice for the opening round.

Marian opened the scoring at the 7:07 mark when freshman Clay Cross was able to light the lamp with an assist to sophomore James Mathias.  Marian outshot the Spartans 18-3 in the opening period as MU opened the game strong.

The Sabres then put together a spurt of goals to expand their lead.  Sophomore Jake Howie found the back of the net with assists to fellow sophomore Nick Monfils and freshman Brock Weston at the 11:43 mark before the Sabres scored a pair of goals separated by 14-seconds.

Sophomore Gianni Mangone netted the first goal unassisted before netting a second goal 14-seconds later with assists to senior Derek Perl and Mathias.

Junior Derek Thorogood concluded the scoring for the night with an unassisted goal at the 16:47 mark of the third period.

Marian finished the game with a 49-27 shots advantage and went 1-6 on the power play.  Senior Mike Baldwin stopped all 27 shots sent his way to improve to 12-6-2 on the year.

Marian will host either Lake Forest or MSOE Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Blue Line.

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