ALBERT LEA, Minn. - The Marian University men's ACHA team (17-3-0, 11-1-0 NCHL) defeated UW-Oshkosh 8-1 to earn a spot in the NCHL Tournament Championship.
The bus ride to Albert Lea, MN early Saturday morning did not affect the Marian players as they came out with a lot of energy. At the 10:17 mark Marian got on the board when Bryton Tomko slid one into an open net just outside the crease after University of Wisconsin Oshkosh goaltender Eric Vela could not handle the rebound. With UWO on the power play Logan Zimmerman wound up for a slapper from the point only to see it blocked by Kirill Poskurin who then scooped up the block for a breakaway, ultimately beating Vela upper shelf glove side at 14:46. Marian increased their lead to 3-0 while on the power play. Tomko hit Jake Weldon with a cross ice pass which found the back of the net. As Marian and UWO headed to the locker rooms for the first intermission Marian led 3-0.
Marian's lead increased to four after 8:26 had elapsed of the second period when the puck bounced right to Tanner Pagendam, who then buried it in the back of the net. There was no let up in Marian's game and they scored their fifth unanswered goal off the stick of Weldon with 1:19 remaining. After 40 minutes of play Marian held a commanding 5-0 lead.
UWO was not going to give up and kept fighting. Just under three minutes into the third period Mitchell Gerhartz took a pass from Zach Mattson and beat Marian goaltender Fredrik Radbjer five hole, ending his shutout. With 5:37 to go in regulation time UWO's Jason Johnson took a double minor penalty which Marian made the most of by scoring two power play goals. The first power play goal was scored by Brandon Mills when he beat Vela with a shot upper deck from just outside the right part of the crease at 15:35. Twenty-nine seconds later Miles Giorgione used the crossbar to direct his shot from the top of the right circle into the back of the net. Giorgione's goal put Marian up 7-1. With just under 35 seconds left Colin Klein scored a shorthander when he took a pass from Weldon, who was on the goal line, and backhanded the puck into the upper glove corner. Time expired with Marian up 8-1.
Earning the victory for Marian was Radbjer, stopping 27 of 28 the shots he faced. Absorbing the loss for UWO was Eric Vela, who turned away 49 of the 57 shots on net by Marian.
Marian will play in the NCHL Tournament Championship Sunday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. against Robert Morris.
--FightBlueFight--
