The Golden Eagles played a two game series with the Ramblers in Chicago this weekend. The first game Friday night ended in a 2-0 loss. The Ramblers came out of the gate strong, getting two quick goals to which Marquette couldn’t respond.
“We just came out flat,” said senior forward Dominic Zanfardino. “We could never get back in to the game. We also ran into a hot goaltender.”
Through his first two games, McGrenera did not allow a single goal. The Golden Eagles peppered him with 35 shots but nothing found the back of the net. Marquette changed that in the second game of the series.
The Golden Eagles and Ramblers faced off again Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd. Zanfardino started the Golden Eagles with his first goal of the season, and junior Tyler Schwichtenberg soon followed with Marquette’s second. With the game tied 2-2 late into the third, Zanfardino rocketed a shot past McGrenera to give the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead.
But with just eight seconds left in the game, the Ramblers got their third goal of the game and forced it to overtime.
“We need to be better in the last minute of the game,” Zanfardino said. “We are a third period team, but we need to finish strong. You’re going to have bounces that don’t go your way. We need to just limit the mistakes in our defensive zone and I think we will be fine.”
After a scoreless overtime and four-round shootout, Nader scored the winning goal.
“It feels great to get that first win,” Zanfardino said. “We have been working hard in practice and think we have been playing good hockey. Although we only have one win in three games we can take a lot out of the first two weekends.”
While one win in three games isn’t ideal for the Golden Eagles, Zanfardino is confident about their upcoming series against Northern Illinois. He said the experience the team gained in these first three weeks will help them prepare for rivalry games in the next coming month.
“We have a lot of new young guys, and the more game time and experience they get the better we will be, as a team, in the long run,” Zanfardino said. “Also, work on good positioning and staying away from bad habits.”
Marquette will face off against Northern Illinois this weekend at the Ponds of Brookfield. The first game of the series is Friday night at 7 p.m., while the second goes down Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
