Tyler Schwitchenberg picked up the puck at the blueline and found Corey Quinn crashing the slot. Schwitchenberg passed the puck behind Quinn, and he put the puck through his legs while avoiding a Northern Illinois defender. Quinn shot the puck, but it was saved by NIU goaltender Alex Craig. Schwitchenberg then crashed the net and buried the puck. The goal gave Marquette a 3-0 lead just six minutes into the game, and it led to Durrbeck’s benching.

The Golden Eagles put on an offensive clinic this past weekend against NIU, defeating the Hustkies 11-0 and 11-2. The two wins pushed Marquette’s winning streak to three and moved them above .500 for the season. The 11-spot in the first game more than doubled the team’s total goals so far this season.

“We needed a win,” Schwitchenberg said. “We had two losses on the season and we needed to step up big … we were glad to get the score up.”

“It was a good stat weekend for sure,” assistant coach Peter Schutt said. “It’s a good building for the rest of the year … we have to show the league and the other teams that we’re here to play.”

Marquette came right out of the gate Friday night, scoring its first goal just 12 seconds into the game. The Golden Eagles ended up scoring eight goals in the first period alone and scored two more in the second before getting another in the third. Over the course of the game, Marquette had nine different goal scorers and had 15 different skaters register points. The shutout was goalie John Foley’s first of the year.

“It’s just nice to see their effort, to see they care about my shutout,” Foley said about his teammates. “People getting down, blocking shots. Just giving a lot of effort. In games like that, the effort goes down, so it’s nice to see things keep going.”

Saturday afternoon saw a more consistent scoring flow throughout the game, but Marquette still dominated the Huskies. The highlight reel of goals continued, especially Matt Poli’s. Poli picked off a pass at the blueline and ripped a shot from the top of the circles. He hit an NIU player in the leg, picked up the puck again and buried it through the goalie’s five-hole. His power-play goal gave the Golden Eagles a 3-1 lead and proved to be the game-winner.

Freshman goaltender Alejandro Anderson started the second game for Marquette and faced some quality shots. The Huskies released the off-wing forward to try to generate some offense against the Golden Eagles, which led to two goals and a few more odd-man chances than Marquette would have liked. However, the experience will prove valuable for the rest of the season.

“To come out and see the level of play the team has, the talent that we have was really good,” Schutt said.

Over the two games, Quinn, Schwitchenberg and Mitch Ellena led the team with five points each. Quinn had all five of his points in the opening game, while Schwitchenberg and Ellena spread their offense out over the two games.

Marquette will face a tough test this weekend against rival Robert Morris University – Peoria. Both games will take place at Owens Ice Center in Peoria, Ill.

“We’ve got to come out ready,” Switchenberg said. “They’re going to be coming for us.”