Down 4-3 with just under two minutes remaining in the game, Marquette was desperate. The men’s club hockey team led Iowa 3-1 with 15 minutes left in the game, but surrendered three straight goals in the third.
Sam Nader came out of the penalty box after serving a tripping penalty and immediately jumped into the play. Nader got the puck at the top of the right circle and rifled a shot over the goaltenders glove to tie the game at four with 1:30 left in the game.
Just one minute later, Dominic Zanfardino caused a turnover in the neutral zone and took on a defender one-on-one. He put the puck between the defender’s legs, got around him and took a shot on net. The goalie saved the puck, but the rebound bounced up into the air, where Zanfardino batted it into the net for the go-ahead goal. The lead held, and Marquette stole a win from Iowa to sweep the weekend.
“We were just trying to push it because we didn’t know what was going to go on,” assistant coach Chris Frantz said. “It was kind of a sloppy game … it was really stressful.”
“It was relieving,” Zanfardino said. “We came out and won 10-1 the night before against a team we should clearly beat. Losing this game is a lot bigger than winning this game.”
Marquette started the weekend determined to get a win after the tough Arkansas series, and Nader powered the Golden Eagles to an opening victory. Nader opened his scoring with an absolute snipe from the slot. He beat the Iowa goaltender clean on the high glove side, and scored goals like that all weekend. In the third period of Game 1, Nader scored two more goals for his hat trick and scored another just for good measure. Of his four goals, three of them were scored on the high glove side, including his third that snuck in off the underside of the bar.
Nader scored two more goals in Game 2, and scored his first high blocker side before going back to the glove side for his second. His six goals in one weekend is the most for any skater for Marquette this season, moving him into third on Marquette’s season scoring list.
“I think (Nader) really stepped it up,” Frantz said. “From last weekend, being hurt, and coming back, he really stepped it up.”
“I had an injury last weekend, so coming back, it felt great to get out there and give a little bit of effort,” Nader said.
Marquette defeated Iowa 10-1 in the opening game, taking a total of 42 shots. A breakout third period saw five Marquette goals and a chased Iowa goaltender. A majority of the goals scored in Game 1 were to the high glove side, which Marquette attacked in the second game. However, Iowa’s goaltender kept the game close with some big saves and blocked shots by his defenders. In the 5-4 victory in Game 2, Marquette shot the puck 50 times. Iowa didn’t reach 50 shots in the two games combined.
The Golden Eagles head into Halloween weekend with a pair of home games against Robert Morris – Black. Game 1 is Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Game 2 is Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
