Marquette hockey completed what was perhaps the toughest part of its schedule last weekend at the Clash in the Corn tournament in Sioux Center, Iowa. The Golden Eagles played three games in two days, winning two of them to finish second in the four-team bracket.
Marquette was without their leading goal scorer Johnny Stillman and impact player Christian Leathley as both had academic commitments and couldn’t travel with the team. Despite this, the offense put up an impressive average of 5.67 goals per game on the weekend.
“We’re so well rounded that we can play against any team, so it’s one of those things where you have a guy like Johnny (Stillman) who’s obviously a great player, he’s scored a lot of points for us, but we have guys who can fill his spot,” head coach Will Jurgensen said.
Freshman Michael DeSalvo took Stillman’s place on the line with freshman Lee Barnes and sophomore Brian Kennedy. DeSalvo was an effective substitute, as their line combined for seven of the 17 goals scored this past weekend.
“The three of them were really clicking,” Jurgensen said.
The Golden Eagles opened up the tournament against Nebraska, a team ranked 7th in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Pacific Region, three spots below Marquette. The team started hot with a hot first period and led 3-0 just seven minutes into the game thanks to goals from Barnes, Chris Dolan and Corey Quinn. The first period ended with a 3-1 Marquette lead.
A goal Desalvo early in the third tied the game up for Marquette, but minutes later Nebraska would score the game winning goal. The final score was a 6-5 loss, and the Golden Eagles’ seven game win streak was snapped. Nebraska won all three of its games and won the tournament championship.
“Just one bad period of hockey cost us the championship of the tournament,” Jurgensen said. “That was the difference in the weekend, was one period of hockey.”
On Friday the team faced Colorado State, a team ranked No. 2 in the ACHA Pacific Region. Marquette conceded the opening goal to the Rams just over a minute and a half into the game, and trailed CSU 1-0 after the first period.
A strong second period featuring goals by Quinn and DeSalvo, and only one goal allowed knotted the game up at 2-2 after two periods.
The third period was back and forth between the two teams as Kennedy scored five minutes in, but CSU tied it up shortly after to make it 3-3. With 6:37 left in the game, DeSalvo scored the goal that would put the Golden Eagles up for good.
“To be able to come back after a loss like that against Nebraska and play the way we did was really impressive, especially against such a good team like Colorado State,” Jurgensen said. “Friday’s game against Colorado State was probably our best game of the season.”
Marquette’s final game against Dordt Saturday proved to be an all around solid performance, and the Golden Eagles routed the Defenders 7-0.
Sophomore goaltender Robby Arner was named the tournament’s top goalie, having allowed three goals per game over the three contests.
Marquette moved to 14-4-1 on the season and took sole possession of first place in the Pacific Region with 29 points, two points ahead of Metro State University of Denver. The Golden Eagles will return to action Dec. 4, when it takes on the University of Michigan-Flint. The team has the chance to push its home winning streak to 18 games.
