Spartans tame Tigers
n Marshall/Lakeview girls allow five goals in first period as Orono takes 8-2 winBy Jenny Kirk jkirk@marshallindependent.com
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MARSHALL - The Orono Spartans came to the Schwan's Ice Arena in Marshall Saturday and went on a scoring frenzy in the first period en route to defeating the Marshall/Lakeview girls hockey team 8-2.
Orono rocked the arena with five straight goals in the first period, while not allowing the Tigers to take a single shot on goal.
"We knew Orono was going to be strong, so we knew what to expect," MHS head coach Kevin Schroeder said. "We knew they were going to get their shots and their goals, but for our abilities, I thought we skated hard and did a fairly good job on our defensive coverage. The biggest thing was that I wanted to see how our girls reacted to that level of competition."
In the dominant first period, the Spartans had 21 shots on goal, so Tiger goalie Mary Beth Brungardt had her work cut out for her.
"This year is my first year starting," said Brungardt. "Paige (Moravetz) and I have worked really hard and it's anybody's game. I've been coming on and off of an injury and I wanted to see how I could do. I thought it went really well for my first game."
Brungardt had 35 saves in the contest.
"We expected Orono to get a lot of shots," Brungardt said. "No one had any doubt about that. I was preparing myself for a lot of shots because I knew that being a cities team, they'd be taking hard shots. There wasn't going to be a shot they took that wasn't hard."
The Spartans came out strong in the second period as well. Millie Luedtke completed a hat trick with 10:16 remaining in the second period to give Orono a 6-0 advantage.
"Mary Beth had a lot of traffic in front of her for a lot of the shots that came in," said Schroeder. "They put a lot of traffic in front of her and if the defense can't clear it out, you can't put all that on your goaltender. A lot of top teams will do that to you. That's what Orono did."
With 5:09 left in the second, Madison Martini found the back of the net, assisted by Luedtke and Shea Noerenberg, to give the Spartans a 7-0 edge. When the period came to a close, Orono had taken a total of 38 shots on goal, while Marshall had gotten in three.
"Against New Ulm, we skated two and a half good periods," Schroeder said. "But then in the last five minutes, we didn't know if it was fatigue that caught up with us or what. But we did better (Saturday)."
The third period was a highlight for the Tigers as things started to come together.
"We talked about skating with intensity and trying to match their level," said Schroeder. "We kind of had a little lull in the second period and we talked about it. Then I thought we came out and skated really well and with more intensity in the third period."
After Tori Wilson netted the eighth straight goal for Orono, Marshall was able to capitalize on a power play with 9:46 remaining. Sophomore Lauren Hansen put the first goal on the scoreboard for the Tigers.
"Our captains have done a really good job of talking about where our major weaknesses and strengths are," Brungardt said. "We took what the captains said from the locker room and were able to apply that on the ice."
Rachel Peters, a junior forward, scored a second goal for Marshall on a break away with just under a minute remaining in the contest.
"We got a couple of goals and a few more shots late in the game," said Schroeder. "We wanted to end on a strong note and continue to work hard as a team. We wanted to finish the game strong."
Despite dropping to 1-1 on the season, Schroeder said there were positives to take away from the competition.
"We started doing a better job of blocking shots in the second and third periods," he said. "Some of the mistakes and the letdowns we did on defense comes from inexperience. But it's all about learning. We've been able to gage improvements since our first game against New Ulm."
Brungardt also feels that the Tigers will benefit from the tough competition.
"Everyone has their own individual skills that they need to work on," she said. "But this was a good game for us. We talked about this in the locker room. It will help prepare us for our next games."
Marshall will open Southwest Conference action Tuesday on the road at Worthington.
Orono5 2 1-8
Marshall0 0 2-2
First Period
O-Julia Hart (unassisted) 14:86 (1)
O-Millie Luedtke (Shea Noerenberg and Madison Martini) 9:02 (2)
O-Luedtke (Martini) 4:52 (3)
O-Tori Wilson (Heidi Wong and Mackenzie Skatter) 1:34 (4)
O-Wong (Rachel Heyne) 1:00 (5)
Second Period
O-Luedtke (Hart) 10:16 (6)
O-Martini (Noerenberg and Luedtke) 5:09 (7)
Penalties-O: Amanda Donahoe, 2:00 slashing; Donahoe, 2:00 tripping. M: Jenny Schwieger, 2:00 hooking.
Third Period
O-Wilson (Skatter and Grochowski) 14:13 (8)
M-Lauren Hansen, PP (unassisted) 9:46 (1)
M-Rachel Peters (unassisted) 1:00 (2)
Penalties-O: Kacie Limesand, 2:00 checking; Kaylie Grochowski, 2:00 checking; Martini, 2:00 tripping.
Saves-M: Mary Beth Brungardt 35, O: Casey Hartfield 3, Eloise Hrusovsky 1.
Total Shots-M: 6, O: 43.
