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PREP GIRLS HOCKEY: Extra-time effort

Tigers and Scarlets battle their way to a 2-2 tie in rematch

Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Sydney Mauch shoots the puck during their game against Mankato West on Thursday. The Tigers and the Scarlets earned a 2-2 tie in overtime.

MARSHALL – The last time the Marshall and Mankato West girls hockey teams faced each other, there was a trip to the state tournament on the line. The Tigers won that battle, 2-1, in overtime.

Ten months later, it was only fitting that their rematch had a similar feel. After a high-scoring first couple of periods and a physical third, the two section teams found themselves taking things to another overtime frame. Despite multiple game-winning opportunities from either team, the contest would end in a 2-2 tie on Tuesday night at the Red Baron Arena and Expo.

Marshall coach Cassi Weiss said she was proud of her team for their hard-fought efforts and felt they did what they set out to achieve at the start of the week.

“We worked really hard and moved our feet and played our game all three and a half periods. That’s kind of what we’ve been talking about; we also communicated really well, which was our goal this week, not only on the ice but off the ice talking about what we can do differently in between our shifts,” Weiss said. “I was really proud of the girls, they worked really hard, and unfortunately we couldn’t have squeezed a third goal in, but it was close. I hope we get to play them again because that was fun.”

The two teams battled back and forth right from the opening faceoff, as Mankato West had plenty of shot opportunities while Marshall was forced to play defense in the game’s opening minutes. The Tigers then started to work their way into the Scarlets’ zone and get some shots on goal of their own near the midway point of the first period.

Marshall’s offense would strike first, as Tessa Gannott put one in the back of the net off the rebound attempt on the assist from Emelia Barker to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead with 5:43 left.

Weiss said offensively, they did a good job of working their way towards the net and getting quality shots on goal.

“I think we really worked hard on getting pucks to the net, not just shooting, actually getting them all the way through and getting them to either hit the goalie for a rebound or to get to the back of the net,” Weiss said. “With that, we can always work on that because there were quite a few times we did shoot right into them.”

The Scarlets continued to attack in their offensive zone to start the second period, ultimately capitalizing with a goal with 12:04 left in the frame to tie things up at 1-1. Mankato West was able to get an advantage on offense when Mashall was hit with a penalty to put the Scarlets in the power play.

The Tigers were able to kill the penalty, but just as Marshall was at full strength, Mankato West found the back of the net to take a 2-1 lead with 8:28 to go in the second period. Marshall wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, as Sydney Mauch and Barker found themselves in a 2-on-1 situation going into the Mankato West zone.

Mauch drew the Scarlet defender near her and placed a perfect pass to Barker, who just as smoothly put the puck over the shoulder of the Mankato West goaltender to tie things back at 2-2 with 6:01 remaining.

Both teams had multiple chances to get the go-ahead goal throughout the rest of the period, but couldn’t capitalize. Mankato West had one final chance in the final seconds but the play was quickly broken up, and the two teams headed to overtime.

Mankato West outshot Marshall on the game 44-36. Emma Klenken finished the game with 42 saves for the Tigers.

“She did awesome; she was right there ready to make the save and she was there for the rebounds as well,” Weiss said. “That first period she had three that my jaw dropped because you can’t believe that that happened. We’re really proud of her.”

Marshall (6-3-1) will face Waseca on Saturday at 2 p.m. Weiss said their biggest takeaway from Thursday’s game was that they can keep up with their opponents in their section and will look to translate that into their conference play.

“It just shows that we can keep up with anyone in our section and the next game isn’t a section game but it’s still a big conference game,” Weiss said. “They’re physical and so was West, so we just need to make sure that we hold our own and win the battles.”

Marshall 2, Mankato West 2 (OT)

Mankato West 0 2 0 0 – 2

Marshall 1 1 0 0 – 2

First Period

SCORING

Marshall: Gannott, 5:43 (Barker).

PENALTIES

No penalties.

Second Period

SCORING

Mankato West: Hays, 12:04 (T. Krosch).

Mankato West: T. Krosch, 8:28 (M. Krosch, Grundhoffer).

Marshall: Barker, 6:01 (Mauch).

PENALTIES

Marshall: Barker, 10:35 (Elbowing, 2 min).

Third Period

SCORING

No scoring.

PENALTIES

Marshall: Penske, 12:26 (Checking, 2 min).

Overtime

SCORING

No scoring.

PENALTIES

No penalties.

SHOTS ON GOAL: Mankato West 44; Marshall 36.

SAVES: Marshall 42; Mankato West 34.

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