Photo by Lacey Barke Marshall’s Bryson Whyte scores a goal during their game against Redwood Valley on Thursday. The Tigers defeated the Cardinals 9-2.

MARSHALL– The Marshall boys hockey team got off to a slow start before the offense exploded and displayed a burst of scoring, lifting the Tigers to a 9-2 win over the Redwood Valley Cardinals on Thursday night.

The game was fairly quiet with neither teams being able to find a way to the net until Marshall senior forward Mason Plante was able to connect the puck with the back of the net off of a power play with 12:30 to go in the first period. Redwood Valley attempted to follow up the Tigers’ scoring effort with one of their own, but sophomore goalie Dominik Caspers was quick with his saves and kept the Cardinals at bay. Unfortunately, Redwood Valley would get onto the scoreboard in the winding seconds of the opening period, scoring with just four seconds on the clock to knot the game at 1-1.

Marshall head coach Michael Weiss said that although there was a slow start, the team was able to put on a strong display of defense together. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start,” Weiss said. “We only had five shots on goal in the first half and we’d like to see that go up. I think that our goalie Dom (Dominik) played well and everyone up and down the line chipped in and did their part. Our goalie had to make a lot of big saves to keep them out of the net.”

Unlike the first period, the second had immediate action coming from Marshall’s offense. Earning yet another unassisted goal was Plante, who raced behind the goal to find a weak spot in the goalie’s coverage at the corner of the net. The Cardinals were quick to respond, however, and they immediately answered back with a goal of their own to keep the game even at 2-2. Kaleb Welvaert’s assist to Bryson Whyte helped the Tigers gain leverage by adding another goal to their total; this would ignite a steady run of scoring for Marshall throughout the remainder of the game. Redwood Valley’s offense let the puck fall into the control of Whyte, who raced ahead of the defense to back up his previous offensive effort with an additional goal. A minor penalty on Redwood Valley put the Tigers in power play position, which they capitalized through Welvaert on an assist from Tristan VanDeVere, bringing the score to 5-2 at the end of two.

The momentum that the Tigers had started in the second period continued on strong through the third, as an unassisted goal was scored with 14 minutes remaining by Tristan VanDeVere. Another penalty on the Cardinals gave Marshall an opportunity to score off of the power play, as Welvaert fired one in from the blue line for another goal. The Tigers unfortunately followed in Redwood Valley’s tracks and earned a penalty of their own, but a solid effort from Caspers along with the rest of Marshall’s defense prevented the Cardinals from advancing the puck. The 5 on 3 play went into the Tigers favor when senior Chase VanDeVere sent the puck sailing past the goalie and into the net from right above the circle off of an assist by his brother, Tristan. Not even a minute later, Landon Frost’s shot from the faceoff dot met its mark, bringing the game to a closing score of 9-2 in favor of the Tigers.

Coach Weiss said that the final two periods of the night were where the boys started to pick up the pace and implement what they learned in practice. “We started playing a little bit better in our own zones and got some shots on the net,” he said.

Redwood 1 1 0 – 2

Marshall 1 4 4 – 9

First Period

SCORING

M: Plante, 4:16 (Welvaert)

R: Hansen, 16:56 (Bjorkman, Crews)

Second Period

SCORING

M: Plante, 2:52

RV: O’Halloran, 3:58 (Crews)

Mar: Whyte, 8:15 (Welvaert)

Mar: Whyte, 11:44 (Hoff)

Mar: Welvaert, 13:10 (T. VanDeVere)

Third Period

SCORING

Mar: T. VanDeVere, 3:08

Mar: Whyte, 7:46 (Hoff, Welvaert)

Mar: C. VanDeVere, 15:00 (T. VanDeVere)

Mar: Frost, 15:43 (Welvaert, Hoff)

SHOTS ON GOAL: Marshall 22,

Redwood Valley 14

SAVES: Marshall 12, Redwood Valley 13)