Photo by Lacey Barke Marshall’s Olivia Peterson fends off a Fairmont defender during their game on Thursday. The Tigers defeated the Cardinals 10-1.

MARSHALL– The Marshall girls hockey team kicked off a doubleheader matchup against Fairmont Thursday evening in style, as the Tigers erupted for 10 goals en route to a 10-1 victory over the Cardinals.

The Tigers skated out to a quick start and the offense found its groove early on. Marshall got out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Rachel VanKeulen and Sydney Mauch before Courtney Mauch found the back of the net for the Tigers’ third goal of the night just three minutes into the game.

Thanks to Marshall’s defensive strength and ceaseless intensity on offense, the Tigers spent more time in their offensive zone throughout the night. Courtney Mauch then found another goal on an assist from Jadyn Briffett to move the score to 4-0 in favor of the Tigers at the end of the first period with Marshall leading 17-6 in the shots on goal department.

Marshall coach Deanna Suby was pleased with her team’s energy and ability to stay strong with their passing and forechecks.

“I think the girls came out very well tonight,” Suby said. “With the few days of practice that we were able to have this week, we were really able to work on being strong on our sticks, passing, we worked on our forechecks and breakouts… it all went very smooth for us this game.”

The Cardinals were able to noticeably improve their defensive effort heading into the second period, and unlike the first period, they prevented Marshall from earning any fast breaks or easy goals. The Tigers relentless offensive pressure could only be held back for so long, however, as Kaitlyn Timm fought her way through Fairmont defenders to score an assisted goal from Briffett. Just two minutes later Marshall defender KC Boerboom sent the puck to the back of the net for her first goal of her career, courtesy of an assist from Sydney Mauch to make it 6-0. The Cardinals goalie Emily O’Connor skillfully smothered and saved one shot after another for the next couple of minutes until Marshall’s persistance inevitably paid off and resulted in a goal from Olivia Peterson with the assist credited to not only Sydney Mauch but Izabella Hunsley as well to bring the second period to a close, with Marshall now up 7-0.

Suby was happy with all of the girls for the game they played, but she was especially proud of junior KC Boerboom. “One girl in particular tonight scored the first goal of her career,” mentioned Suby. “KC Boerboom scored her first goal, so that was a big moment for the girls. We were able to get many of our athletes in tonight to get them the playing time they want.”

By the time the third period rolled around, both teams were playing a tough defensive game, but it was yet again Marshall profiting early in the period from an unassisted goal by VanKeulen. This celebration was short-lived, however, as Fairmont caught the Tigers off guard and managed to sneak the puck by the Marshall defenders, sending it to the back of the net and putting themselves on the board for the first time in the game.

There was a break in the action where neither team managed to get close to the net until Sydney Mauch broke the dry spell and sent the puck flying past the goalie to set Marshall up with a 9-1 advantage. Just two short minutes later, the Tigers added one final goal in the closing seconds to bring it to the 10-1 final.

Marshall outshot the Cardinals 45-15 on the game. Emma Klenken earned the victory in net, making 14 saves.

Suby commended the game effort that Fairmont’s girls left on the ice. “They are a strong team and they played very well,” she said. “Our girls were prepared that they were bringing their best game. We play Luverne on the road for our next game, and similar to Fairmont, Luverne is going to come out very strong, too. Our girls are going to work very hard in their next few days of practice in preparation for facing them.”

Marshall will hit the ice again in Luverne where they will face off with the Cardinals at 7 p.m. on Saturday.