Photo by Emily Daniels Marshall’s Courtney Mauch fires a pass during their game against New Ulm on Thursday. The Tigers fell to the Eagles 5-0.

MARSHALL – The Marshall girls hockey team celebrated Parents Night on Thursday during their matchup against New Ulm. However, the celebration was spoiled by the Eagles, as the Tigers were shut out 5-0.

Despite the loss, senior captain Courtney Mauch has seen growth in the team this season.

“We’ve gotten a lot better with communicating and with our new forecheck,” said Mauch. “We have a completely different forecheck this year with our three people high and having someone crash down all the time really helps us.”

The first period started off slow for the Tigers, as the Eagles netted an early goal just 1:45 into the period. Marshall’s offense would gradually show signs of strength but it was their defense that couldn’t keep up with the quick skates of the Eagles. New Ulm used its speed to its advantage, growing the lead to 2-0 with 5:26 left in the first before extending its lead to 3-0 with 3:28 left to play.

The Tigers saw multiple shot opportunities on the offensive end but couldn’t make the connections to put them on the board and that led to Marshall trailing 3-0 after the first.

Marshall came into the second period more aggressive and focused, but the action on the ice was limited. It wasn’t until the period’s final minute that the Eagles found a shot opportunity and took it. New Ulm’s goal with 14.7 seconds left put them up 4-0 to end the second period.

The Tigers looked to bring more energy in the third period, but defensive mistakes led to another New Ulm goal with 8:16 left in the period to put them up 5-0.

It was a long fight the Tigers put up and used their last few minutes of the game to shoot any shot they could find. Marshall couldn’t find their groove in the third and the Eagles took home the 5-0 victory.

Coming off of the loss, Mauch saw a lot of positive things that her team can take away from the game going forward.

“Our forecheck was really good tonight and we got aggressive more in the third period with more body-to-body contact. We were getting our passes to each other and communicating more,” said Mauch. “We know we can definitely be more aggressive and we need to know that we are a good team but we need to hit those shots.”

The Tigers will travel to Worthington on Monday.