Photo by Jake Przytarski Marshall’s Kaleb Welvaert skates past a New Ulm defender during their game on Thursday. The Tigers defeated the Eagles 5-2.

MARSHALL – The No. 19-ranked Marshall boys hockey team picked up a crucial Big South Conference win over the New Ulm Eagles by a score of 5-2 on Thursday, thanks to a well-balanced effort up and down the lineup and a strong performance between the pipes by Dominik Caspers.

Coach Michael Weiss came away especially impressed by his team’s play in the first and second periods where they picked four of their five goals.

“I thought up and down the lineup everybody played well and in that first and second period really showed it,” said Weiss. “(In the) third period we kinda sat back a little defensive but got the job done.”

In what has become an ongoing trend for the Tigers, Marshall came out skating hard and finishing checks to open up the first period, and throwing everything but the kitchen sink on net before Mason Plante was rewarded with a short-handed breakway goal for his ninth tally of the season.

Weiss points to the effort level of his club as the driving force for their fast starts in the last couple of games.

“That’s one thing with this group,” said Weiss. “We never have to really question their effort coming out. They’ve come out strong every game like they’ve got something to prove and it’s worked well for us the last couple games.”

Less than five minutes later, the Tigers struck again with Bryson Whyte finding the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season and Tristan VanDeVere picking up the assist.

After dominating for a majority of the opening period, the Eagles cut the deficit in half with a goal coming just seconds after the penalty box opened to let Joe Archbold back on the ice. Unfazed, the Tigers went right back to work and drew a penalty of their own in the waning seconds of the first period that would carry over into the second period.

Though Marshall couldn’t capitalize on the man-advantage, the team received a boost from goaltender Caspers who stood strong in net in the face of a barrage of scoring chances on consecutive power plays by the Eagles after killing off the Tiger power play.

Back to full-strength, the Tigers added a third goal by Whyte and another from Plante with seconds left on the clock to take a 4-1 lead into the third period. Marshall would give up its second goal late in the final period but a VanDeVere empty-netter sealed it for the home team as the Tigers picked up their third-consecutive win to move to 4-1.

Next up the Tigers will hit the road to take on Hutchinson looking to push the win streak to four games. Weiss believes the key will be for the team to continue playing with confidence.

“We just gotta learn to be confident and know what we can do when we’re all rolling together,” said Weiss. “So just playing together as a team and keeping this little run going.”

Marshall 5, New Ulm 2

Marshall 2-2-1–5

New Ulm 1-0-1–2

First Period

SCORING

Marshall: Plante (9), 5:46 (Short-handed) (Unassisted).

Marshall: Whyte (4), 9:56 (VanDeVere).

New Ulm: Tauer, 13:05 (O’Connor, Esser).

PENALTIES

New Ulm: Depew, 1:57 (Interference, 2 min)

Marshall: Archbold, 5:34 (Interference, 2 min).

Marshall: Archbold, 11:01 (Slashing, 2 min).

New Ulm: Schugel, 16:29 (Tripping, 2 min).

Second Period

SCORING

Marshall: Whyte (5), 12:41 (VanDeVere, Bladholm).

Marshall: Plante (10), 16:51 (Welvaert)

PENALTIES

Marshall: Welvaert, 5:43 (Roughing, 2 min).

Marshall: Weber, 8:47 (Interference, 2 min).

Marshall: Plante, 10:56 (Elbowing, 2 min).

Third Period

SCORING

New Ulm: Arneson, 12:58 (Strong).

Marshall: VanDeVere, 16:29 (Whyte)

SHOTS ON GOAL: Marshall 30, New Ulm 24

SAVES: Caspers 22, Raymond 25