Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Talan Plante (7) and Cooper VanOverbeke (6) celebrate with Braxton Meyer (middle) after he scored a goal during their game against Redwood Valley on Thursday. Marshall defeated Redwood Valley 5-3.

MARSHALL — Just as quickly as the Marshall boys hockey team built its lead against Redwood Valley on Thursday, it nearly saw it disappear in a matter of seconds. When the Cardinals later tied things in the third, Marshall stayed composed, and answered with two key goals in the final minutes to earn a 5-3 victory at the Red Baron Arena and Expo.

Marshall assistant coach Jim Haynes said he was pleased with the energy and intensity the team showed throughout the game to be able to come away with the win.

“It was just gritty, and that’s what we talked about, being grittier, bearing down, winning more battles and the effort all the way through and we did that and got the result,” Haynes said.

Holding onto a slim lead to start the third, Marshall’s defense was put to the test throughout the majority of the frame, but was able to keep Redwood Valley off the board. Then with 6:36 left, the Cardinals got the equalizer in the back of the net, tying things up at 3-3. But Marshall wasted little time skating down the ice and answering back, as Braxton Meyer scored eight seconds later to put MHS back in front at 4-3.

With a few minutes left, Redwood Valley decided to pull their goalie in hopes of getting another score with the extra attacker, but Marshall took advantage with a goal from Talan Plante with 2:52 to go to bring it to the 5-3 final.

Haynes said their key offensively was just putting together three solid lines on the ice and pushing the tempo as a group.

“Just getting three lines going and that relentless attack with that kind of depth tilted the ice helped us play downhill and that’s what can happen when you get everybody going,” Haynes said.

It was back and forth to start, with both teams getting quality chances early. Then with under six minutes to go in the period, a Marshall penalty would put Redwood Valley on the power play, but the Cardinals couldn’t capitalize and the game remained scoreless after one.

Marshall brought the energy right away in the second period, and had an opportunity to take the lead when it was rewarded with a penalty shot less than a minute into the frame, but couldn’t capitalize. Marshall maintained its aggressiveness on offense, though, and got the scoring started a minute later when Jared Reinsma found the back of the net on the assist from Plante.

Then with under 11 minutes to play in the second, Marshall pushed its lead to 2-0 on a goal from Sean Nwaiga on the assist from Joey Fossum. Marshall wasn’t done there, however, as Meyer got one past the goaltender on the assist from Logan Deutz to make it 3-0 midway through the frame.

Despite the deficit, Redwood Valley kept attacking and were able to get on the board with 4:49 left in the second to make it 3-1. Then just a mere 24 seconds later, the Cardinals got another goal to cut the deficit to 3-2, setting the stage for the tight finish.

Marshall outshot Redwood Valley 37-26 on the game. Ezra Maurice recorded 23 saves in net for Marshall.

Up next

Marshall (3-7) will face Redwood Valley again on Tuesday on the road at 7 p.m. Haynes said they need to continue to bring a high level of energy and grow and learn with the ups-and-downs of the season.

“We can dictate the play when we bring that kind of energy and there are highs and lows in games, so we have to learn to stay more even-keel,” Haynes said. “Like any win, we’ll keep building on the positives and try to learn from the things that made it still a tight game right down to the end.”

Marshall 5, Redwood Valley 3

Redwood Valley 0 2 1 – 3

Marshall 0 3 2 – 5

SCORING SUMMARY

First Period

No scoring.

Penalties

Marshall: Fossum, 11:11 (Tripping, 2 min).

Second Period

Marshall: Reinsma, 2:11 (Plante).

Marshall: Nwaiga, 6:37 (Fossum).

Marshall: Meyer, 7:33 (Deutz).

Redwood Valley: T. Clark, 12:11 (M. Clark, Schablin).

Redwood Valley: M. Clark, 12:35 (Riewer).

Penalties

Redwood Valley: Riewer, 0:56 (Delay of Game, Penalty shot).

Third Period

Redwood Valley: Bikken, 10:24 (M. Clark, Riewer).

Marshall: Meyer, 10:32 (Unassisted).

Marshall: Plante, 14:08 (Empty-net) (Unassisted).

Penalties

Redwood Valley: Bikken, 2:50 (Tripping, 2 min).

SOG: Marshall 37; Redwood Valley 26.

Saves: Maurice 23; Redwood Valley 32.