Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Shelby Ormberg (11) and Minnesota River’s Nicole McCabe (11), Mary Rella (28) and Amelia Messer (1) all battle for the puck while Marshall’s Kaitlyn Timm (17) looks on during their game on Thursday. Marshall fell to Minnesota River 2-1.

MARSHALL — After cruising to a 9-0 victory against Prairie Centre on Tuesday, the Marshall girls hockey team looked to keep up the offensive production Thursday against Minnesota River. Instead, Marshall was met with a tight, physical battle and nearly forced an overtime session, but a late goal by the Bulldogs ended up being the difference in a 2-1 outcome at the Red Baron Arena and Expo.

Despite the final result, Marshall coach Cassi Weiss said she was proud of the overall effort her team displayed throughout the game.

“We were really proud of the way the girls played,” Weiss said. “I think we played hard all three periods, unfortunately they just got one more break than we did.”

It was back and forth to start, with both sides getting a couple of scoring chances early, but neither team could capitalize, as the game remained scoreless after one. Marshall earned a power play in the final minute of the opening frame, but couldn’t take advantage.

Weiss said going into the second period, they wanted to use their defense more to create rhythm on the offensive end and get more shots from the point.

“We just tried using our defense a little bit more and tried to get more shots from the point that could either be tipped or deflected on a nice rebound for us to get,” Weiss said.

Neither team would find the back of the net for the next several minutes, until Marshall got another power-play opportunity near the midway point of the second period. MHS was able to capitalize this time, as Kaitlyn Timm scored on the assist from Shelby Ormberg and Leah Schaefer with 8:02 left, but the lead was quickly erased when Minnesota River got the equalizer just four seconds later to make it 1-1, which held going into the third.

The tight play continued throughout the majority of the final frame, with both teams getting several scoring opportunities. Then with 3:36 left, Minnesota River got a goal to go up 2-1, and held on in the final minutes to earn the victory.

Both teams had 22 shots on goal for the game. Emma Klenken recorded 20 saves in net for Marshall.

Up next

Marshall (7-4) will face Minnesota River again on the road on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Weiss said with the quick turnaround, a key focus will be on creating stronger scoring chances as a group.

“We play them again Tuesday, so we’re going to make sure we’re taking better quality shots and capitalizing on our opportunities,” Weiss said.

Minnesota River 2, Marshall 1

Minnesota River 0 1 1 – 2

Marshall 0 1 0 – 1

SCORING SUMMARY

First Period

No scoring.

Penalties

Minnesota River: McCabe, 1:07 (Hooking, 2 min).

Second Period

Marshall: Timm, 8:58 (power play) (Ormberg, Schaefer).

Minnesota River: Dunning, 9:02 (Bixby).

Penalties

Minnesota River: Doherty, 9:39 (Tripping, 2 min).

Third Period

Minnesota River: McCabe, 13:24 (unassisted).

Penalties

No penalties.

SOG: Marshall 22; Minnesota River 22.

Saves: Klenken 20; Minnesota River 21.