Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Braxton Meyer (middle) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during their game against Pine City on Saturday. Marshall defeated Pine City 3-1.

MARSHALL — The Marshall boys hockey team had to wait a day to start its season, but wasted little time getting its first win.

After having its game against Cotter on Friday canceled, Marshall opened its season on Saturday against Pine City in the final day of its home tournament. Thanks to a goal in each period, Marshall was able to earn a 3-1 victory at the Red Baron Arena and Expo.

Marshall coach Michael Weiss said it felt good to officially get the season underway and start things strong.

“It feels really good to get going after a couple of weeks of practice and then you think you’re going to play Friday and you don’t, but it was just nice to get out there and get in a groove in real play,” Weiss said.

Both teams had scoring chances early on, but weren’t able to capitalize. Pine City then had an opportunity to get on the board by earning a five-minute power play on a major penalty, but Marshall instead found the scoring, as Chase Mellenthin got one past the goaltender on the assist by Sean Nwaiga to give MHS a 1-0 lead with 7:27 left in the first period.

Pine City had an answer, though, getting a goal with 35 seconds left in the first period to tie things up at 1-1. The deadlocked score would stay that way until just past the midway mark of the second period when back-to-back penalties by Pine City gave Marshall a 5-on-3 advantage. MHS was able to capitalize, with Braxton Meyer finding the back of the net on the assist by Corbin Beernaert and Jared Reinsma with 7:11 left in the frame to give them a 2-1 lead.

The two sides traded back-and-forth play throughout the rest of the game, but Marshall added on to its advantage in the third period when Malachi Klemm scored with 4:29 left on the assist by Reinsma and Logan Deutz to bring it to the 3-1 final.

Marshall outshot Pine City 34-28 on the game. Gavin Welsh earned the victory in net for Marshall, recording 27 saves.

Weiss said offensively they had a slow start but felt when they killed a Pine City penalty it helped create some momentum for them on the other end.

“We kind of struggled just getting our feet moving and getting going and then we had to kill that penalty and I think that woke us up a little bit,” Weiss said. “That helped us get a little more aggressive on the puck and create some turnovers and some good opportunities.”

Up next

Marshall (1-0) will face Luverne on the road on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Weiss said their biggest takeaway is to maintain a high level of aggressiveness and resiliency throughout each period.

“Just the level of play that we need to be at every day and maintaining that aggressiveness and grit that we need to play with to be successful,” Weiss said.

Marshall 3, Pine City 1

Pine City 1 0 0 – 1

Marshall 1 1 1 – 3

SCORING SUMMARY

First Period

Marshall: Mellenthin, 10:13 (Nwaiga).

Pine City: Welch, 16:44 (Youngbauer, Linnell).

Penalties

Marshall: Schmitt, 5:24 (Cross-Checking, 2 min).

Pine City: Youngbauer, 5:24 (Unsportsmanlike conduct, 2 min).

Pine City: Welch, 6:12 (Elbowing, 2 min).

Marshall: Beernaert, 8:47 (Checking from behind, 5 min).

Second Period

Marshall: Meyer, 9:49 (Beernaert, Reinsma).

Penalties

Marshall: Plante, 6:13 (Tripping, 2 min).

Pine City: Linnell, 7:55 (Boarding, 5 min).

Pine City: Miller, 8:30 (Tripping, 2 min).

Marshall: Mauch, 13:50 (Tripping, 2 min).

Third Period

Marshall: Klemm, 12:42 (Reinsma, Deutz).

Penalties

Marshall: Sherman, 7:00 (Interference, 2 min).

Marshall: Peterson, 10:07 (Unsportsmanlike conduct, 2 min).

Pine City: Youngbauer, 10:27 (Unsportsmanlike conduct, 2 min).

SOG: Marshall 34; Pine City 28.

Saves: Welsh 27; Pine City 31.