Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall forward Abbey Foley, 22, skates into New Ulm territory during the first period of a prep girls hockey game at Red Baron Arena in Marshall on Thursday night. Marshall fired off 56 shots on goal in a dominant 8-1 home win over the Eagles.

MARSHALL — A pair of first-period goals from Mia Wichmann set the tone for the Marshall girls hockey team’s game against New Ulm on Thursday night. The senior forward’s early offense gave the Tigers all the production they needed as they went on to defeat the Eagles 8-1.

“We were all kind of tired after this week, playing Luverne and having a big win there, so [I was] really just looking for those open players,” Wichmann said. “Just kind of moving around and seeing what [New Ulm is] like. We didn’t really know what we were coming into, so just kind of seting the pace high. Obviously we started a little rough, but we picked it up after the first period.”

The win was the third consecutive head-to-head victory for Marshall against New Ulm since the start of last season. Prior to that, the Tigers had gone 10 consecutive matches against New Ulm without a win dating back to 2018. The win was also the Tigers’ 10th consecutive win to start this season.

“It’s just kind of mind-blowing… These kids love being at practice, they love being on the ice, they love to learn, so it’s a really fun group to coach,” Marshall head coach Cassi Weiss said. “They have their days where they’re like, ‘Okay, I’m over this,’ but 90% of it they want to be out there. They want to be getting better… It’s fun to watch them continue to get better and beat the teams that they couldn’t necessarily beat at the youth level.”

Marshall dominated the puck early, outshooting New Ulm 5-1 through the game’s first three minutes. Yet, a tripping penalty on Brecklyn Harazin gave Marshall the power play it needed to get over the hump. Brooklyn Mauch found Wichmann open in the back of the faceoff circle and Wichmann lined a wrist shot stick-side into the top of the net to get Marshall on the board.

Toward the end of the first, Wichmann again gained possession of the puck in the slot and shot it down low for a 2-0 lead for her seventh point and second goal of the season. Mauch was again credited with an assist on the play.

Lily Stelter ensured that Wichmann’s pair of goals were enough to secure the win. The Marshall goaltender saved 23 of the 24 shots she faced, her second-highest save total of the season behind a 26-save outing in Marshall’s 5-1 win over Luverne on Tuesday. She put together a save rate of .958 on the day, marking her third time in four matches with a save percentage over .950 and bringing her season average up to .919.

While the Tigers outshot New Ulm 12-4 in the first period, Weiss said she felt her team wasn’t playing up to its abilities in the period. Any question of effort after the first was quickly erased in the second period, in which Marshall outshot the Eagles 31-8. The Tigers finished the game with a 56-24 advantage in shots on goal.

“We had a terrible first period, to be very honest, but we were up two to zero. It’s like, well, I don’t really want to be winning because this needs to be a learning moment, but we clearly responded in the second,” Weiss said, saying that Marshall looked slow and struggled moving its feet early on but made the adjustment when it needed to. “It was nice to have a bad period but still be winning and then respond the way our girls did.”

Despite the early lead, the Tigers kept their foot on the gas. Just over two minutes into the second period, Abbey Foley recovered the rebound off a Brooklyn Mauch shot and slid it past the goalie’s skates to give the Tigers a three-goal cushion.

The lead increased with seven minutes to play in the period when Kendal Beernaert skated down the left side of the slot with the puck on her stick. Just before she reached the goalline, she passed it back to Eme DeMuth, who finished the play with a shot past the goalie’s stick for her fifth goal of the season before being knocked to the ice by Beernaert’s celebratory hug.

New Ulm goaltender Ava Brennan did all she could to keep the Eagles in the game. The senior finished the night with a season-high 48 saves but was bombarded by too many shot attempts to keep the Tigers out of the back of the net.

“We knew coming into this game that this goalie was really good, so being able to score or make all these shots… it boosted our confidence,” Wichmann said. “Just kind of amazing to see after last year, not being able to put the puck in the back of the net but being able to shoot all these pucks in like that, it really proved that our practice is paying off.”

DeMuth and Beernaert connected for a score again five minutes into the third period, when Beernaert assisted DeMuth for a 5-0 Tiger lead.

The scoring only continued to pile on from there as Mauch and Elsie Deutz each scored goals, assisted by Peyton DeMuth and Mady Girard, to go up 7-0. Callie Haugen got the Eagles on the board by scoring off a feed from Tristyn Wolner with three minutes remaining but Mauch scored an unassisted goal 90 seconds later to bring the goal differential back up to seven. The goal was Mauch’s 14th of the season as well as her 32nd point, both team-highs.

The Eagles were assessed four minor penalties on the night but successfully killed off three of them. Marshall was assessed one hooking minor in the first period but the Eagles were unable to capitalize.

Marshall improves to a perfect 10-0 with the win and will remain at home when it hosts Windom on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Eagles are currently on a six-game losing streak after winning their season opener against Rochester Century/John Marshall. Four of Windom’s six losses have come by six or more goals.

New Ulm falls to 1-6 on the year with the loss and will look to bounce back when it hosts Hutchinson (5-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.