“Coach has been pushing us to have a good start to all three [periods], and I think we’ve been just trying to keep momentum from the past few games,” Marshall junior defender Ava Kolander said. “I think we stepped up in the first [period] really well.”

Mauch led with her trio of goals, with two coming in the opening minutes of the game, while Elsie Deutz and Eme DeMuth each had one as well. Lily Stelter spent the night in the net saving all but one of Litchfield’s shots, who had 14 attempts while Marshall powered by with 52 shots.

While the Dragons entered the evening unranked, they were a team who was receiving votes in this week’s most recent Class A coaches polls.

Mauch wasted no time in giving Marshall a prompt lead, scoring two unassisted goals back-to-back with the first coming 24 seconds into the game after stickhandling the puck up the right side of the rink herself. She followed that up just under three minutes later on the opposite side, building a near-immediate 2-0 edge.

Marshall junior forward Brooklyn Mauch closes in to score her first goal of the game 24 seconds in against Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato Friday night.

“We were just moving the puck around really well at first. We were putting a lot of pressure on them [Litchfield],” Mauch said. “We knew we had to come out with energy. We had to put a lot of pressure on them right away, and then we’d get control of the clock and work it around, and just scoot on up.”

Keeping the early surge going, Deutz broke into the crease through traffic to push the puck into the back of the net for another goal about a minute and half later, assisted by Brielle Felton Krog and Kolander to put the Tigers up 3-0 with 12:37 left in the first period.

Marshall’s selfless play and passing shined. The Tigers made a habit of keeping the puck in Dragons’ territory and continued to pass the puck out and around before closing in.

“We’ve always played really well with each other,” Kolander said. “So, it’s pretty easy for finding each other on the ice.”

The Tigers made a statement with 24 shots on goal in the opening period while limiting Litchfield to just four, as the remainder of the period went scoreless.

Marshall freshman forward Nora Holmgren takes possession of the puck back in the second period.

The Dragons came out with more defensive intensity in the second period, keeping Marshall to 11 shots while they had eight.

“I think we realized that if we kept letting them work harder like that, then they would put more goals into the back of the net,” Kolander said of the second-period shift. “We realized in between second and third, that we just needed to step up and continue to play our game.”

Much like Marshall did in the first, Litchfield opened the second period with a goal a minute in to cut into a 3-1 deficit.

But, DeMuth had a quick response who drilled in a far goal from outside the faceoff circle where Mauch tipped the puck back to her in the fourth minute, giving Marshall back a three-goal lead at 4-1.

Mauch put the dagger on the win with her third goal of the night off a feed from Foley in the ninth minute of the final period, as the Tigers took control back and put the rest of the game away.

Marshall senior forward Abbey Foley looks toward the goal in the second period.

Now at the halfway point of the regular season, Marshall has not lost a beat from how it started last year, which eventually led to a section championship and state tournament berth.

“I think our strengths are just our teamwork and being able to work together so well,” Mauch said. “We just know where each other are, get the pucks on net and get the passing, and it all goes together.”

The Tigers are again seeing a balanced effort and significant contributions on both ends of the rink, continuing to offer challenges by having a variety of weapons that become hard to control for opponents.

Mauch credited the team’s strong ability to consistently have a good read on other teams, adding to what makes the Tigers challenging to face.

Mauch leads the Tigers offensively so far with 48 points off 31 goals, while Foley and Peyton DeMuth follow with 29 and 22 points, respectively. Foley has a team-high 25 assists so far.

All while the Tigers’ defense also remains cohesive as well, including protection from defenders Avery Kesteloot, Kolander, Lucie Pearson, Rylie Messenbrink, Aria Williamson and Stella Geihl.

“It helps that we have a lot of room, and that our forwards were moving a lot in the offensive zone,” Kolander said of Marshall’s tight-knit defense. “It was helpful to see those open spots.”

Stelter, Marshall’s primary goalie and team captain, is 10-1 on the season so far with a .934 save percentage in the net off 155 total saves on the 166 she’s faced so far.

Marshall (11-1) has a quick turnaround and will return to the ice today on the road at Westonka with a 3 p.m. puck drop.

“We just have to keep having our energy that we’ve been having,” Mauch said of entering the second half of the season. “We always try to pull our energy from the game before to the next game, so we’ll just keep building on.”