From Minot Daily News
By Ryan Ladika
The Minot State Beavers did not let an ‘exhibition’ label slapped in front of the game stop them from taking it to their in-state rival University of Mary Marauders in front of a boisterous Maysa Arena crowd Friday night.
Taking the ice for the first time in almost two weeks, the No. 2 Beavers men’s hockey team welcomed the Marauders to the Maysa with a 5-2 victory that unofficially marked their 13th in 14 games this year.
Minot State entered the matchup fresh off a 2-1-0-0 showing at the ACHA Chicago Classic Nov. 19-21, bouncing back from their first loss of the campaign with a convincing 5-2 victory over No. 6 Adrian College.
ACHA Division II Mary had authored an impressive 18-2-2-1 season of its own coming into Friday’s action but dropped its previous contest to the Jamestown Jimmies and a game earlier played to a 2-2 tie against Dakota College at Bottineau.
“We expected they were going to work hard. I challenged our guys this week to match that intensity,” Beavers head coach Wyatt Waselenchuk said. “These guys have nothing to lose when they play us, and they took it to us for a large portion of that game. We took advantage of a couple fortunate power plays and scored some goals; we were lucky for sure. We have to be better tomorrow, especially going into a hostile environment.”
The two teams played a relatively uneventful opening period, trading successful penalty kills while Beavers netminder Riley Wallace and Marauders goaltender Kyle Hayden each pitched a shutout on their respective ends with 10 and nine saves, respectively.
The contest turned on its head in the middle period when the Beavers struck for a trio of goals among a myriad of roughing penalties and game misconducts. Carter Barley gained control of the puck behind the net just over three minutes into the period and flicked a quick pass across the red line to Jared Hamm in the low slot.
The latter wasted no time with a swift wrist shot that found its way over Hayden’s left shoulder, putting Minot State ahead one goal to none 3:02 into the second. The goal was Hamm’s ninth of the season, and Barley earned his 13th assist.
“It’s something that we talk about all the time, just that fine line of never too high, never too low,” Waselenchuk added. “There’s a lot of people here and it was a really fun atmosphere for our guys tonight, but just not going over that line where you’re taking dumb penalties. You just have to take a breath and focus on yourself.”
Barley earned his second point of the game as the period ticked to a close when he received a pass from Drew Carter in the near circle.
Staring at a wide-open right side of the net, the sophomore forward unleashed a quick one-time shot past Hayden to double the Beavers’ lead and tally his 9th goal of the year. Carter and Hamm were each credited with helpers on the play, their ninth and eighth of the year, respectively.
Barley was not finished, breaking the game open with under 10 seconds to play in the frame with his second goal of the game. He drew shades of Hamm’s goal earlier in the evening, scoring from virtually the same spot in the low slot with help from Minot State’s captain, Davis Sheldon, and Wayde Johannesson.
Hamm potted his second score of the night minutes after Mary broke the scoreboard in the third period, and Landyn Cochrane notched his fourth goal of the season in response to the Marauders’ second score of the stanza.
Riley Wallace produced another strong evening between the pipes overall, saving 21 of Mary’s 23 shots on goal in his seventh game this season.
“It’s nice for sure. Anytime you win a hockey game, as hard as I am on these guys, it’s still nice to win,” Waselenchuk continued. “Good teams find ways to win regardless. We didn’t have a good night by any means, and we still found a way to win. We’ll certainly take it and forget about it and get ready to be better tomorrow.”
The Beavers will travel south to conclude the home-and-home series with Mary Saturday evening, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. from Mandan.
(Originally published at https://www.minotdailynews.com/sports/local-sports/2021/12/beavers-mens-hockey-surges-past-marauders-5-2/)
