Despite arriving in Traverse City only 30 minutes before warmups began, the Marquette Redmen began the first period with quite a few scoring chances. The Redmen were not able to capitalize on any of these early chances, however, and the teams battled toe-to-toe throughout the period. At the end of the first period of play, the game remained scoreless.
The second period began much in the same way as the first, with Marquette generating offensive chances yet failing to capitalize on any of them. Again, the Redmen vastly outplayed the Eagles, but a combination of unlucky bounces for Marquette and solid goaltending for Grand Rapids Christian kept the game tied until the 13:05 mark of the period, when the Eagles won a faceoff in the Marquette zone and scored shortly thereafter. At the end of two periods, the score stood at 1-0 in favor of Grand Rapids Christian.
Both teams continued the same pattern of play in the third period, not producing much offensively on either end. Marquette was able to tie the game at one at the 8:18 mark, when Aydin Frost took a shot from the point through traffic and found the back of the net. The 1-1 scoreline would not last, though, as just over a minute later, Grand Rapids Christian scored to make it 2-1 in their favor. Marquette answered right back with a goal courtesy of Hunter Doucette, and once again the game was tied. That’s the way that regulation ended, and after three close periods, the teams headed to overtime.
2:05 into the extra period, Joey Phillips took a pass from his cousin Tanner and fired the puck past the Eagles’ goaltender, winning the game for the Marquette Redmen.
The Marquette Redmen next take the ice on Saturday, January 13, when they take on Bay Reps. Puck drop is set for 12:00 P.M., and you can catch all the action live on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1-99.9 or online at foxsportsmarquette.com.
Listen to the audio from tonight’s game here.
