Traverse City, MI – January 15th, 2022 – The Marquette Redmen hockey team played their second straight game in the Traverse City Showcase, this afternoon against the Byron Center Bulldogs. The game was broadcasted on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1 – 99.9.
Warmup1st Period: The Redmen came out hot to start the game as last nights loss may have lit a fire. The game was controlled for the first few minutes, even with several turnovers in the neutral zone. Marquette really started to apply the pressure midway through the period as shots started to fly. Byron Center goaltender Carson MacKenzie had himself a great first period. With just under 8 minutes to play in the opening period, the Redmen were shorthanded after a minor penalty, but they were able to easily kill the two minutes. After killing the penalty, it seemed the momentum shifted as Byron Center was able to apply pressure into the Marquette zone for a solid minute. Thankfully for the Redmen, the period came to a close, after no goals were scored.
2nd Period: Byron Center opened the period with a scoring chance that quickly diminished, as Marquette returned the pressure for the next few minutes. Wylen Cambensy had to make another great save for the Redmen a few minutes later, as he started to heat up for Marquette. Drew Dellies had a break away opportunity for the Redmen with just under 11 minutes to play in the second period, but could not capitalize. Seconds later, Marquette was given their first power play opportunity of the game. The Redmen had several chances at a goal, but they couldn’t connect, as soon as Byron Center returned to full strength, Marquette was called for a trip. On their second penalty kill of the game, the Redmen had a scoring chance, as Owen Riipi just missed wide on a great looking shot. Continuing to apply pressure short handed, Marquette successfully returned to full strength. With around 6 minutes to play in the period, Drew Dellies walked in and beat MacKenzie to give the Redmen the 1-0 lead, the goal was unassisted. After breaking the scoreless tie, the Redmen dominated the remainder of the period. Heading into the third, it was a 1-0 lead for the Redmen.
National Anthem3rd Period: The period opened with the unfortunate result of a Bulldog goal. The net was left wide open and Byron Center took advantage of the miscommunication of Cambensy and his teammates, it was tied at 1 just 60 seconds into the period. Both teams would see some great opportunities in the next several minutes, but Cambensy and MacKenzie kept it a one goal tie. With just under 10 minutes to play in the game, Marquette sent a man to the box, and with 5 seconds remaining on the penalty kill, Byron Center scored, taking the 2-1 lead with just under 8 minutes to play. Marquette had some more opportunities to get some goals on the board but couldn’t capitalize, and with just under 4 minutes to play, Byron Center scored again to take the 3-1 lead. Marquette again had several opportunities to score, but just couldn’t find the net. With 60 seconds remaining in the game, Byron Center found the empty net to score one final goal to win the game 4-1. Marquette dropped their second straight game in two days.
Final: Marquette 1 Byron Center 4
The Redmen will continue their season campaign next Thursday, when they host the Negaunee Miners. The puck will drop at 6:30 pm as you can hear the broadcast on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1 – 99.9.
