BOX SCORE
The Marquette Mutineers are starting February strong, taking an 8-3 victory from the De Pere Deacons on Saturday, Feb. 4 at Lakeview Arena. The win was Marquette's third in a row, tying their longest win streak of the season.
Marquette started the game with three goals, courtesy of Adam Szabo, Ryan Sullivan and Craig Hartz. De Pere was able to get one back in their power play. John Aho scored late in the period to end the first with a 4-1 advantage for the home team.
Matt Pearson brought the Deacons back to within two, forcing a turnover deep in the Mutineers' defensive zone before putting it past Mike Madosh in net. But after that goal, things started to get more physical between the two teams and Marquette capitalized during the special teams play.
"It seemed as the game went on and we continued to score, the game became more and more chippy as De Pere's frustration rose," said forward Andrew Plomer. Plomer had a false tooth knocked out and two other previously healthy teeth chipped when he was hit in the face with a De Pere stick.
Marquette was able to keep relatively calm the rest of the way out, scoring four more goals from defensemen Chris Freeborn and Levi Jezek and two from Dallas McLaughlin to seal the 8-3 victory.
With the win, Marquette moves to third place in the GLHL with a 10-7 record and 20 points. Despite splitting the weekend, De Pere remains in last place with a 3-11-1 record and 7 points.
Madosh got the win for Marquette, stopping 26 of 29 while his counterpart Zach Turney stopped 38 of 46.
Three goals were scored by defensemen in the game. Jezek and Freeborn both had a goal and an assist while Doug Quayle also had a helper from the defensive position. Szabo currently leads Marquette defensemen in goals and total points with four and 11 respectively.
Freeborn said that it was good to see the defense contribute so strongly to the offensive effort.
"I think it has a lot to do with our defense being more comfortable jumping in the play. Our forwards are trusting us more to make plays in the offensive zone," he said.
Scoring one of two power play goals for the Mutineers, Freeborn said that the team will be looking to build on momentum from this game to keep scoring on the man advantage.
"It's no secret our power play has seen its struggles this year as we just haven't been able to sustain possession in the offensive zone," the alternate captain explained. "But this weekend, we really seemed to be on the same page with quick passes and good movement."
Chris Finn played with De Pere on Saturday. The former Marquette Redman has been with the Deacons and the Fox Cities Ice Dogs in the GLHL over the years. He did not have any points or penalties in the loss and remains tied for fifth in total points for De Pere.
Marquette will complete the two-weekend home-and-home series with the Deacons this Saturday in De Pere. The Deacons will hope to have their leading scorer, forward Marc Belanger, back in the lineup after he did not travel with the team to Marquette.
Puck drop will be 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. local at the De Pere Ice Center. The Mutineers will be live tweeting on the team Twitter page (@mqtmutineers) and post intermission reports on Facebook Live.
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