The Lawrence hockey team had a solid weekend despite a loss on Saturday night in a weekend series with Marian College crucial to the fight for third and fourth place in the MCHA standings.
Friday night’s game was an excellent show of skill for both sides. Solid passing gave the game great flow, and the Vikings showed off their great hands with superior puck handling.
The game was one for the defense to thrive off of with some nice snipes and brutal hits. Kalle Larsson made a majority of the Marian team cringe Friday and Saturday night as he plowed through them on defense.
Both games were rough but the hits just kept the fans on the edge of their seats. Adam Brand had fans out of their seats Friday night with his first goal of his college career.
On a break away early in the second period, Brand and Dave Olynyk shuffled the puck back and forth up to the net when Brand slipped the puck low and to the right of the Marian goalie.
The three goals first period were scored by Masa Takahashi, Kalle Larrson and Mark Howe, respectively.
Brand’s goal put Lawrence up 4-0 but Marian started crawling back with two goals at the end of the second and another in the third.
The fans caught their breath when Charles Zieserl had to pop a squat in the box for checking from behind with only 54 seconds left. The Vikings, however, held their ground and pulled out a 4-3 win.
Saturday night’s game in Fond du Lac proved to be just as tough as Friday night’s.
Marian started strong by scoring just three minutes into the period. The teams locked until just before the end of the second period when Marian scored once again.
The Vikings came back to score early in the third and held Marian at bay for the rest of the period. Despite LU’s valiant efforts and pulling goalie Andrew Isaac at the end of the third, Marian ended up with the “W.”
This weekend the Vikes play Northland in their own barn. Northland will be a tough match as the Vikings are still looking for their first road wins. Coach Szkodzinski says that “100 percent discipline and a consistent work ethic” are needed, but he is “confident our men will be ready when the puck drops on Friday night.
Hockey goes 1-1
