UMary clinches first ACHA Div. II hockey title

MANDAN, N.D. (KFYR) – The University of Mary Marauders men’s hockey team won the ACHA Div. II championship Tuesday, shutting out Iowa State 2-0 for the first D-II title in the program’s history.

In their first year, UMary won 39 games, but ACHA rules did not allow a rookie team to play in the national tournament.

Last year, the Marauders won 39 games again, but the COVID-19 pandemic canceled nationals right before they were going to leave.

Tanner Eskro scored for the Marauders after a second-period timeout. The Marauders would get a late empty-net goal as well.

“It’s special. As you saw there are some guys on the ice who were here the last two years and they were robbed of the chance to compete for one of these so we didn’t just win it for us we won it for those guys who played the past couple of years as well,” said Kyle Haden, UMary Goaltender.

“However anybody looks at it championships are important. You talk about quarterbacks and captains in the NHL or pitchers in Major League baseball whatever if they don’t win one what’s your worth? Our worth it pretty good. We’re all good people but in the end this is going to be a special team for a long time, they’re going to have a bond that will last their lifetime and they will be able to share those memories with each other forever,” said Dan Huntley, UMary Head Coach.

Including the tournament, the Marauders finish the season 38-4-1-6.