FOND DU LAC, Wis. – The University of Dubuque men's hockey team fell 5-3 in the second half of their series against Marian University on Saturday. The Spartans will travel to UW-Superior over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Both teams were able to kill penalties early in the first period before Nikita Borodayenko found Zach Burfoot, who scored his first goal of the day to give the Spartans (2-6-0, 1-5-0 NCHA) a 1-0 lead late in the period. Dazza Mitchell kept the Sabres (1-6-1, 1-5-0 NCHA) off the board, and the Spartans entered the first intermission with a lead. Mitchell made twelve more saves in the second period before the Sabres tied the game with two minutes remaining in the second period. The Sabres capitalized on a power play early in the third period to take a 2-1 lead. The Spartans were unable to take advantage of their own power play and the Sabres scored after the penalty kill to extend their lead. The Sabres extended their lead several minutes later. With three minutes remaining, the Spartans pulled their goalie and Burfoot scored off another assist from Borodayenko to cut the deficit to two. Borodayenko utilized the extra attacker and netted a goal of his own a minute later to make the score 4-3. The Sabres scored an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining and the final score was 5-3.

Burfoot scored twice in the high-scoring affair, while Borodayenko scored and added two assists. Max Erstad and Matt Downie contributed assists of their own in the contest. Borodayenko and Andon Coles led the Spartans with four shots apiece. Borodayenko won ten face-offs, while Nolan Underwood won nine. Cutter Lewis led the Spartans with five blocked shots. In goal, Mitchell made 26 saves across just under 56 minutes in goal.

Up Next

The Spartans will hit the road for Thanksgiving weekend by competing in the UW-Superior Showdown on Friday and Saturday. The Spartans will face #14 UW-Superior on Friday, November 28 at 7:00 p.m. and will play one of Lawrence and St. Scholastica on Saturday.