MANDAN, N.D. – In a heavyweight match up between the top two teams in the ACHA DII West Region, the University of Providence men's hockey team fell to the University of Mary 6-1.

The Marauders (27-5) got on the board first with a goal from Cyril Nagurski in the first period. Mary opened things up in the second period by scoring three unanswered goals and taking a 4-0 lead into the third period. The Marauders scored twice more before Cody Hendrickson found the back of the net off the assist from Leo Felt.

"We were okay tonight," head coach Jeff Heimel said. "I think for starters we came out of the gates a little slow. At the end of the day, I just don't think we competed very hard. With special teams being a big part of the game, we went 0 for 5 on power plays and gave up two power play goals."

Despite the disappointing loss, the Heimel was confident his team would respond for tomorrow's rematch at 6 p.m.

"We're capable of competing with this team," Heimel said. "We have to manage the puck a little better. We turned the puck up over too much tonight. We've just got to compete a little bit harder. We'll look at some things."

"All year long the guys have done a good job of having a short term memory," he said. "It's obviously going to sting in the moment. But they recognize that we can play better. As soon as we can move on and leave the emotions at the rink then I think we'll be in pretty good shape."