GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence men's hockey team suffered their first loss of the season on Friday at the hands of the University of Mary. The Marauders (9-2) defeated the Argos (2-1) 6-1.

The two teams played a pretty even first period, with both teams held scoreless after the first intermission. The Marauders got on the board first, when Justin Ohstad found the back of the net two minutes into the second period. Leo Felt responded with his own goal two minutes later to even the score.

However that's when the wheels started to come off. The Argos allowed three goals in the second period, and then two power play goals in the third, to end up falling 6-1.

"We started well in that first period," head coach Jeff Heimel said. "They scored and then we scored, and then honestly we had this lapse in the second period where I felt like we weren't making plays. Our conditioning level showed a little bit. We gave up some goals and it kind of carried over into the third a little bit. We kind of just ran out of gas."

There was no love lost between the two sides, as the teams have had a bit of rivalry going the past couple of seasons. Two years ago, the Argos took down the Marauders in the conference tournament on a game-winning goal in overtime. The Marauders got their revenge last season, defeating the Argos in pool play at the ACHA National Tournament.

Heimel knows the emotions are high after the loss, but the team will have to regroup. The Argos will conclude their weekend on Saturday with a home game against Williston State. The puck will drop at 7:00 p.m. at the Great Falls Ice Plex. 

"We have to put tonight in the rearview mirror," Heimel said. "It's difficult. I'm sure tonight especially the guys will be dwelling on it a little bit. At the end of the day, we can let it sting a little bit tonight, but when we wake up tomorrow morning we're going to have a whole new opponent. We have to put Mary a way for a minute until January and move on."