WENTZVILLE • The Marquette hockey team could have mailed this one in. It had plenty of reasons to turn its non-conference game with Holt into one of those go-through-the-motions games Wednesday at the Lindenwood Ice Arena.
For one thing, the Mustangs were facing a late (9:30 p.m.) start on the night before final exams. They also were dragging around the memory of back-to-back losses.
But Marquette skated into the game Wednesday looking for a win rather than an excuse. The Mustangs got off to a fast start and skated to a 5-1 victory against Holt.
"We needed to come in here, play together and keep the flow moving," Marquette's Dominic Costa said. "We (got the lead early) and that momentum just kept carrying over. It kept us working the puck, working for more."
Marquette (5-4-2) scored 3 minutes, 12 seconds into the game as some terrific pass work by Kory Hendrickson and Franklin McCracken-VanFleet set up Nick Nast for the easy put-away.
Coming off losses against Oakville and St. Louis University High, the early lead was a nice boost, accoring to Marquette coach Ryan Kane.
"This year, the goals haven't been coming really easy for us," Kane said. "We've put a lot of emphasis in finish tactics and what not. To get that early goal alleviates a ton of pressure."
From there, the Mustangs poured it on.
Costa made it 2-0 on assists from Nast and Jack Emory just over five minutes later and Sam Turner scored his 13th goal of the season with 21 seconds left in the first period on a breakaway off a lead pass from Alexander Hendricks.
"We all worked together, so it was a good win, it's that simple," Turner said. "We were just moving the puck around well, working together and it worked out for us."
Early in the second period, Costa made it 4-0 when he pounced on the rebound of a Hendricks shot.
The final Marquette goal came with 6:18 left in the second period when Mitch Campbell knocked home a shot off a pass from Luke Pittaluga.
Austin Flynn got Holt on the board when he scored an unassisted goal with 8:13 to play. The goal was Flynn's 17th.
Losing the shutout was able the only blemish for Kane's crew Wednesday.
"(Mustang's goaltender) Michael Robinson played very well," Kane said. "I was very happy with that."
