Photo by Samantha Davis. Senior Luke Ehlers winds up to take a shot during the second period against Luverne Tuesday night at the Red Baron Arena in Marshall. Ehlers scored three goals in the Tigers' 7-3 loss.

MARSHALL — Early penalty troubles and offensive struggles against a defensively strong Luverne team was too much to overcome as the Marshall boys hockey team fell to the Cardinals 7-3 Tuesday night in a Big South Conference matchup. The loss ends a five-game winning streak.

Marshall fell into an early 4-0 hole after the first period, however Luke Ehlers scored three goals in the second to bring the Tigers back within reach. But, Luverne’s early jump put them in a large enough position to seal the win.

Marshall’s penalty trouble started early, with two infractions in the opening minute. The Cardinals took full advantage, scoring two goals with their man advantage to set the tone.

“We dug ourselves quite a hole there in the first and had a couple tough penalties right off the bat. We just didn’t quite have a rhythm there in the first period,” Marshall head coach Michael Weiss said. “We were able to rally back in the second, which was nice and have it at a two-goal game going into the third.”

Ehlers led Marshall with his three goals, and Jacob Allen had an assist. Nathan Lenz spent the night in the goal, and finished with a .794 save percentage.

Luverne had 34 total shots on goal, and Marshall was limited to 17 shots.

Luverne is in sole possession of first place in the Big South and has yet to drop a conference game, now standing at 17-4-1 overall and 12-0-1 in conference.

The Tigers have been on a good stride prior to Tuesday with their five consecutive wins. They most recently defeated Minnesota River 8-1 on Saturday behind a five-goal second period. Ehlers had a pair of goals and Renslow had four assists in the victory.

Luverne had 20 shots on goal to Marshall’s four by the end of the first period, along with its 4-0 lead.

“They’re [Luverne] a really skilled team and a really, really strong team. They’re tough to play against. You just have to move the puck quickly,” Weiss said. “You’ve got to win some races and win some battles, and we were able to do a little bit of that in a second, but need to do it a little bit more.”

Jacob Johnson was put in the penalty box 25 seconds in after a minor roughing call during a scuffle.

Marshall got called for another penalty 18 seconds later for having too many men on the ice, putting the Tigers down two players in the same penalty time.

During the two minutes Marshall was short-handed, Luverne netted a pair of goals with 15 seconds of one another on power plays.

There was a clear energy shift in the second period for Marshall, who was fighting to overcome its 4-0 deficit. Ehlers scored his three goals during the period to bring the Tigers within two goals heading into the final period.

“He [Ehlers] was good offensively and defensively,” Weiss said. “He’s really good with the puck, especially getting it towards the net … He just put them in the right spot and got some good traffic in front for them to go in.”

Ehlers finished with a total seven shots on goal to lead the Tigers.

Roles reversed and Luverne had two players get called for penalties in the same time frame to allow a bigger opportunity for Marshall to net in some goals, and just that took place.

Although Luverne scored another goal to start off the second, Ehlers got Marshall on the board with a long shot near the Tiger’s bench that flew directly to the back of the net midway through the period.

The goal was assisted by Allen, who fed it up to Ehlers from near the goal.

Ehlers took the next two goals unassisted within two and a half minutes of one another to secure his hat trick, and put Marshall into comeback contention.

The Tigers had 10 shots on goal in the second period, to Luverne’s eight, showing a major improvement from the first period.

Luverne’s defense was tenacious and consistent, which Marshall struggled to get around for a large part of the first and third period.

The Cardinals came out of the second intermission getting their defense back together and controlled the puck for a majority of the third period. They scored a goal six minutes in, putting the lead back up by three.

Marshall’s chances at going on another rally dwindled with Luverne’s second third period goal with just under five minutes to go, and earning back a four-goal lead at 7-3.

Overall, there were 17 penalties assessed through the night, 9 belonging to Marshall. All of them were minor, except Luverne collected a double-minor in the second period for interference.

As it was the team’s second to last home game, Marshall recognized its 11 seniors prior to puck drop. This year’s seniors consist of Lenz, Aiden Reinhart, Sam Wing, Johnson, Tyler Welsh, Ehlers, Owen Renslow, Easton Larsen, Noah Myhre, Brenden Weller, Austin Husby and Treyton Roberts.

“We’ve got a big group this year, and it always seems like they’ve been around forever,” Weiss said. “They all contribute a big part to this team and it was fun to honor them tonight. Hopefully we can end the season strong for all of them.”

Marshall (10-12 overall, 8-6 BSC) is currently in fourth place in conference with three regular season games left. It will next travel to take on Hutchinson on Saturday at Burich Arena at 1 p.m.

The Tigers’ final home game is slated to host Waseca on Feb. 15 with a 2:45 p.m. puck drop.

“We’ve just got to make sure that we are playing our game that’s going to give us the best chance to win,” Weiss said about approaching the last few games. “That’s skating hard, being physical, and playing unselfishly.”