Marquette’s Joe Phillips, right, skates in for a shot against Escanaba goalie Brodie Goddard on Tuesday night at Lakeview Arena. (Journal photo by Jess Makela)

MARQUETTE — Marquette edged out Escanaba in a dicey third period of the first round of the MHSAA Division 2 hockey regional tournament, earning a 4-2 win at their home Lakeview Arena on Tuesday night.

Redmen head coach Doug Garrow said his team had luck on its side, getting two goals in the final period.

“It was a fierce and contested battle between two good teams,” Garrow said. “We got a few bounces late that led to the win, and sometimes that’s what you need.”

Trailing 2-1, Marquette received its first lucky bounce of the third when Luke Beerman brought the puck into the Escanaba zone, but was tripped by an Eskymo as he got to the net.

As Beerman fell to the ice, he was able to pass the puck to Ryan Morrissey at the side of the net, who tapped it into the crease and watched it roll under Escanaba goalie Brodie Goddard to tie the game 2-2.

“(Beerman) made a break toward the net but kept the puck alive, and we got a lucky bounce,” Garrow said. “Sometimes you’d rather be lucky than good.”

Little more than three minutes later and pinned deep in their own zone, a Marquette defender intercepted an Escanaba pass and flipped it out of the zone and down the boards to a rushing Beerman, who split a pair of Eskymo defenders and found himself alone in front of the goalie, wristing a shot that tipped off Goddard’s pad and into the net for the what proved to be the winning goal.

“It was just a mental mistake on our part, but a costly one,” Escanaba head coach Matt Hughes said. “We didn’t pay attention to Beerman, and he found himself in a perfect spot to go in and beat the goaltender.”

The Marquette comeback wiped away a strong second period for Escanaba, which scored twice to take its only lead.

Back in the first period, the Redmen opened the scoring with the only goal of the period off the stick of Ethan Jones during a power play.

Escanaba built its momentum early in the second period when Marquette’s Spencer Samppala laid a heavy hit on Escanaba’s Parker LaMarch, who stayed on the ice for nearly a minute before leaving under his own power while Samppala earned a four-minute double minor penalty.

Escanaba couldn’t generate much offense to start the power play, but after three minutes, Doucette drew a Marquette penalty for hooking to give the Eskymos a two-man advantage for nearly a full minute.

Esky’s Garth Wickham took advantage during their first scoring chance, nailing a wrister from atop the circle past Marquette goalie Dylan Sibilsky, tying the game at 6:49 on the Eskymos’ first shot nearly four minutes into the power plays.

LaMarch returned just after the Eskymos’ tied it, then figured in his team’s go-ahead goal when he sent a pass to teammate Christopher LeMire just by Sibilsky to suddenly give Escanaba a 2-1 lead.

“I didn’t have to say much to the guys in the locker room (after the second period), other than we only had potentially one period left in our season,” Garrow said. “We were lucky to only be down by one at that point with the way we had played, and the guys knew what we had to do.

“This meant a lot to our seniors, and with (Branden Campbell) sitting out with suspension, nobody wanted his last game to be spent in the stands.”

Marquette’s response in the third period and an empty-net goal by the Redmen’s Joey Phillips in the closing seconds sealed the win and advanced Marquette to the second round of the regional tournament.

On Thursday, the Redmen host Kingsford, which defeated Negaunee 7-6 in overtime at the Negaunee Ice Arena on Tuesday night.

Ray Bressette can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 251. His email address is rbressette@miningjournal.net.