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NEGAUNEE — The Marquette Senior High School hockey team took care of business on Thursday evening at the Negaunee Ice Arena, advancing through the opening game of the MHSAA Division 2 regionals with a 4-0 road win over the host Miners.

The Redmen defeated Negaunee 8-0 on the mercy rule in the schools’ only regular-season matchup on Jan. 20.

This time around, the Miners (7-19) hung in there due to the play of goaltender Ryan Kerkela. The Redmen (20-5-1) had plenty of scoring opportunities with 62 shots on goal, but Kerkela came through with an amazing 58 saves.

Marquette's Theo Adams, right, is stopped by Negaunee goalie Ryan Kerkela as he tries to slip the puck through a small opening between the goalie's left skate and the post in the first period of their MHSAA Division 2 regional hockey game played at the Neguanee Ice Arena on Thursday. Looking on for the Miners are Luke Syrjala, far left, and Tyler O'Dovero. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

“Ryan (Kerkela) played out of his mind tonight, he was very solid and that was the best game that I’ve ever seen him play,” Negaunee coach Dale Hopper said. “From top to bottom, he was the only reason we were in that game for that long.”

On the other hand, with Marquette getting so many shots, the Miners were limited to 10 shots with only a select few really good chances.

The game remained scoreless until the final four minutes of the first period when Redmen forward Kody Moyer finally was able to get a shot past Kerkela at 13:29. MSHS led 1-0 at the first intermission and was outshooting Negaunee 21-2.

Marquette got two goals in the second period on 17 shots. Only 1:31 into the period, defenseman Brayden Grange scored from the blue line after the puck took a strange bounce as it bounded toward the net. Defenseman Joe DeMattia notched the second Marquette goal of the period at 12:33 to make it 3-0.

The Redmen were putting pressure on Negaunee’s defense by controlling the puck so much of the time.

“I thought we played really well, I thought we moved the puck well,” Marquette coach Doug Garrow said. “We outshot them, but their goalie played really well. Ryan Kerkela’s a good goalie, I kept telling our guys that it’s going to be hard to score on him when he can see the puck, so we either have to get traffic in front of him or we’re going to have to keep him moving from side to side.

“It could’ve been a lot worse than 4-0, but Ryan played an excellent game for them.”

The Redmen were able to add one more goal in the final period. Forward Cole Ranta made a highlight-reel move by making a Negaunee defenseman fall to his feet and got his shot to go past Kerkela for the goal at 9:20. Having 62 shots in 51 minutes of play for the Redmen is something they hope will bode well for them as they move on to the regional finals at Escanaba on Tuesday.

“That’s our M.O. (mode of operation) all year long, we get a volume of shots,” Garrow said. “We do a really good job of using our points and our defenseman, and get a lot of shots from the blue line.

“We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing all year, and hopefully we can put more in the net if we’re getting 50 or 60 shots. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, and tonight we kept the puck in their end and didn’t give them any chances to score.”

For Marquette, goaltender Anna Byczek protected the net well in the Miners’ limited chances, saving all 10 shots she faced.

Negaunee couldn’t cash in, but the Miners were able to hang with the Upper Peninsula’s top team. More than anything looking back on the season, Hopper is proud of his team’s progress.

“We improved quite a bit more than we started with the first game we had,” Hopper said. “We have a lot of young kids that are still learning the high school game, so it’s a matter of them picking it up each game. Our record may not show that we had a great year or anything, but those kids improved every time they stepped out there.”

Marquette faces the Eskymos at 6 p.m. Tuesday with a Division 2 quarterfinal spot on the line.

Escanaba survived a 4-3 four-overtime classic over Kingsford to advance on Thursday. Escanaba will be a tough matchup for the Redmen, according to Garrow.

Travis Nelson can be reached by email at tnelson@miningjournal.net.