The Marquette Senior High School varsity hockey team poses for this photo with the MHSAA Division 2 regional championship trophy after their victory over Escanaba at the Eskymos' rink on Tuesday. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Todd Rose)

“Our game plan all year was to get the puck up high, and we concentrated on that in the second and third periods.” — Doug Garrow, head coach, Marquette varsity hockey

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WELLS — The Marquette Redmen kept the pressure on Escanaba all game and it finally started paying off about halfway through their 6-2 victory in this MHSAA Division 2 regional championship game on Tuesday.

Marquette (20-5-1) advances to a 1 p.m. Saturday state quarterfinal game at Gaylord where the Redmen will face Traverse City Central (20-7-1). The Eskymos finished 16-11.

Though the Redmen outshot Esky 52-17, they didn’t take the lead for good until the final five minutes of the second period. For Escanaba, that had to be a tribute to their tenacity as the Eskymos skated with just 12 players all season.

“They’re just a very good team,” Escanaba coach Andy Johnson said about MSHS. “We couldn’t match their depth. We played good hockey in the first period, and Dylan (Ziemke) was sharp in net.”

The contest was tied 2-2 after Esky senior forward Karson Krutina redirected a shot from junior defenseman Gunner Bourdeau 7:34 into the second stanza.

Then Marquette took its final lead, 3-2, on a one-timer by junior defenseman Colin Nemacheck just about 4 1/2 minutes later at 12:02.

The Redmen gained a two-goal cushion on a rebound shot by freshman forward Kody Meyer 39 seconds later and made it 5-2 on senior forward Nash Riipi’s one-timer from just inside the blue line before the period ended.

“Those three goals were kind of the dagger,” Marquette coach Doug Garrow said about the spurt late in the second. “Escanaba has a good team. They do a good job killing penalties.

“We didn’t move the puck well at all in the first period but did a better job with it in the second period. We use our defense a lot because we have good defensemen who can get the puck to the net.”

Sophomore forward Caleb Fries scored the only goal of the third period from the slot 2:53 in.

Riipi opened the scoring from Ziemke’s doorstep 5:03 into the contest. Esky tied the score when senior forward Jayger LaMarche went top shelf on a power play from the low slot at 7:09.

Then junior defenseman Jace Moore gave the Redmen a 2-1 lead just 54 seconds later.

Esky converted on 2 of 3 power plays, while Marquette went 0 for 5.

“After we got our second goal, we were playing good hockey,” Johnson said. “Then we took two penalties late in the second period. Our penalty kill unit did well. We were able to force them outside. We just don’t have the depth to keep killing penalties.

“They have three full lines. Their depth is hard to match. We were a hard-working team and had a lot of fun. We had fun with each challenge.”

Ziemke stopped 46 shots, while Marquette sophomore goaltender Wylen Cambensy was called on to make just 15 saves.

“Ziemke is a good goaltender, but we got him to move side to side,” Garrow said. “Our game plan all year was to get the puck up high, and we concentrated on that in the second and third periods.”

Junior forward Ethan Phillips collected three assists for the Redmen.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.