SOUTH BEND, Ind. — All good things must come to an end.

That was the case for the Marquette American Legion Post 44 Bantam AA U14 hockey team on Sunday afternoon, who fell 3-2 to Canton, New York at the Compton Family Ice Arena in the USA Hockey Nationals Division 3A semifinal.

Rhett Palmer’s third goal of the game at the 8:16 mark of the third period gave Canton its first lead, and the team held on from there to advance to Monday’s championship game.

Despite the loss, Marquette finished the season with an overall record of 58-7-2, with a state title to boot.

Drew Dellies notched the first goal of the game at 9:35 of the first, giving Marquette a 1-0 lead before Canton tied things up just under two minutes later.

Ethan Phillips and Owen Riipi assisted on the Dellies goal.

Jacob Garrow made it a 2-1 game for the Junior Wildcats, scoring just nine seconds in to the second period on an assist from Cole Ranta.

However, that was all the offense Marquette was able to muster. Down by one, the ‘Cats were trying to find the equalizer with just over a minute to play, but Henry McRoberts was sent to the box on a roughing call.

That forced Marquette goaltender Liam Beerman back into his net, and the Wildcats had to try to tie things up shorthanded.

Final shots were 23-18 in favor of Canton. Beerman stopped 20 shots in the losing effort.

Two of Canton’s three goals came on the power play with five opportunities, while Marquette went 0 for 1 on the man advantage.

Earlier in the day, Marquette earned a 7-3 win over the Texas Tigers (Dallas) in the quarterfinal round. Marquette had six different goal scorers in the contest. Two goals came from Ranta, while Dellies, Phillips, Jack Sides, Jackson Potulny and Matthew Johnson all found the back of the net as well.

Both Beerman and fellow netminder Anna Byczek played in goal for Legion, combining for 18 saves on 21 shots.

Email Ryan Spitza at sports@miningjournal.net