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MARQUETTE---The Marquette Sentinels won a hockey regional championship Wednesday night with a gritty 3-1 win over the Escanaba Eskymos at Lakeview Arena.
Skyler Blackburn, Evan Mattila, and Brody Sheldon scored for the Sentinels. Graham Johnson had Escanaba's only goal in the third period after his team was behind, 3-0.
Blackburn's goal midway through the first period was the key to the Marquette win because it came after Sentinel goaltender Parker Nevenhoven stopped Escanaba's Nick Martinson on a breakaway just 22 seconds into the game.B
In the second period, Marquette had two power play chances and Escanaba had one, but there were no goals in that period. Marquette had a 13-3 shots on goal advantage in the first period, but Escanaba had the advantage in the second period, 10-7.
It came down to the third period in a 1-0 game, where the next Eskymo shot could have tied the game. But Marquette got the all-important second goal halfway through the period, with the sophomore Mattila scoring to make it 2-0.
Sheldon's goal made it 3-0, sending the Eskymos into desperation mode. Johnson's goal, assisted by Nolan Bink and Owen LaBonte.
But with the goaltender pulled for the final two-plus minutes of the game, the Eskymos could not score, and the season ended with a record of 18-10-1.
Marquette (19-7-3) advanced to the state quarterfinals and will play the Houghton Gremlins Saturday night in a “neutral-site” game at NMU's Berry Events Center, literally down the street from the Sentinels home rink. That game is set for a 6:00 faceoff. Whoever wins that battle will head to the state semifinals in Plymouth.
