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Markham all down: Lions get three goals in third from young winger in 7-4 win

Daily Mining Gazette/David Archambeau Finlandia’s Blake Peavey (27) watches his shot slide through St. Scholastica’s Nick Trenciansky (60) for a goal during the first period of a game Friday at the Houghton County Arena.

HANCOCK — The Finlandia Lions men’s hockey team came into Friday night’s home contest with the St. Scholastica Saints with one goal in mind: a playoff spot. The Saints sat just one point ahead of the Lions in the NCHA standings.

Through two periods at the Houghton County Arena, it appeared as though the Lions were going to have to settle for a tie and remain on the outside looking in. 20 minutes later, the Lions emerged victorious, 7-4.

Sophomore winger Cale Markham and senior center Paul Lochner turned the tide for the Lions as Lochner set up all three goals Markham potted in the final stanza to help the Lions leapfrog the Saints in the standings.

While he scored three of the four third period-tallies, Markham would not accept accolades for his effort, instead praising his teammates for the efforts they all put in.

“All the credit goes to the team,” said Markham. “The boys all worked hard. We kept the pucks ahead of us and just won the puck battles and kept pushing forward.”

For Lochner, just getting back into the lineup had been big for the veteran. Adding three more points in Friday’s win everything coach Joe Burcar could ask of one of his leaders.

“The first half, he goes out with an injury,” Burcar said. “It took him a long time to get back. He’s made every moment count since he has been back.”

Markham knocked a rebound home just 2:06 into the third to give the Lions a 4-3 lead. After assistant captain Connor Hannon extended Finlandia’s lead to 5-3 at 4:09, Markham tipped a shot from sophomore defenseman Adam Wammes past Saints goaltender Zane Steeves at 11:49.

Markham capped his hat trick with an empty-net marker at 17:15 off a pass from Lochner.

Burcar could not suppress a smile when discussing the efforts of his team in putting up four goals in the final 20 minutes.

“It’s such a confidence builder,” said Burcar. “We had points from a lot of different people tonight.”

The game did not start out so well for Finlandia. The Saints scored at 7:57 and again at 9:04 to take a 2-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old.

Rather than hang their heads, the Lions put on their work boots and “got after it” as Burcar would say. They were rewarded when junior Blake Peavey squeezed one in at 16:36 to pull the Lions back within one. Lions captain Alex Rezansoff picked up the second assist on the play.

The Lions’ captain then evened the game just 29 seconds into the middle frame by knocking a rebound off a shot from freshman defenseman Cory Richardson past the Saints’ Nick Trenciansky.

“Bottom line, that is why he is our captain,” said Burcar about Rezansoff. “We had that phase when he was out of the lineup. When your captain is out of the lineup, he’s been a missing link. Since I have been here, he has done nothing but lead by example.”

The Lions took their first lead of the night at 14:38 of the middle frame when Teddy Randell got loose, took a pass from Hannon and buried a wrist shot past Trenciansky.

The lead did not last as the Saints evened things on their third power play of the night. The Lions appeared to regain the lead with just 37.9 seconds left in the period, but the goal by sophomore center Hunter Kero was called back for goaltender interference.

The Lions and Saints return to action Saturday at 7:15 p.m.

Scoring

St. Scholastica 2 1 1 – 4

Finlandia 1 2 4 – 7

First period

1, SSC, Dustin Cordeiro (Sam Fuss, Nate Pionk), 7:57

2, SSC, Cole Golka (Pionk, Fuss), PP, 9:04

3, FU, Blake Peavey (Bryce Mitzel, Alex Rezansoff), 16:36

Second period

4, FU, Rezansoff (Cory Richardson, Teddy Randell), :29

5, FU, Randell (Connor Hannon, Richardson), 14:38

6, SSC, Pionk (Jordan Fralich), PP, 17:26

Third period

7, FU, Cale Markham (Paul Lochner), 2:06

8, FU, Hannon (Randell, Hunter Kero), 4:09

9, FU, Markham (Adam Wammes, Lochner), 11:49

10, FU, Markham (Lochner, Phil Garcia), 17:15

11, SSC, Golka (Pionk, Fuss), PP, 18:19

Saves

SSC, Trenciansky 10 10 1 – 21

Steeve 0 0 4 – 4

FU, Gloss 10 6 11 – 27

Power plays

SSC: 3/6; FU: 0/4

Penalties

SSC: 7/14; FU: 9/18

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