Hartland icers beat Sault Ste. Marie 3-1, finish perfect weekend at Showcase

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TRENTON — Sault Ste. Marie coach John Ferroni knew his team’s margin of error was small going into Saturday’s game against Hartland in the MIHL Showcase.

“I thought our intensity level was good and we skated with them well,” he said. “We made three major turnovers, and each of them made it in the back of the net.”

That, it turned out, was more than enough for the Eagles, who beat the Blue Devils 3-1 to finish a successful weekend. Hartland beat host Trenton, 5-2, on Friday night.

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“Every win is big,” said Hartland coach Rick Gadwa, whose team improved to 18-2 on the season. “You’re looking to continue to build confidence on a team that I personally think has been losing that confidence. You look to come into the showcase, go 2-0, and we’ll take that as a team victory and move forward.”

Luke Cowan, a senior who joined the Eagles this season and is their leading scorer, led the way with a pair of unassisted goals, giving him 23 for the season.

The first, with 14 seconds left in the first period, gave Hartland a 1-0 lead.

“Jake Gallaher drove the lane, and I just stepped,” he said. “He created the play.”

Gadwa wasn’t nearly as reserved.

“It was huge,” he said, both of the goal and the timing. “When you get goals shorthanded, that busts the other team’s momentum on the power play. That stuff is big.”

Cowan, whose grandfather, Jerry, is a former Hartland athletic director, scored on his own rebound near the midpoint of the second period. He took a shot that bounced off the glass and came back to him, then lifted the puck over the shoulder of Sault goalie Tanner Reattoir.

“I didn’t think it would pop like that off the glass,” he said. “Fortunately, it did.”

Branden Lipon scored on his own rebound less than a minute later, giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead.

But Sault Ste. Marie (10-6-1) then picked up the intensity.

“I thought our kids did a good job responding,” Ferroni said. “They knew they were up against one of the best teams in the state, and they weren’t going to go out of here with their heads down. I thought they did a good job in the third period, but you give a good hockey team a three-goal lead, and you’ve got to fight to get back in it.”

The Eagles held off the Blue Devils until Hunter Krause scored with 2:16 remaining and the Sault taking advantage of a 5-on-3 power play.

It wasn’t for lack of trying. The Blue Devils were more physical after Lipon’s goal, while the Eagles were content to clog the passing lanes and make the Sault chase the puck back into its own end.

“I think it was a really big win,” Cowan said. “We’ve been struggling lately. It’s a stepping stone to getting our confidence back.”

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