FLINT — Midland Dow got off to a fast start against Hartland Tuesday night.
In the first minute, the upset-minded Chargers controlled the puck and then, right before one could say “Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center,” the pendulum swung to Hartland.
“One of our defensemen got a little antsy and cheated in,” Dow coach Dick Blasy said. “(Hartland) chipped it out, had a 2-on-1….” And just like that, Jake Behnke scored to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Brendan Tulpa scored a little over two minutes later and the Eagles never looked back, taking a 6-1 victory and a berth in the Division 2 semifinals for the third year in a row.
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Hartland will take on Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern-Northern at 5 p.m. Thursday at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth.
“We’ve always pushed to make it to the top,” Hartland goalie Brett Tome said, “and now we’ve made it and we have to keep working harder so we can get to Saturday and compete with whomever makes it.”
It was the first three-period game of the postseason for Hartland, which won all three regional games last week by mercy rule, all three games ending after two periods.
“It was the first real good push we’ve had in how many periods this playoffs?” Hartland coach Rick Gadwa said. “It was good for us. It was something we needed and we’ll learn from it.”
Dow did push back. After trailing in shots 18-5 after the first period, the Chargers finished only two short of Hartland, 29-27, in the final shot tally.
“It was important that we start on time,” Gadwa said. “That was one of the keys to the game. We slowed down a little after that. It’s something we’ll address, playing well in three straight periods, and it’s something we didn’t do tonight.”
If it wasn’t their best effort, Hartland was still too much for Dow, putting six pucks past Dow goalie Jeremy Slasor. A seventh would-be goal was waved off due to high-sticking.
Behnke scored twice and had an assist for the Eagles, while Joey Larson had a goal and three assists and Tulpa had a goal and an assist for Hartland.
