GAYLORD — Recent history repeated itself as the Bay Reps rocked Alpena in the Division 3 hockey state championship quarterfinals at the Otsego County Sportsplex in Gaylord.
The last time the two squads met, it was all Bay Reps as Grant Lucas had a hat trick with two assists in an 8-1 final on Dec. 2, 2023. Lucas gave an encore performance Saturday, notching another hat trick in a 5-1 victory that vaulted the Reps to the Frozen Four and the state semifinals in Plymouth on Friday.
“This is something we’ve worked for for three years now,” Lucas said. “Every year, we’ve been so close, and this year we finally got over that hump. There’s no better guys to do it with. I can trust these guys. I can trust what they do.”
Bay Reps head coach Mike Matteucci said after the win that he felt his team played its best game “in a long time.”
“It’s been a while since we played like this,” he said. “We had a lot of jump. Defensively, we were amazing. I thought our forecheck was great. We were on them. They (Alpena) didn’t have any time with the puck. We didn’t give them any time.”
The Reps (18-8-2) and Wildcats (17-10) skated to a 0-0 stalemate through the first period plus seven minutes into the second before Lucas broke up the dueling shutouts.
The Reps took almost immediate advantage of an Alpena penalty as Lucas scored just five seconds into the power-play opportunity for a 1-0 lead with 9:57 to play in the second. Assists went to Thomas Boynton-Fisher and Eddie Walter.
Alpena handed the Reps another golden opportunity two-and-a-half minutes later with a second penalty, and little time was wasted once again as Walter deflected a slapshot from Lucas into the net for Walter’s first goal of the season and a 2-0 lead just 15 seconds into the man-advantage. Boynton-Fisher and Lucas got assists on the goal with 7:08 left in the second.
Matteucci called Walter the game’s hero after tipping in what turned out to be the game-winning goal, but he added that it is “easy to coach when you have players” like Lucas.
“That was our seniors stepping up and leading the way,” Matteucci said of Grant Lucas, Thomas Boynton-Fisher, Ryan Lannen, Larson Millar and Ethan Coleman. “I can’t say enough about having five guys like that on our team. They don’t say a ton, but they do on the ice with the effort they put in.”
Matteucci also said it was vital for the Reps to score quickly on their power-play chances.
“We’ve been working on that a lot,” he said. “Kids have been in different positions, and we’ve moved them around to figure out what is best for us.”
The Bay Reps managed to kill off two power-play chances for the Wildcats, including a stretch of 12 seconds when Alpena had a 5-on-3 advantage after Lucas was called for a slashing penalty while Lannen’s two-minute trip to the box for interference was close to expiring.
The Reps took that 2-0 lead into the final 17 minutes, but Alpena came out aggressive on offense and fired several shots on goal against netminder Tyler Boynton-Fisher, who finished with 26 saves. The Wildcats broke through 94 seconds into the third period when Bryce Moe lit the lamp.
But just as the Reps have done all season, they responded in kind when giving up a goal. Lucas scored his second of the game three minutes later to deflate the Wildcats and the Alpena faithful in attendance. Thomas Boynton-Fisher picked up the helper on Lucas’ goal.
Lucas then took advantage of an Alpena turnover right in front of the Wildcats net, proving to be a costly error for the Wildcats as the senior Rep tallied goal No. 3 on the day and made the hat trick official for the 4-1 lead.
The Wildcats emptied their net with more than four minutes remaining in hopes of staging a miracle comeback, but freshman Joel Ziecina snuffed out any chances of that and sent the Alpena fans to the exits with an easy goal from mid-ice with 2:32 left to play.
“This is all so special,” Ziecina said. “I cannot even express how happy and excited I am. These guys have been fighting for this for so long, and to be part of it as a freshman is pretty amazing.”
DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” was blasting in the Reps’ locker room after the win, and that is exactly what they have done since the start of the postseason — claiming a regional championship and now finding themselves two wins away from a state title.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association will reseed the final four teams before announcing the semifinal matchups. The Reps will play at either 11 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 8, at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth. The state championship finals will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday.
“Awesome. I can’t wait,” Matteucci said. “We’ve had our eye on it all season, hoping we’d have the opportunity. It’s easy to say you want to go there. It’s not easy to do it.”
Lucas admitted the Reps cannot be satisfied with reaching the semis or rest on the laurels of their past successes.
When asked what they need to do to get the final two wins of the season, Lucas said “clean up the fundamentals” and “pay attention to the small details.”
“I totally believe we can win a state championship,” he said. “That would mean everything. We deserve it. We have such great people and players that represent our area.”