Titans stun Marquette in double OT

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Keith King
Keith King

March 5, 2010

Totten nets the game-winner in 3-2 thriller

BY JAMES COOK The Record Eagle Fri Mar 05, 2010, 07:27 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY -- Marquette's run is over.

All because of Traverse City West.

Shane Totten scored on a break-away 40 seconds into the second overtime Thursday night to give the Titans their first-ever playoff victory over the Redmen and end Marquette's nine-year stranglehold on the Division 1 regional title.

"It's indescribable," Totten said. "To be the first team to do it to Marquette in the playoffs, it's amazing. I was like, 'This can't be happening. Second overtime, I gotta score. I can't miss this.'"

And he didn't.

Totten buried a wrist shot through the five hole and West's bench emptied as years of pent-up playoff emotions were unleashed.

West coach Jeremy Rintala said it was one of the biggest goals in Traverse City West history.

The score not only gave West a shot at its first regional crown, but also put Totten in a tie with Todd Knaus for the school's all-time scoring lead with 100 points.

"They had a guy come off the bench, and if he would have played the puck it would have been too many men, and he knew that," Rintala said. "Totten ended up with the puck and he went in and made no mistake. He's had huge goals for us all year. He always shows up in the big games. He's our captain, our leader. It was nice to see him get that goal."

The Titans were clearing the puck up the bench side when the Redmen had to let it go because of a line change.

"Our defenseman was coming in to change and the puck chipped behind him, and Totten made a great play to pounce on it and get the break-away," Marquette coach Joe Papin said. "He's their senior captain. He had a couple other opportunities he didn't pounce on, and he wasn't going to miss that one in overtime."

With the Marquette hurdle out the way, TC West (16-8-1) will face Rockford (14-12) for the regional title at 2 p.m. Saturday at Ferris State University.

"They're good," Totten said of Rockford, a team West faced in a summer scrimmage. "They're no Marquette, for sure. But we're not going to look past them, that's for sure."

"I think we have a pretty good chance to win our next game, too," defenseman Steven Smiley said.

Marquette knotted the game up 2-2 with 12:50 left in regulation when Aaron Leach buried a feed from Jake Robinson in the corner on the power play.

The Titans were whistled for another penalty with 9:41 to go, but West burned off the power play nicely, actually generating more scoring chances than the Redmen when Totten and Jake Gillis had short-handed opportunities.

"I was real worried when they scored that second goal and they got another power play," Wilson said. "Their second goal was a power-play goal, so I was real worried. But our defense got pucks out when they had to."

Marquette had what looked like a goal waived off 40 seconds into the second period when Wilson showed the officials that the puck was in his equipment and not the net.

Zach Franklin buried a one-timer off a Cody Stricker pass to give West a 2-1 with 2:11 left in the first.

Marquette's Tony Kroncich -- fresh out of the box on one of just two penalties called against the Redmen -- had a shot bounce and trickle in off Wilson's shoulder with 3:39 left in the first.

West scored first, going up 1-0 when Jake Gillis was able to poke the puck in out of big scrum in front of the net. Jake Longstreet picked up the first of his two assists on the night.

Just like the score, shot on goal were deadlocked after the first 45 minutes of play, 28-28.

"We just couldn't really bear down," Totten said. "Their goalie was playing good and we couldn't bury it. But we kept it together, didn't lose our composure, didn't let them get to us. We played as a solid team all night. It was amazing."

"It's a huge win for our school," Rintala said. "We've never been able to beat Marquette in the playoffs. We get to play one more game, and that's what you're playing for at this point. We still haven't won anything yet, but we get a chance to play for a regional championship, which is huge.

"We made some plays when we had to. When we got scrambling, somebody always stepped up and made a great play. Steven Smiley had an outstanding game, and played the game of his career. Chris Dienes and Frank Gilbert played awesome and logged a ton of minutes. And we had a great goaltending performance form Nate Wilson. That was the difference."

Marquette ends the season 20-5-1 and with two league championships, winning both the Great Lakes and Great North conferences.

"I think the last four years we've beaten either them or the Reps in the regional final or quarterfinal," Papin said. "You knew it was going to be a tough game. It was. It was a great hockey game. A bounce here or a bounce there and the outcome could have been different for us. Unfortunately it wasn't."