Wyatt Radakovitz triggered a big celebration on the ice Saturday, the kind of celebration where sticks, gloves and other hockey equipment get tossed around with joy.
His goal, which came 4 minutes, 38 seconds into overtime, gave the combined Forest Hills Northern/Eastern team a 3-2 overtime win over Mona Shores in Division 2 regional final action on Saturday.
The Forest Hills co-op squad, which has a 16-11-1 record, travels to Gaylord on Tuesday. It will face Marquette for the right to move on to the Division 2 state semifinals.
The last regional won by this team came in 2012, when Forest Hills Northern/Eastern shut out Mona Shores 1-0 for the title.
"One of my assistant coaches said there's nothing like winning in overtime," Forest Hills Northern/Eastern coach Thomas Bissett said. "Helmets, gloves and sticks were everywhere. My guys played a great game and it just went back and forth with Mona Shores."
Zach Tilden put Mona Shores (15-12-1) on the board almost 14 minutes into the game, off an assist by Sawyer Jensen and Connor Edlund. The Forest Hills team answered and made it 1-1 at the 16:40 mark when Chase Lebster tied the score off assists by Ian Famulak and Josh Boverhof.
Spencer Anderson put Mona Shores up 2-1 just over six minutes into the second period, but the Forest Hills team responded when Lebster fed Nathan Nickelson to tie things up at 2-2.
It stayed that way until overtime, when Radakovitz scored.
Forest Hills Northern/Eastern faces a team that has a 22-4 overall record and a top-five ranking in Division 2.
"Marquette has had a very strong season," Bissett said. "Our last ranking was 15th. But I have a very good feeling as a group. There were a lot of pictures and a lot of smiles."