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FHNE Advances to Division 2 State Semi-Finals

By Zach Watkins -MLive, 03/09/16, 1:15PM EST

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Chase Lebster's goal with 10 seconds left in the third overtime saw the Forest Hills Northern/Eastern hockey team top perennial power Marquette 2-1 in a Division 2 quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Lebster blocked a Marquette defenseman's shot and took it the length of the ice in a two on one.

"The defenseman let him take the shot and he roofed it," FHN/E coach Thomas Bissett said. "It went bar down. He just went in ... he had that look in his eye taking it up the ice. He's been doing it all year.

"We had some good pressure on them in the second and third overtime. They controlled the majority of the third period and first overtime. I don't know if it was a second wind or a burst of energy, but we came out strong."

Senior goalie Ty Kitchen made a career-high 60 saves, allowing the lone goal to Marquette's Jake Phillips.

"He was on and you could tell right away," Bissett said. "You could tell he was going to have a special night. He kept us in the game, made big saves. He's another one who's had a great playoff. He's had a very good season.

"We played a tough schedule by choice. We wanted to be prepared for postseason. His record may not be as great as other goalies in the area, but game in and game out he's been one of the best goalies around."

Bissett said the win is one of the biggest in school history.

"There's been two other teams that have been to the final four," Bissett said. "I was a co-coach when we lost to Trenton in 2008 and in 2012 the team lost to Brother Rice.

"We have four seniors, nine sophomores, two freshman ... for these guys to step up the way they have this postseason has made it an awesome second half to the year. They've taken the next step and played some great hockey."

Trey Dyer scored FHN/E's first goal, with assists going to Wyatt Radakovitz and Josh Boverhoff.

Bissett said Noah CottrellMatt Pakkala and Josh Boverhoff came up big on the blue line for FHN/E. 

"They really carried the load," Bissett said. "Those three played a lot of minutes tonight and shut down Marquette's top guys who have had close to 60 points this season.

"Obviously the whole team played well, but I'm just really proud of how those guys played."

FHN/E plays Romeo, a team it lost to 6-2 earlier this season, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Plymouth.

"It wasn't a great game earlier this season," Bissett said. "I think with our experience now and how we've played in the playoffs we'll be ready.

"I think we've really stepped up since we played them in mid February. We've grown a lot since then."