GLADWIN — One year after losing to Midland High in a regional semifinal at the Gladwin Community Arena, captain Josh Storer and his Dow High hockey teammates returned to the same venue and returned the favor.

The Chargers scored four goals in the third period and pulled away for a 6-1 victory over the Chemics Thursday night that will send Dow into Saturday’s Division 2 regional final against Hartland at the Midland Civic Arena.

“It was a little bit of a revenge game for us. It was good to be able to beat them (in the playoffs) this year,” said Storer, whose Chargers went 3-0 against Midland this season.

Just as they did a year ago, many enthusiastic fans from both schools made the 40-mile drive north to cheer on their teams.

Several players came up big for Dow, including Casey LaRue with a goal and three assists, Shane Astrike with two goals and an assist, Jeremy Brookens with two goals, Garrett Brillhart with a goal, and Joey Johnson with two assists.

And in net, Dow goalie Jeremy Slasor turned aside all but one of the Chemics’ 35 shots.

“Jeremy has been a stud for us the last three weeks or so,” said Dow coach Dick Blasy, whose Chargers improved to 17-9-1. “Goaltending like that allows the other players to play with a bit more freedom. He is incredibly quick.”

Nevertheless, the game was up for grabs going into the final period, with Dow holding on to a 2-1 lead. That’s when the Chargers asserted their will and put the game away.

In the fourth minute of the period, Astrike scored with just seven seconds left in a power play to make it 3-1.

About seven minutes later, Brookens scored his second goal of the game while his helmet went flying off, and at that point the Chargers’ momentum was palpable as they and their fans celebrated a three-goal lead.

Seizing on the moment, Dow made it 5-1 when Astrike scored just 11 seconds into another power play with 4:31 left.

The Chemics killed another penalty a short time later, but the Chargers’ Brillhart scored at even strength just seven seconds after the penalty was over. His goal with 1:38 remaining wrapped up the scoring.

“Once we got the third goal, we just seemed to get more and more momentum,” Blasy said.

Dow went 3 of 4 on power plays, while the Chemics were only 1 of 5 and failed to score with a two-man advantage in the first period.

“One of the things we said early on was that we had to play 5-on-5 hockey, and if we got shorthanded, that was going to hurt us,” said Midland coach Steve Witt, whose team finished 11-13-1.

“Their goaltender played excellent,” Witt added of Slasor. “He kept them in the game. That was the difference.”

Dow survived three penalties in the first period and went into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead after an even-strength goal by Brookens in the seventh minute and a power-play goal by LaRue with under two minutes to go.

The Chemics’ Brendan Witt cut the lead in half with a power-play goal in the 12th minute of the second period, assisted by Greg Landis, and Midland carried play for the rest of the period, peppering Slasor with several more shots, including one by Witt on a breakaway after he stole the puck at the blue line.

“We finished the second (period) strong, and we kind of liked where we were at,” Steve Witt said. “They got a quick goal (in the third) and kind of took the momentum, (but) we continued to battle.”

Midland goalie Liam Grady stopped 38 of Dow’s 44 shots.

Storer, Jack Kivi and Jon Baillargeon each had one assist for Dow.

Blasy said that Hartland will be a tough opponent in Saturday’s game, which starts at 4 p.m.

“I’ve never seen them play. But they’ve been a state power the last handful of years,” he said. “We’re definitely going to have our hands full.”

For Midland, Witt said his six departing seniors gave great effort during the season.

“All six of them, they left it on the ice and I’m proud of them,” he said, choking up a little. “They exemplify what Chemic hockey is about.”

The other 13 Midland players are underclassmen.

“We’ve got to get back to work this summer and become bigger, faster, stronger, and become a better hockey team and be ready to compete in November,” Witt said.