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MARQUETTE — Marquette lit up the scoreboard on Saturday night, cruising to a 7-2 win over Lake Orion in a high school hockey matchup at Lakeview Arena. A dominant second period proved to be the difference as the Sentinels pulled away and improved to 7-4 this season.

“I thought (Saturday’s) game could have been a trap game for us, because we were still excited over the big win last night,” Marquette head coach Doug Garrow said of the previous evening’s 3-2 overtime victory over visiting East Grand Rapids. “I thought the kids came out extremely hard after the first period, but then in the second period, we really turned it on, and I thought we played much better after that.”

Lake Orion opened Saturday’s game with a strong push, keeping the Sentinels pinned in their zone early and testing goaltender Cole Kelly with a flurry of chances. The Dragons broke through first on the power play, with Carter Kneiding firing a shot past Kelly to make it 1-0 late in the opening period.

A quartet of Marquette skaters, including Skyler Blackburn, front left, and Easton Bal, right, gather to discuss strategy in the third period during a high school hockey played against Lake Orion at Lakeview Arena in Marquette on Saturday. (Journal photo by Caden Sierra)

Marquette responded just over a minute later. Easton Bal tied the game 1-1, battling through traffic in front of the crease to bury a rebound. By the end of the opening frame, Marquette had outshot Lake Orion 10-7 and started to generate momentum heading into the next period.

That momentum carried over in a big way. Ian Sheltrow gave the Sentinels their first lead midway through the second, snapping a wrister from the blue line past Dragons goalie Jagger Kimber to make it 2-1. Less than two minutes later, Marquette’s Lucas Belkowski extended the lead, capitalizing on a loose puck in front to make it 3-1.

The Sentinels kept the pressure on as Brody Sheldon and Seth Sandstrom each scored, pushing the home team’s advantage to 5-1 in a span of just six minutes. Lake Orion briefly stopped the onslaught with a goal from Mathew Gaberty, but Marquette had the final say in the period.

With just 23 seconds remaining, Sheldon scored again on the power play with a sharp wrister from the point, giving MSHS a commanding 6-2 lead after two periods.

The Sentinels controlled the pace in the third, even as penalties piled up on both sides. Marquette killed off several Lake Orion power plays, with Kelly making timely saves to maintain the four-goal cushion. Sandstrom added his second goal of the game late, sealing the 7-2 victory.

Marquette’s Jack Pond, right, gets on the backcheck against Lake Orion’s Jeffrey Andrews during their high school hockey game played at Lakeview Arena in Marquette on Saturday. (Journal photo by Caden Sierra)

“We’re a young team struggling a little bit, but that’s good that we could put up seven goals and spread the offense around giving our guys some confidence,” Garrow said. “We can’t do that next weekend against Orchard Lake St. Mary’s as one top teams in the state, that’ll hurt us all.

“But today, it didn’t hurt us, and thankfully we got some good experience and some good learning out of it.”

Marquette outshot the Dragons 29-18, with Kelly standing tall in net and Kimber making several highlight-reel saves for the Dragons despite the lopsided score.

The Sentinels look to carry their momentum into this weekend’s two-game encounter against the Pontiac- and Detroit-area state powerhouse, ranked No. 1 in MHSAA Division 3

. The home games vs. St. Mary’s are set for 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday at Lakeview Arena.

Marquette’s next game after that is until the new year when the Sentinels play at Negaunee at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4.

Caden Sierra can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 551. His email address is csierra@nmu.edu.