Notre Dame dug themselves a hole in the second period, allowing Marquette two 5-on-3 goals, but the Tritons were able to battle back and scored in the second overtime to take a 3-2 win in the first quarterfinal match-up Thursday at the Alliant Energy Center. 

Steven Phillips scored just 22 seconds into the second extra session to send NDA into the semifinal game on Friday.

The Tritons got on the board first at 15:22 of the first when Will Woodward punched in a rebound from the low left side. Phillips and Tim Davison got assists.

Marquette would answer in the second with two 5-on-3 goals in a 28 second span of the period.

Kevin Hannigan knocked in a rebound at the 1:04 mark, with assists to Joe Llaurado and Aaron Miller to tie the game at one.

Then Llaurado scored on another rebound from the right side at 1:32 to give the Hilltoppers a 2-1 lead.

It took another six minutes for NDA to tie the game. Austin Vieth skated through the slot and beat Marquette goalie Mike Roznik at 8:07, with assists to Phillips and Davison.

The third period was scoreless, with NDA netminder Chris Nell making a great save with five seconds left to force the overtime.

The first eight minutes of extra time was scoreless as well, but Phillips earned the game-winner just 22 seconds into the second extra period.

Nell had 24 saves for the Tritons, who improve to 24-4. Roznik stopped 23 shots for Marquette, who end their fine season with a mark of 25-3.

The opening game of the 2011 boys state hockey tournament promises to be a real barn-burner.

Third-ranked Notre Dame Academy (23-4) takes on Marquette—ranked fourth in the state—at noon on Thursday to kick off this year’s version of the WIAA tournament in Madison.

On paper, it appears that NDA is the stronger team. They average over six goals per game while giving up 1.4 per contest. Marquette scores just over 3.6 per game, while giving up 1.8.

The Tritons put, on average, 38 shots per game on net while allowing a miserly 16. The Hilltoppers don’t shoot much—only 24 per contest, but they are pretty stingy as well, giving up 18 opponent shots per game.

Notre Dame has three forwards that have notched at least 40 points—Austin Vieth (25g-23a), Steven Phillips (16g-29a) and Jason Reynolds (21g-22a). Add in Brandon Walls (13g-20a), Riley Christensen (18g-12a) and Will Pavek (15g-12a), and it’s fairly easy to see why the team gets on the scoreboard so often.

For the Hilltoppers, they have three forwards that have tallied at least 25 points. Joe Llaurado (23g-11a), Kevin Hannigan (14g-16a) and Joe Washcovick (14g-14a) are the main scoring threats and scored 52% of the team’s goals this year. Others that play key roles are Ben Lowe (11g-10a), Will Podewils (6g-14a) and Griff Jeszka (9g-7a).

On defense, NDA is led by the Tim Davison (19g-25a), who is one of the best defenders in the United States. He scored the game-winner in the three OT affair against Ashwaubenon in the sectional five final. Brother Luke (5g-17a) is following closely behind. Will Woodward (2g-9a) and Grant Kluesner (3g-15a) are solid players.

Aaron Miller (2g-26a) is a leader on defense for Marquette and is a solid playmaker. James Lueken (1g-7a), Connor Diffley (3g-4a) and Cameron Biel (0g-5a) all see tons of ice time.

In goal, Chris Nell (1.37 GAA, .923 save %) has been solid for the Tritons, including three shutouts. Eli Hicks will serve as the back-up.

Marquette's Mike Roznik (1.70 GAA, .920 save %) has played well and has allowed only nine goals in the last seven games. Richie Deschauer has played well in spot appearances this year as back-up.

Marquette has one of the most amazing stats of the year—they have won 15 one-goal games! So don’t be surprised if the Hilltoppers find a way to make that happen, even when the stats say otherwise.

But most likely, this game could very well be decided on the success of Marquette’s penalty kill (79%) against NDA’s power play unit (35%).

This should prove to be a great opener.