Kingsford senior captain Will Murvich celebrates after scoring a goal in the second period Friday night against Northland Pines at Mountain View Ice Arena. (Ron Deuter photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN – Kingsford’s bid for a second major upset of the season came up just short Friday evening, as Northland Pines – ranked No. 2 in Wisconsin Division 2 – found the back of the net with less than a minute to play in overtime to escape at Mountain View Ice Arena with a 3-2 decision.

The Eagles (15-4-0) trailed 2-0 in the second period and wound up tying the game early in the third before the teams battled into the extra session in what was a fast-paced and hard-hitting contest.

“I thought our guys played hard,” Flivvers head coach Greg Wadge said. “We had some opportunities to put the puck in the net and we didn’t, especially late in the game and overtime.”

The Flivvers (9-11-0), who earlier this season shocked state-ranked Marquette, arguably controlled the pace in overtime applying a ton of pressure in the Eagles zone. Kingsford came close to ending it more than once in extra time but just couldn’t push the puck in. The final sequence unfolded quickly, with the Eagles breaking into the Flivvers zone, firing on net and amongst the traffic in front of the net sophomore Jazek Jantzen flipped in a rebound over the shoulder of Kingsford sophomore goalie Alex Hemgren with 53 seconds play.

“We had big juicy rebounds but we couldn’t get our guys in the right spots to capitalize,” Wadge said. “It was a great game for sure. That’s a really good hockey team.”

For a second straight night, the Flivvers penalty kill unit was on task, including killing off a five-minute major in the final seconds of the second period and to open the third with the Flivvers clinging to a 2-1 lead. But consecutive penalties a few minutes later gave the visitors a golden opportunity with a 5-on-3 advantage. The Eagles cashed in almost immediately, with senior Michael Schmidt finding an opening and clear look from the left side of the slot, and ripping it past Hemgren, who didn’t have much a chance to react and make a save.

To his credit, Hemgren was tough to crack all game, with some impressive stops including denying several rebounds and putback chances. He made 38 saves and clearly frustrated the Eagles at times.

“He was excellent between the pipes,” Wadge noted.

The tight affair was scoreless through the first period. The closest either team came to scoring in the frame was when Kingsford senior Jake Deuter clanked one off the post, attempting to go far side corner from the right circle.

It wasn’t until 8:47 of the second before the game’s first goal. Junior defenseman Seth Greenleaf fired from just inside the blueline and cashed in with his second goal of the season. Freshman Jacob Waara had an assist. Then just 15 seconds later, the Flivvers’ lead grew to 2-0 when Will Murvich battled down low in front of the net and punched one through for his 11th of the season. Assists went to Greenleaf and Waara.

Coming into the game, Eagles’ junior goaltender Evrett Leslie showed a 1.65 goals against average with a .923 save percentage and six shutouts this season – one of the better goaltenders the Flivvers have seen all season.

Senior Josh Graves put in Northland Pines’ first goal of the game, that coming with 5:03 to play in the second period. His team’s leader in scoring, it was Graves’ 23rd goal and 58th point of the season, which ranks among the top 10 in Wisconsin.

Northland Pines held a 41-30 advantage in shots.

The Flivvers’ season is in its final weeks heading into February with just four regular season contests remaining. Kingsford travels to Houghton Tuesday for a game against Jeffers. The Flivvers plan to honor their seniors on Thursday night at Mountain View when they host Rhinelander at 5:30 p.m.