We were all over them from the start, and Marquette was a tired hockey team at the end. I sold the kids on this all week. I convinced them they could win this game, and they finally believed it. We've worked hard this year and have taken some lumps. But this is the reward for all of that work.

It was nice to take advantage of a couple of power plays. When you can get a player up, it's critical to score. That's an area we're constantly working on.

The kids that were on the state tournament team one year ago got a taste of that kind of competition and they want to go back. It's taken a while, but now everyone on the team has that feeling. The next couple of weeks should be interesting.

The guys didn't let down after Brookfield tied the game and that was the key. Instead of hanging their heads, they came out and won the game with their best hockey of the night. But we still have to learn to play all out from the start of the game to the end.

That was a big goal in the third period by Alioto. That got us some breathing room. I thought we got better as the game moved on. Alioto had his best game for us. He gave us some life on the offensive end.