WELLS — Are you ready for some hockey?

The Escanaba Eskymos were as they skated to a convincing 9-1 triumph over the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils in a Division 3 regional semifinal here Friday night.

Junior forward Brody Levesque scored a hat trick and senior forwards Graham Johnson and Keagan Braun were playmakers in their final home appearance at the Hannahville Ice & Turf Complex.

The victory sends the Eskymos (18-9-1) to the regional final at Lakeview Arena where they’ll face host Marquette (18-7-3) in Wednesday’s title contest at 7:30 p.m. The winner advances to the state quarterfinal at Northern Michigan University’s Barry Events Center Saturday night.

Marquette posted a pair of 5-2 victories over Esky during the regular season.

“It feels great to be moving on,” Levesque said. “We had a lot of energy coming in and capitalized on that. A four-goal first period gave us a lot of momentum. It’s a different feeling in the playoffs. Marquette’s power play is pretty dangerous. They change it up a lot. We have to stay out of the (penalty) box.”

The Blue Devils finished 9-20.

Senior defenseman Owen Labonte gave the Eskymos a 4-1 lead by scoring from point blank range with 17 seconds left in the opening frame.

The Eskymos continued to hit on all cylinders in the second stanza, scoring on all three of their power plays. They also didn’t spend any time in the box.

“We played really good, fast and disciplined,” Esky coach Andy Johnson said. “With playing hard last week, we were down 2-0 at Calumet (in a 2-2 tie Feb. 13). The guys stayed disciplined and stuck to our game plan which I think helped us tonight. We were ready. Getting a bye through the first round gave us a chance to see where everyone was at.”

LaBonte hit the first power play goal on a rebound from the doorstep for a 5-1 cushion 6:47 into the second.

Senior forward Ben Sands made it 6-1 from the low slot on the next power play just 24 seconds later.

Freshman forward Chase Korpi’s one-timer from the high slot in a 5-on-3 situation made it 7-1 late in the second and Levesque completed his hat trick with a one-timer from the low slot, enabling Braun to reach playmaker status.

The contest ended just 24 seconds into the third frame on a shot from the doorstep by sophomore forward Nick Martinson.

Esky finished with 37 shots on goal and limited Sault to 13.

Graham Johnson hit the first goal while skating across the doorstep in front of junior goaltender Dane Vaught 2:36 into the contest.

Levesque’s rebound shot made it 2-0 at 4:50.

The Blue Devils answered just 14 seconds later on sophomore forward Caleb Sober’s rebound.

“I thought we took the momentum out of the building,” Sault coach Rick Mackie said. “It got pretty silent.”

Esky regained its two-goal lead at 10:03 when Levesque went 5-hole for his second marker.

“Once they got that, it took the wind out of our sails,” Mackie added. “The kids were disappointed. We had more opportunities, but couldn’t put the puck in the net, while older groups put that in the net. When you don’t have a lot of goal scorers and give up four goals, it’s hard to get that back. This is one of the better Escanaba teams I’ve seen. They have speed and they’re a lot deeper than we are. Their experience was a factor.”

Sault Ste. Marie 1 0 0 — 1

Escanaba 4 4 1 — 9

Scoring plays:

E — Graham Johnson (Martinson), 2:36

E — Levesque (Braun, Labonte), 4:50

S — Sober (Volz, Krout), 5:04

E — Levesque (Bink, Graham Johnson), 10:03

E — Labonte (Graham Johnson, Sands), 16:43

Second period

E — Labonte (Bink, Graham Johnson), power play, 6:47

E — Sands (Graham Johnson, Martinson), power play, 7:11

E — Korpi (Griffin Johnson, Braun), power play

E — Levesque (Braun), 12:56

Third period

E — Martinson (Graham Johnson), :24

Shots on goal: Escanaba 37, Sault Ste. Marie 13

Power plays: Escanaba 3-3, Sault Ste. Marie none

Goaltender saves: Escanaba (Hayes 13), Sault Ste. Marie (Vaught 28).