David Archambeau/For the Gazette The Jeffers hockey poses with the Division 3 Region 17 trophy after defeating Houghton Tuesday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton.

HOUGHTON — According to Jeffers Jets hockey coach Aaron Helminen, his team had a singular goal in mind before the start of the 2024-25 season: win a regional title. The Jets had not won one since 1977, and had never won one since the regional format changed to how it is handled now.

Tuesday night, that all changed. Jets co-captain Benton Rajala scored all three of his team’s third-period tallies as the Jets skated away with a 5-1 win in the Division 3 Region 17 championship game over the Houghton Gremlins at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

“Special, special stuff, you know? Neat to see how hard they worked,” said Aaron. “(They) wanted it. We’re not just talking about coming in tonight. They wanted it. They set their sights high before the season, put in the work, and (I am) just extremely happy and proud that they came together and got it done.”

Despite the final score, which looks lopsided, the game was anything but. The Jets entered the final frame up 2-1 before Rajala poked a loose puck behind Gremlins goaltender Brycyn Nettell 4:33 in.

From there, with the school cheering them on, the Jets kept pushing.

“(This was) just exciting, just grateful,” Aaron said. “Things went our way. Just neat. Happy for Jeffers (High School), and the community rallied around. The support’s been awesome. So, we’re just excited.”

Rajala wasn’t done. He struck again with the Gremlins’ net empty at 14:42 with a shot from beyond the red line. Seven seconds later, he lifted a wrist shot over Nettell’s blocker to seal the win.

“I just kept pushing,” he said “I wasn’t really going to give up, or sit back. I just kept pushing. I scored another goal and then coach sat me.

“I didn’t really think I was going to (score a hat trick) at all. It was kind of a couple greasy goals, but I guess it’s still a hat trick.”

As exciting a moment as his hat trick goal was, even better for Rajala and his teammates was the cheer they received from their friends, classmates, and parents as they posed for a team photo after the game.

“That was great,” he said. “I mean, that’s probably the biggest fan section we’ve had at playoffs my whole four years. They’re very supportive of us, and it’s great to have a big fan section here to cheer us on.”

The Gremlins came in having won multiple regional titles in recent years, but were without co-captain Jace DeForge and alternate captain Connor Arko for the entirety of the playoffs.

Coach Micah Stipech did not use that as an excuse.

“We’re not making any excuses, “ he said. “That’s part of life, and when you’re missing guys, it was an opportunity for others. I feel great about our effort and everything that the kids put in. I think this game, they gave it everything they had, just like they did all year, and would we have liked a different outcome? Yes. But, I thought that it was a close game, and we wanted it to be close right until the end there.”

The Jets broke the scoreless tie 9:18 into the game when Gremlins defenseman Oscar Petersen lost an edge behind his own net and fell into the boards. Jets alternate captain Brit Heinonen jumped on the loose puck created by Petersen’s collision with the boards, he skated it out front and fired a wrister that bounced off of Nettell up in the air, then back down off of Nettell’s back and in.

“At the end of the day, you have to work hard, but you also have to get some puck luck,” Aaron said.

Heinonen led the Jets in goals and points all season.

“Brit brings it every game,” said Aaron. “He is just great, and it’s there every time for us. There was one game in the season, I think, where he didn’t get any points, and there were two games where he didn’t have a goal.”

The Jets held that 1-0 lead into the middle frame before they finally found a way to add to their advantage on a goal from junior forward Brogan Turner. Freshman forward Max Nordstrom picked up the puck off a turnover at the Gremlins’ blue line and he found Turner crashing the net. Turner beat Nettell with a one-timer at 6:32.

Houghton turned to an unlikely source for a goal to pull themselves back into the game 1:25. Senior forward Carter Campioni jumped on the ice from the bench with the puck in the offensive zone. He took a pass from alternate captain Hudson Markham while he was at the top of the left circle. Campioni skated to his right and fired a wrist shot through traffic that found the net.

Campioni, who spent the entire season on the junior varsity squad, got called up to the varsity squad due to the injury to DeForge.

“Game like this, so happy for him,” said Stipech. “It’s not just a hockey lesson, it’s a life lesson. Jay Halonen, our captain, in the locker room, they gave him (Campioni) the puck, and he said, ‘You know, tryouts are never over. There’s always a chance.’ In a school like ours, where 50 kids try out for the team, he could have just packed it in. But he said, ‘Hey, I want to play on the JV, and work hard for my chance to make the varsity.’

“Here at the end of the season, he got to live his dream, and he scored a big goal in a championship game.”

From there, the Jets kept the Gremlins from generating any consistent offense the rest of the night. When they did, junior goaltender Kasen Helminen was there to make one of his 19 saves to preserve the win.

Kasen’s father could not help but beam about his son’s performance.

“That’s special as well, I think, for the most part,” said Aaron. “He’s one of the team. I’m a dad to all of them, I guess.”

Nettell stopped 22 in the loss for Houghton.

UP NEXT

The Jets now advance to the state quarterfinals, where they will finally play the one team in the Upper Peninsula they have not played or beaten this season, the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils. The Blue Devils defeated the Escanaba Eskymos Tuesday, 4-0.

The Jets and Blue Devils will play at Lakeview Arena in Marquette Saturday at 1 p.m.

“(They are) well-coached, definitely,” Aaron said. “They have a good goaltender down there. They always make it difficult. Every time we’ve seen them in the past, it’s been on the big ice. Obviously, we’ll be at Lakeview, so (we’re) looking forward to that matchup.