Escanaba’s upset effort came up short here Tuesday night as it dropped a 5-2 hockey decision to the Calumet Copper Kings.

Freshman forward Sawyer LaMarch scored from point-blank range 10 and a half minutes into the second period, trimming Esky’s deficit to 2-1.

Senior forward Scott Loukus, however, scored a hat trick for the team’s top-ranked Division 3 team, giving it a two-goal cushion on a power play from the slot at 12:56.

Classmate Alex Mattila’s shorthanded goal on a breakaway then gave Calumet a 4-1 advantage at 14:05.

“The shorthanded goal gave us the separation we needed for the third period,” said Calumet coach Dan Giachino. “The guys worked hard on the penalty kill, but not so much the rest of the game. We were flat. Although, the Escanaba kids played hard. They made us work for everything.”

Esky trimmed its deficit to 4-2 early in the third stanza when sophomore forward Karson Krutina went top shelf from inside the right faceoff circle.

Loukus then completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal in the final 26 seconds.

“That was a nice goal by Karson,” said Esky coach Matt Hughes. “He got the puck in the circle, then cut to his left and let it fly. We gave a good effort. We definitely came out of this game with a better feeling than we did last Thursday (7-1 loss to Marquette). Karson’s goal absolutely got us back in the game. We knew we had some life. I thought we got better as the game went on. The boys never gave up.”

Loukus opened the scoring from the doorstep with 64 seconds left in the opening frame and junior forward Tanner Rowe gave the Copper Kings (13-1-1) a two-goal cushion just 22 seconds later.

“We had a couple breakdowns late in the first period,” said Hughes. “Those are always hard goals to give up. We had a little momentum when Kyle scored in the second period. Unfortunately, that momentum was taken away.”

Junior forward Dean Loukus collected four assists for Calumet, which outshot Esky 39-17.

“Escanaba did a nice job protecting its net,” said Giachino. “We didn’t have a lot of good passes in the first period, then we changed our lineup a little and got a couple (goals). It puts you in a good spot when you score late in the period, especially when you’re on the road. One thing we’re not happy with is we took too many penalties. Those also weren’t smart penalties, which was a lack of discipline on our part.”

The Eskymos had a five-minute power play early in the second stanza, but were limited to three shots on goal.

Esky senior goaltender Trevor Denome stopped 34 shots. Calumet senior Alex Studebaker had 15 saves.

“Trevor made some nice plays when we needed them,” said Hughes. “They’re a real good team. They’re ranked No. 1 in the state for a reason. They’re fast and they put a lot of pressure on you.”

The Eskymos (8-7) travel to the Copper Country this weekend, visiting Houghton Friday and Calumet Saturday.

Calumet 2 2 1 — 5

Escanaba 0 1 1 — 2

First Period–1, CHS, S. Loukus (D. Loukus, Kauppinen), 15:56. 2, CHS, T. Rowe (S. Loukus, D. Loukus), 16:18.

Second Period–3, EHS, S. LaMarch (unassisted), 2:17. 4, CHS, S. Loukus (Kauppinen, D. Loukus), 12:56, pp. 5, CHS, Mattila (G. Coppo), 14:05, sh.

Third Period–6, EHS, K. Krutina (G. LaMarche), 2:17. 7, CHS, S. Loukus (D. Loukus), 16:34, en.

Shots on goal: Calumet 39, Escanaba 17

Goaltender saves: Calumet (Studebaker 15), Escanaba (Denome 34).