News Photo by Jonny Zawacki Harrison Kaszubowski (20) controls a puck in the corner during the third period of a regional championship game against Gaylord.

ALPENA — Fresh off its second straight regional championship, the Alpena High hockey team is well aware that the time for celebrating a wild regional final victory wouldn’t last long.

Alpena is back in familiar territory after hoisting another regional trophy — its third in the last four seasons — but a tall task lies ahead in order to advance to the final four, something Alpena hasn’t done since the 2006-2007 season.

The Wildcats will take the lengthy trip north to Lakeview Arena in Marquette for a Division 3 quarterfinal rematch with hockey power Calumet Saturday at 1 pm.

Last year, a 5-11-1 Alpena team took on the Copper Kings and were outmatched and shut out, falling 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

This year, the Copper Kings are still a powerhouse, but the Wildcats are much different than a team that limped into the postseason and won a regional last year.

The Wildcats have shown flashes of being a great team with potential to play with the elite teams in the state, but they’ve also been sluggish at times.

They’re hoping for the former against a talent Calumet squad.

The Copper Kings (16-9) play an aggressive style of hockey and have the luxury of doing so because of junior netminder Aksel Loukus. He’s among the best in the state with a .964 save percentage so far this postseason and was stellar during the regular season.

Despite Loukus being strong between the pipes, if the Wildcats are able to create scoring chances, they have plenty of skaters who can score.

Anden Marceau has led the way for Alpena all season in the scoring department and is coming off a seven point night against Gaylord in the regional final. Marceau will need to come up big once again to give Alpena a chance to challenge the Copper Kings.

Along with Marceau, the emergence of freshman Harrison Kaszubowski has provided Alpena with two lines they’re confident can score at any time. Kaszubowski missed better than the first half of the season, but has been key to the Wildcats’ success down the stretch. Alpena’s freshman line of Kaszubowski, Garrett Hamp and Reid Meinhardt has given the Wildcats plenty of hope for this season and beyond.

Much like Loukus being key to Calumet’s success, the Wildcats will need goalie Aidan Schultz to be their best player Saturday afternoon to give Alpena a chance and possibly steal a playoff game.