“This was a frustrating end to the year,” Quake coach Marty Quarters said. “Myself and the Helena coach would have liked to see more 5-on-5 action. There were too many penalties.

“And it was tough to have to start there last week after winning the home ice advantage,” he added. “But we’re not making excuses. They are a good team with playoff experience, and it showed.”

After a scoreless first period last Wednesday at Riley Arena, the Bighorns took the lead in the second when Matt Graham scored with an assist from Markus Oden and Steven Shaffroth.

They extended the lead in the third when Branden Parkhouse scored a power-play goal off a pass from Willie Boyle.

The Quake cut the lead when Kyle White scored with an assist from Scott Soborowski and Dajon Mingo.

But Graham scored another power-play goal off a pass from Justin Crosby and Steven Shaffroth.

On Friday night, the Bighorns took the lead early in the first when Shaffroth scored off an assist from Zach Maxwell.

The Quake came back and took the lead when Mingo scored a power-play goal with a pass from Craig Berling, and then White scored a power-play goal with an assist from Josh Royston and Dan Kowalski.

The Bighorns tied the game before the first intermission when Damon Hollandsworth scored a power-play goal off an assist from Parkhouse and Sean Connolly.

Helena took the lead in the second when Graham found the net off a pass from Oden and Shaffroth. The Quake tied the game off a power-play goal from Mitch Nelson with an assist from Mingo and Royston.

But the Bighorns got a power-play goal from Hollandsworth with an assist from Boyle and Parkhouse.

Helena extended the lead in the third when Shaffroth scored off a pass from Kevin Clark.

Yellowstone cut the lead again when Kowalski scored off an assist from White and Mingo, but Helena ended the scoring when Connolly scored a power-play goal off an assist from Zach Hale and Boyle.

“It was frustrating because we thought we could do some good things if we made it to nationals,” Quarters said. “We’re focusing on our accomplishments and how far we’ve taken this program.

“We’re going to take the great things we did this year and build on the future,” he added.

Four Quake players were selected to the final Nor Pac All-Star Team.

Mingo and White were first-team forwards, and Micki Mihailovich was a first-team defenseman. Goalie Mike Martin was on the second team.

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