CANTON — Marshfield boys hockey had a shot at redemption and did not let that opportunity slip away Sunday.

Just 11 days removed from a 5-1 loss to Xaverian to close the regular season, the No. 15 Rams utilized a defensive approach to stifle the No. 2 Hawks’ offensive chances and secure a 2-0 victory to advance to the Division 1 quarterfinals.

“I thought we could compete a little harder and they showed that today,” Marshfield head coach Dan Connolly said of his team’s bounce-back performance. “We earned it. Xaverian’s a phenomenal club, they had us at our heels and we bent but didn’t break.”

The Rams were fresh off a 3-1 victory over Natick in the opening round of the state tournament and took the ice with energy that was noticeable to the crowd.

“Ever since we beat Natick, a minute after that game, we were in our group chats and were so ready for this game,” Marshfield captain Jonathan Sullivan said. “All of us were completely locked in, and we share a spirit together.”

The Rams controlled the pace for the majority of the first period, peppering Hawks goaltender Connor Kotwicki with several strong shots. Xaverian eventually started to get some pressure, but Rams goalie Sal Camera was up to the challenge and the sides exited the frame with a 0-0 tie.

The second period saw Xaverian carry play at the beginning, but the Rams’ defensive structure frustrated the Hawks and limited the prime scoring chances on Camera.

“We really tried to defend from the inside-out,” Connolly said. “We did a great job of that in the second period, a couple of forwards came up and forced the pucks back toward the wall as opposed to the net. We’ll just battle in the corners and compete there.”

Marshfield turned on the jets late in the second period and got rewarded in the final minute when Sullivan fired a dump-in on net from the blue line, and it deflected off of Kotwicki’s stick and into the net.

“I didn’t expect to score on that one,” Sullivan said. “I’m just rushing the puck up and I was like, ‘I’m going to throw it as hard as I can on the net and see what happens.’ I then look and I see the puck in the back of the net. It’s probably one of the best moments of my hockey career.”

This was the extent of the scoring in the middle frame and Marshfield held a slight 16-15 edge in shots. Xaverian responded in the third period with a 12-7 shot advantage and significant zone time.

However, Camera remained up to the challenge, making several acrobatic saves, including one in the final minute that he described as “a whole lot of luck.”

“A couple of lucky bounces every once in a while really helped us out,” Camera said. “We knew it was going to be a tough one and we knew we had to come and play. That’s just what we did.”

Camera finished with a 27-save shutout and an empty net goal from Ben Berian gave the game its final 2-0 score. Marshfield now awaits No. 7 Pope Francis and senior Brendan Kiziuk said the team’s motivation remains very high.

“It’s just the brotherhood that we have,” Kiziuk said. “We’ve been playing together since we were little and all throughout high school. We go to the same school, live in the same town, and we want to do it for each other as bad as we want it for ourselves.”