HANCOCK, Mich. (SabreAthletics.com) - Every coach dreams of their team peaking at the right moment. For Head Coach AJ Aitken, that's exactly what he's looking at after Marian finished their third consecutive sweep on Sunday against Finlandia.

After being swept by Lake Forest three weeks ago, the Sabres did some soul-searching and looked themselves in the mirror. With four weekends left and the team's hopes of a solid playoff seed beginning to slip away, the boys in blue decided that enough was enough. Since then, the Sabres have been nothing short of spectacular, winning six in a row and putting themselves in a position to host the quarterfinal round of the Harris Cup Playoffs.

"Our guys proved to be mentally tough," Aitken said. "Finlandia is not an easy environment to play in, so I'm very happy with the weekend sweep."

A 5-2 win on Saturday night set the table for the potential of a sixth consecutive win, a feat that Marian hasn't accomplished since the 2010-11 season. That year, the Sabres ripped off nine wins in a row, on their way to a 19-8 finish. Their streak was halted on the road against Finlandia, a game which the Lions took by a 2-1 score.

Finlandia wasted no time setting the tone on Sunday, scoring at 7:53 of the first period to give themselves an early lead. The Lions could only muster four shots on goal in the opening frame, but it appeared to be enough to give them the lead. With less than three minutes remaining in the period, freshman Derek Perl converted a feed from senior Robbie Bailey and sophomore Lucas Mertz to tie the game at one.

Finding the equalizer would help Marian set the tone for the second period, as the Sabres ripped off three straight to give themselves a 4-1 lead heading into the third. Senior Tyler Klein gave Marian the lead at 1:06 of the second on senior Matt Berger's fourth assist of the season. Sophomore Warren Carter converted on the man-advantage at 8:59 of the second to put the Sabre sup by two.

After scoring his first collegiate goal on Saturday night, freshman Tanner Pagendam tallied once again on an assist from junior Brian Berger to give Marian a comfortable lead heading into the third.

A late goal on a 5-on-3 power play by Finlandia cut the Marian lead to two, but Carter's empty-netter sealed the win for the Sabres, giving them their third consecutive sweep over NCHA opponents.

Looking ahead to next weekend's series with St. Scholastica, Marian controls their destiny. At this point, the top three seeds have been locked down with St. Norbert in line to take the regular season championship. Lake Forest wraps up the regular season at Adrian who is expected to finish second in the conference.

"Preparation and execution will continue to be our focus," Aitken said of the week ahead. "We have a tough opponent next week and there are four big points up for grabs."

If Lake Forest is swept by Adrian, it puts the Foresters at risk of losing out on third place as they have a one-point lead over St. Scholastica and a three-point lead over Marian.

Marian and St. Scholastica will meet next weekend and will certainly garner the attention of the rest of the conference. If the Sabres are able to complete another sweep, it will give them home-ice advantage for the quarterfinal round of the Harris Cup Playoffs. However, a win by St. Scholastica or two ties will give the Saints the edge and home-ice advantage.

In their last five games, St. Scholastica is 2-3, dropping one to Lawrence and two to St. Norbert. Since the holiday break, they have gone 4-4-2 compared to Marian's 6-3-1.

"Our goal is to go up to Duluth and earn home-ice for the playoffs," Aitken said. "We want whoever we face to witness Sabre Nation in full force."

Marian will face off against St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. next Friday and Saturday night with Friday's puck drop set for 7 p.m. and Saturday's set for 5 p.m.