WARRENDALE — Mars had what it needed to pull even.

Moving ahead, however, was a different story.

After a pair of goals in the second period tied Monday’s hockey game against Quaker Valley at 3-3, it was the Quakers who tallied two goals early in the final period as Mars dropped a 5-4 decision in the regular-season finale for both teams at Baierl Ice Complex.

Ben Kuzma scored an unassisted goal just 37 seconds into the third, followed by Owen Harkins’ score just 1 minute, 28 seconds later.

The loss prevented Mars (7-10-2) from entering the playoffs with a three-game unbeaten streak.

“We had a full team tonight for the first time in a while,” said Mars coach Steve Meyers, “but we had an outbreak of the mumps and some of the kids are just getting better now. We were gassed in that third period.”

Mars cut its deficit to 5-4 when Keaton Hanna deflected a shot from Noah Raymundo past Quaker Valley goalie Colin Rice with 1:08 left in the game.

Quaker Valley (12-7) won a faceoff in its own end with 26 seconds left, though Mars regained possession before Patrick Roach got off an unbalanced shot that Rice stopped. It was the Planets’ 17th and final shot of the game.

Though his team scored four times, Meyers knows the Planets must find a way to put more shots on net moving forward.

“We’ve had trouble generating offense all season,” he said. “We just don’t have the numbers this year. We’re playing with 10 varsity guys, plus four (junior varsity) call-ups every night.”

Mars’ lack of manpower forced senior forward Raymundo — the team’s leader in goals (16) and points (31) entering the game — to play defense for much of the night.

“When he’s on defense, it takes away from their offense. When he’s on offense, it takes away from their defense,” said Quaker Valley coach Kevin Quinn. “But I coached him in amateurs and he’s a great hockey player.”

Kuzma and Rico Fernandez both scored in the first six minutes of the second period to hand the Quakers a 3-1 lead, but by the end of the period, Mars’ Sean Newman and Will Scurci had tied the game. Newman’s score came with 25 seconds remaining on a power play.

“I gave the team an earful in between the second and third,” Quinn said. “I didn’t like our game in the first two periods.”

The Quakers grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Noah Shultz beat Planet goalie Tyler Spreng in the first period. Scurci’s first goal of the night came just over two minutes later.

Rice stopped just 13 of the 17 shots he faced, but was credited with the win. Spreng made 30 saves.

“His confidence is a bit shaky right now,” Meyers said of his netminder. “He’s not playing amateur this season, so he’s seeing a lot less ice time this year.”