NEVILLE TWP — Mars’ quest for a seventh straight appearance in the PIHL Class A Penguins Cup title game encountered a major roadblock Monday night — a 4-0 second-period deficit.

The Planets did rebound in the form of goals from Beau Heakins and Craig Mazzotta, but fell to Thomas Jefferson 4-2 at Robert Morris University’s Island Sports Center.

Mars (18-6) tallied 26 shots on goal to just 14 for Thomas Jefferson.

“I thought we had the better of the play throughout the game,” said Planets’ coach Steve Meyers. “We just couldn’t get good opportunities and when we did, we couldn’t bury them. That’s a credit to their goalie (Nick Ripepi). When you go down 4-0, it makes it very tough.”

Thomas Jefferson struggled maintaining possession in the opening minutes, but found itself up 1-0 when Nick Tamburi’s backhand sailed past Mars goalie Tyler Spreng with 6:46 left in the opening period. Tommy Kimmick made it 2-0 three minutes later.

“Tyler is just a freshman,” Meyers said of his goalie. “I think nerves got to him early, but he settled down as the game wore on.”

“We talked about coming out and starting fast and if we could, getting an early lead,” said Jaguars’ coach Bill Crousey. “We wanted to show that we were here to play.”

Thomas Jefferson (17-5-2) began the second period on a power play and it paid off after just 18 seconds with Zach Uhlyar’s goal. Kimmick’s second tally made it 4-0 under seven minutes later.

Mars began its comeback attempt shortly after on Heakins’ power-play score. The goal was set up by a pass from Paul Maust.

The Planets pelted Ripepi with 11 shots in the third period, but only one of them — Mazzotta’s goal with 11:07 left in the game — found the back of the net. In a desperate attempt to find more offense, Mars pulled Spreng with 53 seconds left, but to no avail.

Ripepi had 24 saves in the win.

“He knew he had to be the guy tonight,” said Crousey. “He has put a lot of hard work and effort into this since the ninth grade. It’s nice to see a kid rewarded for that. It’s why you coach.”

The Jaguars will undoubtedly be the underdog in Monday’s championship game against defending champion Quaker Valley at Consol Energy Center, but they will enter the contest with momentum.

“We’re a good team too,” Crousey added. “We are (11-1-1) since the start of the second half of the season.”

Thomas Jefferson’s last trip to the Penguins Cup final came in 2007.