CRANBERRY TWP — Thirty-nine seconds.

That’s all it took to put a disappointing end to the Mars hockey season.

It took just 39 seconds at the start of the second period for Bishop Canevin to turn a 1-1 tie in the PIHL Class AA Penguins Cup championship game Monday night into a 3-1 advantage.

The Crusaders left the rest to goalie Neko Borghini, who stopped 40 of the 41 shots he faced as Bishop Canevin beat Mars, 5-1, at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Mars outshot Bishop Canevin 41-25 in the game, but the Crusaders made theirs count.

“I think we had the better of the play,” said Mars coach Steve Meyers. “In these one-of games, sometimes the best team doesn’t win. When you outshoot them two-to-one, it’s kind of a tough way to go out. I thought they got a couple of lucky breaks.”

Jacob Kuzma went the length of the ice with the puck and scored just 19 seconds into the second period for a 2-1 Bishop Canevin lead. David Tkac then scored 20 seconds later and Mars was reeling.

Sam Hrabcak scored the third goal of the period for the Crusaders on a nifty move behind the Mars net, wrapping the puck around the pipe for a goal late in the period for a 4-1 lead.

Mars outshot Bishop Canevin 16-6 in the second period — but allowed three goals and was in serious panic mode.

“(Mars goalie) Tyler (Spreng) didn’t have his best tonight,” Meyers said. “Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it wasn’t. It seems like games when we don’t give up a lot of shots, it’s hard to get into a rhythm. When we’re giving up a lot of shots, (Spreng) is great. He’s probably the best goalie in the league.”

Borghini has been the best goalie in the PIHL in the last month.

He started the year sharing time in net, but latched on to the starting job and has come up big in the postseason.

Borghini has given up just four goals in three playoff games while stopping 83 shots.

“He’s been outstanding for us down the stretch,” said Bishop Canevin coach Kevin Pawlos, who was on Meyers’ staff at Mars last season. “He’s been our rock. Early on in the year we were going back and forth between him and the backup and he really took charge. He helped us roll off seven wins in a row. Now look at us. He’s the reason why we’re here.”

Borghini had to be stellar because Mars peppered him with shots after falling behind 3-1.

One shot made it into the net, but was waved off.

Meyers was incensed and said he didn’t receive a good explanation from the officials as to why the goal was disallowed.

There was a whistle with the puck still loose in the crease.

“That no-goal call was outrageously bad,” Meyers said. “I’m speechless on that. It’s about as bad as I’ve ever seen.

“I thought the puck went in before the whistle.”

Bishop Canevin drew first blood midway through the first period on a goal by Jacob Ondrejko, but Mars answered that tally quickly when Beau Heakins jabbed the puck into the net a little more than a minute later to tie the game at 1-1.

Mars, though, had to pull Spreng with four minutes still remaining in the third period and down 4-1. Tkac took advantage with an empty-net goal for a 5-1 lead.

Tkac had two goals and an assist to lead the Crusaders (18-6-1), who will play Central Bucks South Saturday in the state championship game at Penn State.

Mars had plenty of opportunities and had two power-play chances in the second period turned away.

“We kind of weathered the storm when we had to,” Pawlos said. “We also had timely goals and we had timely goaltending.”

Meyers had a simpler explanation.

“We played three bad minutes of hockey,” Meyers said. “That’s all it takes.”

Mars ended its first season in Class AA with a 17-6-2 record, including three playoff games.