Sports Reporter
The Presque Isle Wildcats won their fourth consecutive hockey game Saturday, blanking Winslow on the road, 5-0, to all but secure the No. 2 position in the Eastern Maine Class B rankings.
The victory was also important as the Wildcats avenged a 4-2 loss to the Black Raiders at home Dec. 30. Presque Isle and Winslow met in last year’s EM finals and the two teams could very well square off in the semifinal round of this year’s post-season.
Josh MacFarline picked up the shutout in goal with 27 saves. Zac Campbell and Brennen Shaw scored first-period goals, with Jacob Buck and Shaw assisting on Campbell’s and Steve Ford picking up the assist on Shaw’s.
Campbell made it 3-0 with a second-period goal off assists by Adam Flynn and Isaac LaJoie. Campbell completed his hat trick with a goal early in the third. Jason Martin and LaJoie were credited with assists. Connor Shaw closed out the scoring with a goal with 3:37 left off a Ford assist.
“Our conditioning really caught Winslow off guard and was the deciding factor,” said PI coach Carl Flynn.
The previous night, Presque Isle shelled Hampden Academy, 12-1. Brennen Shaw scored three goals, Ford had two, while Campbell, Mitch Davis, Connor Shaw, Caleb Buck, Flynn, Derek Sczuroski and Jason Martin all had one.
Davis, Campbell, Brennen Shaw and LaJoie all had multiple assists in the contest. Carl Benson picked up his first career point with a third-period assist on Sczuroski’s first career goal.
Nic Davis played goal for Presque Isle, which enjoyed a 60-17 shot advantage. Hampden’s only goal came on the power play with seven seconds left in the first period.
Brewer is No. 1 in the division at 11-1-1 and 82.36 tournament index points. PI, at 12-2, is next with 71.99 points, with Winslow (8-4-1) in third with 56.59 points. Lawrence (fourth, 8-6, 36.95) and Houlton-Hodgdon (fifth, 8-5, 36.72 points) are frontrunners for the final two playoff positions in the nine-team division.
Presque Isle takes on Old Town Saturday at home at 1 p.m. and Houlton-Hodgdon Tuesday on the road before closing out the regular season against Hampden at home Feb. 13.
Flynn said conditioning is going to continue to be the key the rest of the way as his team attempts to defend its title from a year ago.
“It is what won us last year’s championship,” Flynn said. “We had a game-heavy schedule that limited out conditioning early in the season and lately we have skated a crazy amount in practice.”
