PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Presque Isle High School hockey team skated to two wins over the past week and one player reached a scoring milestone.
On Dec. 20., the Wildcats hosted in-county rival Houlton-Hodgdon. Presque Isle dominated the first seven minutes of the contest rattling off a quick four goals, en route to an 8-5 win.
Isaac LaJoie scored the first two goals for the Wildcats. Lajoie had a big night scoring three goals and assisting on two others. Lajoie also registered his 100-career point on a third-period goal, a feat only accomplished five times before at the high school.
“It takes a skilled player who can score, an unselfish player who will pass and a strong player who can play through injuries and not miss games,” said his coach, Dr. Carl Flynn.
Flynn added, “It is also very important to play with skilled players who will feed you the puck and that can in turn put the puck in the net when you pass.”
Adam Flynn also had a big scoring night for the Wildcats with three goals.
Overall the coach was happy with the contest, except for a few defensive lapses in the third period, which allowed the Blackhawks to close the gap.
“I felt we had the upper hand in puck position and offensive zone play,” Flynn said. “Early in the season, we have been focusing on our offensive output. Now we need to work on our defensive tactics a bit more.”
Tyler Seeley and Cody Merrill had a goal and an assist apiece and Connor Shaw and Evan Waddell had two assists apiece. Nic Davis made 12 saves.
Sam Fitzpatrick had a pair of goals for 0-4 Houlton/Hodgdon with Jimmy Fitzpatrick, D.J. McGary and Lucas Grant scoring the other goals.
On Friday before the home match with John Bapst, LaJoie was honored for his 100th point. In an on-ice ceremony he was presented with a plaque, as his parents, Peter and Nora stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
When the horn blew for the start of the first period the Crusaders came out strong scoring the first two goals of the game, before Andrew Michaud put the Wildcats on the board with a goal at 12:51 on assists by Alex Michaud, who also had a goal, and Seeley, who tallied a goal as well. Presque Isle took the lead late in the second period with a LaJoie goal, who scored two in the contest. Connor Shaw had the other goal.
Davis had 25 saves for Presque Isle.
PIHS upped their record to 3-2 with a 6-3 win.
The Wildcats return to action today at the Forum at 1 p.m. against Orono.
