After giving up 48 goals in their first six games, the Presque Isle Wildcats have shored up their defense and in the process picked up a couple hockey victories last week.
PI is now 3-5 on the season following a 4-2 win over Houlton-Hodgdon Thursday in Houlton and a 5-1 triumph at home Saturday against Winslow.
Coach Carl Flynn said the Wildcats’ tough schedule had a lot to do with the team’s early-season struggles, but added that defense has been an area of concentration in recent practices and matches.
“We have juggled the lines to be more defensive and our entire team is working on being more defensive-minded and limiting the other teams’ scoring opportunities,” Flynn said.
The coach added that the team’s freshmen netminders, Jillian Flynn and Oliver Gerrish, are “becoming more comfortable with the pace of play and the speed of the shots coming at them.”
Flynn was in goal in both of last week’s wins and made several “game-changing” saves in Saturday’s victory.
At Houlton on Jan. 3, PI trailed 1-0 and 2-1, but scored the game’s final three goals for its first win since Dec. 7, 2012. Mikey Michaud scored off assists from Colin McKay and Alex Michaud to tie the match at 2-2 with 6:08 to play in the second period.
Tyler Seeley scored the go-ahead goal 3:08 into the third before Adam Flynn provided an insurance tally with 2:20 remaining. Alex Michaud and Adam Flynn assisted on Seeley’s goal, while Alex Michaud also had the assist on Flynn’s.
Dan Boucher had gotten PI on the scoreboard with 3:10 left in the first period. Andrew Michaud and Cooper Madore had the assists.
The Wildcats enjoyed a 34-16 advantage in shots on goal during the contest. Alex Donovan and Brandon Malone were the goal-scorers for the Blackhawks.
On Jan. 5, Presque Isle scored in a flurry in the first period, netting four goals over the first 15 minutes to take control early.
Alex Michaud had two goals and Boucher and McKay one each in the opening period. Michaud added a third with 14 seconds remaining in the game to complete his hat trick.
Adam Flynn had two assists, while Madore, Joseph Patenaude, Ryder Soucy, Scott Rhynold, McKay and Seeley had one apiece.
Presque Isle outshot Winslow, 29-22.
The Wildcats resume their regular season with a game at Orono Friday at 6:30 p.m. The team will have a rematch against Houlton-Hodgdon at home Tuesday at 6 p.m.
