HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton-Hodgdon-Southern Aroostook-Katahdin Black Hawks hockey team is a small, but scrappy squad on the ice this season.
A bundle of new faces, including some first-time skaters, are featured on this year’s team, so the Black Hawks could be looking at a rebuilding year.
Featuring players from Houlton, Hodgdon, Southern Aroostook and Katahdin, the Black Hawks have made great strides on the ice the last two seasons. The team improved from a 1-16 record in 2015-16 to an impressive 9-8-1 record and a spot in the playoffs in the 2016-17 season.
Jason Collett of the Houlton-Hodgdon-Southern Aroostook-Katahdin ice hockey team chases down the puck during Saturday’s season-opener against Camden Hills. Collett, a junior, is one of several returning skaters for the Black Hawks this season. Camden Hills won the opener 3-0. (Joseph Cyr)
Last year, the squad finished 8-9-1 and again earned a spot in the playoffs as the No. 5 seed. The Black Hawks fell 4-1 to No. 4 Hampden Academy in the quarterfinals.
“Our numbers are surprisingly good,” said coach Tony Marino, who returns for his sixth season with the club. “We have a couple of first-time skaters, but we should have a roster of 15 and that’s about four more than we thought we were going to have.”
Members of the 2018-19 squad are senior Alex Wilde; juniors Nate DeLucca, Jason Collett, Noah Reynolds, Gavin Vining, Jaron Brewer and David Tucker; sophomores Elijah Matheson, Logan Swallow, Victoria Forbush and Caydon Campbell; and freshmen Kurtis Reynolds, Alex Dunn, John Cumming and Lucas Matheson.
“We are a young team, so our expectations are to work hard and improve every game,” the coach said. “The key to our success will be playing smart and being disciplined. We have to stay out of the penalty box.”
The team lost several key players from last year, including Abe Lorom, Zack Fitzpatrick, Nick Delucca, Garrett Perkins, Drew Marino, AJ Henderson and Brandon Dunn, who all graduated. That group was among the most talented on the ice in recent years.
During Saturday’s season opener, visiting Camden Hills improved to 1-1 on the season with a 3-0 victory over the Black Hawks (0-1).
Nate VanLonkhuyzen scored two goals, while Charlie Griebel added one for the Windjammers.
Levi Guay, Quinn Brown and Bryce Tyler each had an assist.
Camden Hills goalie Jackson Bernier had 27 saves, while Elijah Matheson had 32 saves for the Black Hawks.
Neil Campbell and Brian Reynolds are assisting with the club this season.
