BREWER, Maine — The stellar run of the Houlton-Hodgdon-Southern Aroostook-Katahdin boys hockey team came to an abrupt end Tuesday evening as the Black Hawks were eliminated from the Class B North quarterfinals.
Winners of four of their last five games to end the regular season, the Black Hawks were red-hot and appeared poised for the upset against No. 4 Hampden Academy at the Penobscot Ice Arena.
That upset, however, was not to be as the Black Hawks (8-10-1 overall) were eliminated by Hampden Academy (14-6) by a 4-1 score. Hampden Academy moves on to face No. 1 Old Town/Orono Saturday, March 3, at Colby College at 8 p.m. in the semifinals.
“We didn’t get the quick start we wanted,” Black Hawk coach Tony Marino said. I thought we came back and out played them (Hampden) in the second period, but they got a short-handed goal that really hurt us.”
It was the Broncos who got off to a fast start, sending numerous shots at Black Hawk goalie Elijah Matheson in the opening period.
“We were just trying to set the tone and play Bronco hockey,” Hampden Academy coach Eric MacDonald said. “We know Houlton (Black Hawks) is a well-coached team and they would be coming, so we tried to match their intensity and work as hard as we possibly could.”
The Broncos pushed their first goal through with 3:11 to play in the first period as Marcus Dunn took a pass from Sam Economy and sent a deep shot from the left side of the rink that slipped past Matheson.
In the second period, the Broncos took a 3-0 lead on goals by Logan Christian and Economy before the Black Hawks finally broke the scoring ice with a goal of their own.
Noah Reynolds scored the unassisted goal for the Black Hawks.
“I thought we played really hard and I liked our effort, but we just couldn’t bury the puck tonight,” Marino said. “We’ve played Hampden six times in the last two years, so there were no secrets tonight.”
Cooper Leland also scored a goal for Hampden Academy, while Dunn contributed two assists and Economy had one. Alex Briggs, Peyton Chahley and Noah Dancoes also each added an assist.
Elijah Matheson made 21 saves for the Black Hawks, while Cooper Ryan finished with 28 saves for the Broncos.
The two teams split on the regular season, with the Black Hawks winning 3-2 at home, but losing 5-1 at Brewer.
The game marked the final high school hockey game for six seniors on the Black Hawks’ roster.
“It’s bittersweet,” coach Marino said. “I am very proud of the group of seniors I have had for all four years.”
(Photos by Joseph Cyr)
