PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Wildcat varsity hockey team owns the best record in the Class B North division at 14-3 entering its final regular season match, to be played at home against Brewer Monday.
Coach Carl Flynn’s squad has now won five in a row after upsetting No. 1 Old Town-Orono in the most recent match played Saturday at Alfond Arena on the University of Maine at Orono campus.
“This was a statement game, winning in that rink and shaking some past poor performance memories,” Flynn said. “We are coming into our peak at the right time of the year.”
Presque Isle had lost to Old Town-Orono, 9-1, in last year’s Class B North championship match at Alfond Arena. The Wildcats also dropped the first regular season meeting of the season in Presque Isle, 5-4 in overtime.
In Saturday’s bounceback game, a 6-3 triumph, senior forward Thomas Patenaude returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with a shoulder injury and made an immediate impact. He opened the scoring for PI, while teammates Connor DeMerchant and Jonah Roy also contributed first-period goals as the visitors vaulted ahead, 3-2.
Gage LeTourneau and Jake Stevens scored in the second period to give the Wildcats a 5-2 lead and Stevens added another in the third for insurance. Old Town-Orono scored a late goal to account for the final margin. LeTourneau picked up two assists, while Roy and Patenaude added one each. Goalkeeper Andre Daigle made 17 saves in the win.
The Wildcats are guaranteed to finish either second or third in the standings, which will be released later this week. It will depend on the outcome of the final regular season games taking place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
With a second-place finish, PI will earn a bye into the semifinals March 2 at Colby College. If the Wildcats place third, they will host a quarterfinal Feb. 26.
