The Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks dropped three games last week to the cream of Maine’s Class B competition. They lost a hard fought battle to John Bapst at the Millar Civic Center last Tuesday, 4-2 and traveled to Portland and took on Western Maine powers Cape Elizabeth and Greely, losing by 8-1 and 3-2 scores.
The game against John Bapst saw the leaders in Eastern B take a 2-0 lead after two periods of play. In the third, they increased the lead to 3-0 before Craig Buxton hit for a goal to bring the Black Hawks back to 3-1 at the 8:05 mark. The final minutes of the game saw both teams battling and each came up with one more marker, with Taylor Martin scoring for the Black Hawks, assisted by Elliot Mooers and Logan Holmes. Malik Abouleish saw 26 shots and the Black Hawks put 24 shots on the Bapst netminder.
The trip to Portland last weekend was a return engagement at the Cumberland County Civic Center, home of the Portland Pirates professional club, with Cape and Greely as the southern teams traveled to the County last year to play.
On Friday night, the Black Hawks played well in the first taking a 1-0 lead into the locker room, as Buxton found the net on a great individual effort. The second period saw the Black Hawks come out strong, but two quick goals by the Capers took the wind out of the Black Hawks’ sails. Cape scored two more in the second to take a 4-1 lead and four more in the third, as the Black Hawks seemed to lose concentration. Abouleish and Avery Kibler combined for 36 saves and the Black Hawks put 24 shots on the Capers’ netminder.
On Saturday, the Black Hawks regrouped and played with much more intensity. Greely scored with 19 seconds left in the first, but the Black Hawks responded with a marker by Morgan Hall to tie the game after two periods at 1-all.
In the third, the Black Hawks took a 2-1 lead and Lowell Matthews potted a rebound into an open net with the assists going to line mates Ashir Abouleish and Ian Gervais. The Rangers tied the score less than a minute later and it looked like the game was headed for overtime. However the Rangers showed their mettle, as they scored with just 1:15 left on the clock.
The Black Hawks pulled their goaltender and went with six skaters, but despite putting pressure on the Greely team, they couldn’t hit for the tying goal and dropped a close contest. Abouleish faced 30 shots and the Black Hawks put18 shots on the Greely goal.
“These last three games showed the team just what they have to overcome to make it to the playoffs,” said Black Hawks coach Joel Trickey. “We came up just short in the Bapst game and lost our composure in the Cape contest. However after a heart-to-heart talk in the locker room before the Greely game, we played with more focus and determination. We also, hopefully, came together as a team and will be a much tighter and tougher team for the rest of the season.”
