Black Hawks play two determined opponents

The Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks picked up two hard fought wins last week to improve their record to 13-2 going into this weekend’s rematch with number-one Brewer.
Last Tuesday, the Black Hawks traveled to arch rival Presque Isle to take on the Wildcats. While the Black Hawks easily handled the ‘Cats in their first meeting, anything can happen when these two teams get together. Presque Isle gave the Black Hawks all they could handle this time around, said Houlton-Hodgdon coach Joel Trickey.
    Presque Isle opened the scoring at the two-minute mark of the period, but the Black Hawks tied the score at the 8:50 mark when Ben Ward hit the twine, assisted by Cody Briggs and defenseman Jordan Brown. They took the lead to 2-1 a little over two minutes later, as Ian Gervais tallied, assisted by linemates Dylan Gard and Parker Sanderson. The Black Hawks took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
The second period was all Wildcats, as the Presque Isle players put on a push in front of their home fans, scoring three goals to the Black Hawks’ one. The Wildcats took a 4-2 lead, but Briggs tallied with two minutes left in the period to cut the lead to 4-3 Wildcats.
The third period showed the Black Hawks’ resilience this season as they posted three unanswered markers to take the 6-4 victory. Gervais scored on an end-to-end rush with just 52 seconds gone and this tying goal lifted the Black Hawks’ spirit considerably. With 8:37 left in the game, Gard hit for the winner once again, assisted by linemates Gervais and Sanderson. Logan Holmes iced the game with an empty netter at the 14:42 mark.
Malik Abouleish made 20 saves and the Black Hawks put 35 shots on the Presque Isle net.
On Monday, the Black Hawks traveled to the Alfond Arena to take on the team directly behind them in the standings.
“The Old Town Coyotes are having a very good season only having lost three matches going into their game with us,” said Trickey.
The play was mostly Houlton-Hodgdon at the start of the game and Sam Fitzpatrick gave the locals a 1-0 lead just three minutes in on an assist by Jordan Russell. Gard increased the lead with just over three minutes to play, assisted by Sanderson. The score stood for most of the second period, but late in the period Old Town cut the lead in half. While the Black Hawks continued to control play, they gave up odd-man rushes that led to the goal.
The Coyotes tied the game early in the third when they tallied a power-play marker. Despite controlling most of the action, Houlton-Hodgdon found themselves in a tie game with a very determined opponent just a minute ten seconds into the third period. The Black Hawks didn’t stay tied long, as Briggs found Ben Ward in the high slot just over two minutes later and Ward one-timed the pass between the Coyote goalie’s pads for the eventual game-winner.
The Black Hawks buckled down after taking the lead and while Old Town had a few good looks at Abouleish, the experienced Black Hawks goalie was equal to the task, stopping everything sent his way the rest of the game. He finished with 18 saves including several gems to preserve the 3-2 win.
“We kept the puck in the Old Town end for most of the final four minutes of the match,” Trickey added.
The Black Hawks ran into two determined teams last week, as Presque Isle could have cemented a playoff spot with a win and Old Town might have taken the local club out of second place.
“The part about playing Presque Isle that is a little scary is no matter who is the better team. You never know what the outcome of the game will be when we get together with them. Luckily, we were able to take that game although it didn’t look good for a while. The seniors were determined not to leave the Forum for the last time without taking a victory,” said Trickey.
The Black Hawks also had their hands full against Old Town, too.
“They have worked hard this season and we knew we’d face a much improved team down there” Trickey explained. “While we controlled most of the play, their first line is very explosive and bears constant watching. Once again the team found a way to come out on top. They seem to find a way to win this season no matter what the situation. Coming into the final weeks of the regular season, we are hoping to fine tune the team and look to have a successful playoff run.”
The Black Hawks next game is Saturday night in Brewer at 5:20 p.m. The game will be aired on WHOU-FM.