The regular season is coming to a close as final games are being played this week. The last countable day of the regular season is Tuesday, Oct. 20, but squads in The Houlton Pioneer Times’ coverage area should wrap up their games by Monday, barring any postponements.
Houlton (6-4-2, 45.1531 Heal Points) remains firmly entrenched in sixth place in the Class C North region as of Tuesday morning. The top 11 teams make the playoffs with the top five earning a bye. If Houlton stays No. 6 it would face the No. 11 squad (currently Penquis Valley) in a preliminary playoff on Saturday, Oct. 24.
In the Class D North region, both Southern Aroostook (5-5-1, 22.8316) and Hodgdon (6-6, 19.6429) are in the playoff picture. The Warriors are currently 12th, while Hodgdon is 14th. The top 14 teams make the postseason. Only the top two teams earn a bye, therefore, SACS and Hodgdon must play a preliminary game on the road Friday, Oct. 23 in order to advance. If the standings hold true, SACS would travel to the No. 5 seed (currently Central Aroostook), while Hodgdon would go to the No. 3 seed (currently Bangor Christian).
East Grand (1-9, 0.7143) is 18th and Katahdin (0-11, no points) is 19th. Both squads are likely out of the playoff mix this season.
The following is a recap of games played as of Monday, Oct. 12.
East Grand 3, Katahdin 2 — At Stacyville Oct. 6, Phillip Farley had a hat trick to lead East Grand past Katahdin. Tyler Fry and Mathew Cropley assisted Farley’s goals.
Daniel Moody-Kay scored the Cougars’ goals on assists by Dakota Rhinehart and Tyson Porter.
Goalie Riley Somers had five saves on 13 shots for the Vikings, while Thomas Gilman saved nine shots on 10 attempts for Katahdin.
Hodgdon 2, Southern Aroostook 1 — At Dyer Brook Oct. 6, Hodgdon’s Daden Palmer scored with 5:44 left in the first half and teammate Jimmy Buzzell scored five minutes into the second half to lift the Hawks to victory.
Josh Perrin scored at the 30:00 mark of the second half for the lone goal for the Warriors. Tyler Batchelder had the assist. Nolan Altvater had three saves on nine shots for SACS and Wyatt Foster made 12 saves on 16 shots for the Hawks.
Houlton 2, Schneck 2 — At East Millinocket Oct. 7, Schenck played Houlton much tougher in the second meeting of the two teams, forcing a 2-2 tie. Earlier in the season, Houlton won 5-1.
Justin Thompson scored his second goal of the game on a header off a Mitchell McDunnah assist with 29 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Wolverines tie the game. Thompson also scored on a penalty kick in the first half for Schenck.
Connor Grant netted both goals for Houlton, scoring one in each half, including a PK in the second half. Neither team was able to score in two overtime periods.
Chris King had 14 saves on 21 shots for the Wolverines, while A.J. Henderson made nine saves on 23 shots for the Shires.
East Grand 0, Southern Aroostook 4 — At Dyer Brook Thursday, the Warriors were victorious 4-0. Individual game stats were not reported.
Houlton 0, Fort Kent 6 — At Fort Kent Saturday, Micah Charette recorded a hat trick to lead the Warriors past Houlton. Ryan Chasse added two goals and assisted on another. Brandon Theriault scored once and had two assists for Fort Kent.
Chris Daigle made three saves on four shots for Fort Kent, while Henderson stopped six of 29 shots for the Shiretowners.
Woodland 2, Southern Aroostook 2 — At Dyer Brook Saturday, the two squads battled to a 2-2 stalemate after two overtime periods. Individual game results were not reported.
Houlton 8, Madawaska 0 — At Madawaska Monday, Connor Grant blasted three goals and added an assist to spark the Shiretowners to victory. Nolan Porter provided two goals and an assist and Jacob Worthley netted a goal and an assist, while Abe Lorom and Isaiha Littleton each had a goal.
Zach Fitzpatrick, Sam Astle and Pat Howe each had one assist for the Shires.
Henderson made four saves on four shots in net for Houlton, while Alex Daigle made 10 saves on 18 shots for Madawaska.
