Staff Writer
A hat trick by Presque Isle’s Dylan Collins propelled the Wildcats past Old Town in the regular season opener held at the Forum on Saturday. While Old Town out-shot Presque Isle 21-20, they had trouble in their encounters with senior keeper Ethan Hill. Presque Isle begins their season with a winning record with a 6-3 victory. “One of the things I told the kids before the game was we needed to get more shots at the net,” explained head coach Carl Flynn. According to Flynn, Collins took the advice to heart.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the first period when Collins slapped the puck past the Old Town goalie off an assist by Zac Campbell. The Coyotes soon tied, however, Collins answered back with an unassisted goal.
“I’m trying to get the kids past trying to skate by all the defensemen for a clear shot at the goal,” explained Flynn. “If you can shoot past the last defenseman, the goalie might not see it.”
The maneuver worked in Collins favor. He gained the hat trick early in the second period again partnering with Campbell to showoff the Wildcat teamwork prowess.
The Old Town keeper again failed to stop the puck passed between Brandon Daigle and Steve Ford to Mark Carvell who passed it to the back of the net. Old Town offense picked up their pace for two goals.
However, the Wildcats had the last word of the second with a goal by Brennen Shaw passed from Jason Martin.
The Wildcats encountered penalty problems in the third period but kept Old Town scoreless. Parker Hovey added the final Wildcat score off of Daigle.
