Black Hawks defeat Orono 5-1 and move to 2-1 record

The Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks split a pair of games this past week, dropping an overtime match with Presque Isle at the Civic Center last Tuesday 2-1 and picking up a win against Orono at the Alfond on Monday 5-1. This gives the Black Hawks an early season record of 2-1 with wins over two perennial hockey powers, Orono and Bangor.
    Monday evening at the Alfond Arena, the Black Hawks took to the ice against Orono High School. The Red Riots held a 1-0 advantage after only 47 second and the first period ended with the locals being outshot 9-4 and trailing by that 1-0 score. The second period was a totally different story as the Black Hawks adjusted their game to take advantage of the Orono defensive scheme and the strategy immediately paid off as Morgan Hall tied the game just eight seconds into the period. The assist on the goal went to Cody Briggs.
The Black Hawks continued to apply pressure to the Orono defense and outshot the Red Riots 21-2 in the period. Mike Epley potted two more Black Hawk goals, hitting the twine at the 6:43 and 8:52 marks with assists going to Zach Chase and Ashir Abouleish. Hall netted another goal at the 9:34 mark assisted by Chris McGuire and the second period ended with the Black Hawks in control by a 4-1 score.
The third period saw the Houlton-Hoddon squad play a more conservative game and they picked up one more goal while protecting their lead. Elliot Mooers fed a picture perfect pass to A. Abouleish on the weak side and Abouleish fired a one-timer into the Red Riot net to make the final score, 5-1 Black Hawks.
Houlton-Hodgdon players outshot their hosts by a 39-19 margin to bring home the victory.
The Dec. 11 game against Presque Isle saw the Black Hawks take a 1-0 lead with 7:21 left in the first as Morgan Hall scored on an Elliot Mooers assist. This goal looked like it would hold up but with just under seven minutes left in the game Presque Isle tied the score on a goal by Dylan Collins. The Black Hawk net had been knocked off its mooring but the officials allowed the goal to stand, knotting the score at one apiece. While the score in regulation was only 1-1 it wasn’t for a lack of offense. The teams combined for 74 shots with both Houlton-Hodgdon’s Malik Abouleish and Presque Isle’s Ethan Hill turning away many good scoring opportunities.
The overtime saw the action up and down the ice with both teams having good chances to end the game but once again both netminders came up big for their teams. With 5:17 left in the game Wildcat Greg Cyr knocked down a Houlton-Hodgdon clearing pass at the blueline and shot a wobbling puck past a screened Abouleish to give the visitors a 2-1 win.
“The Presque Isle game was a bit of a letdown after the superb effort we had against Bangor to open the season. The team had a hard time following our game plan in the PI game and it might have cost us the win. However you learn from every victory and every defeat and the team matured with the lessons we learned in that game,” said head Black Hawks coach Joel Trickey.
“The kids came into the Alfond against Orono with a better focus and a better understanding of what is needed to win in our league this season. We lost two of our regular defensemen early in the Orono game and had to make adjustments with our personnel during the game. This placed a lot of responsibility on our younger players and they responded exceptionally well,” he added.
Trickey and assistant coach Mitchell Holmes feel that everyone on the roster will make significant contributions to this team before the season is over. “The older players have developed into good leaders and our younger players are adjusting very quickly to our level of play. The questions we had at the start of the season are fast being answered in a positive way,” Trickey said.
The next Black Hawks home game will be this Saturday at 1 p.m. against perennial Eastern B power Winslow, who defeated Presque Isle 2-0 last week.
“This will be yet another early season test for the youthful Black Hawks and looks to have the makings of a very entertaining contest. The team welcomes everyone to come and cheer them on in what should be a very good match,” said Trickey.