Black Hawks looking to playoff picture; drop last two games to solid clubs

The Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks finished the regular season last week dropping two games to highly-seeded playoff teams.
    On Saturday, the team traveled to Bangor to take on John Bapst and lost by the score of 3-1. Bapst is currently second in Eastern B and has only lost four games this season, one to the Black Hawks at the Millar Civic Center.
The game started well for the Black Hawks as they took a 1-0 lead just 2:34 into the game, as Logan Holmes hit for a goal, with the assist going to Morgan Hall. Bapst tied the score at the 7:41 mark.
The second period saw end-to-end action, but neither team could find the mark and the score remained 1-all.
In the third, the Crusaders hit for two goals for a final 3-1 score, sending the Black Hawks home with a hard fought loss. The Black Hawks outshot the Crusaders by a 25-16 margin, but couldn’t come up with the goals they needed to overtake the host club.
On Monday, the Black Hawks hosted the Brewer Witches on Senior Day. Seniors Zach Chase and Chris McGuire and manager Mike Flewelling were honored along with their parents in a ceremony before the game.
The game saw the Black Hawks on the short end of a 1-0 score with the first period coming to a close, but Ben Ward hit the twine on an assist by Craig Buxton to send the teams into the locker room tied.
The second period saw the Black Hawks take the lead on a spectacular end-to-end rush by senior defenseman Chase. The lead would not last, as the Witches took advantage of a lapse by the Black Hawks and struck for three goals to make the score 4-2 .
In the third, the Black Hawks regained their form and fought hard to get back into the game. A fluke goal by the Witches made the score 5-2, but the locals hit for another goal by Buxton, assisted by Chase. With the score at 5-3 the Black Hawks pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker, but could not come any closer. The Witches scored an empty-net goal with just 12 seconds left to make the final score 6-3 Brewer. The shots were about even with the Witches holding a 26-25 advantage.
“These last two games against quality opponents were actually very good for us,” said Black Hawks coach Joel Trickey. “While we would have liked to have taken at least one, we faced tough competition and it will help prepare us for the playoffs. Any team in Eastern B can make their way to the state finals and we are going into the race with the attitude that it will be us in Lewiston on March 8.”