Atoms in state tourney Saturday

    The Houlton 9-10-year-old Atoms, sponsored by Grand Rental and who compete under the Southern Aroostook Minor Hockey Association, will play in their state tournament on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the Kennebec Ice Arena in Augusta.
    “I want to wish the kids good luck,” said coach Tony Marino. “They have worked hard this year.” Marino co-coaches with Eric Cowperthwaite.
    The Houlton Atoms advanced to the state championship after a qualifying Maine Amateur Hockey Association (MeAHA) Tier III Squirt Tournament held Feb. 12-14 at the Penobscot Ice Arena in Brewer.             They played against teams representing five Maine “zones,” such as the Zone 2 Casco Bay Thrashers and Casco Bay Flyers; Zone 3 Western Maine/Lewiston; Zone 4 Central Maine White and Zone 5 Bangor/ Brewer.
Contributed photograph
ATOMS – Heading to the state finals in Augusta on Saturday are the Grand Rental Houlton Atoms. Playing for the team are, from left, front, Olivia Carr, John Thatcher, Kinsman Corthell and Anessa Wilde; middle row, Abe Lorom, A.J. Henderson, Daniel Moreno, Sam Lilley, Garrett Perkins, Drew Marino and Joshua Malone; back, coach Eric Cowperthwaite, Nick DeLucca, Zachary Fitzpatrick, Nicholas Cowperthwaite, Jaime Palmer, Jeremy Fitzpatrick, James Toby and coach Tony Marino.
    The MeAHA Tier III Squirt Tournament was set up for the eight teams to be divided into two groups of four competing teams. Through the weekend, each team would play each other in their group, with the teams holding the two best records in each group advancing to the playoff games.
    The winners of the playoff games would then advance to the finals in Augusta on Saturday. However, Bangor pulled out of the tournament. So each of the seven remaining teams in the tournament played three other teams on the weekend, and those teams with the four best records advanced to the finals.
    The Houlton Atoms played the Casco Bay Thrashers in their first game on Friday night, coming away with a 2-1 win after Garrett Perkins tipped in a Nick Cowperthwaite shot.
    The next morning, the Houlton squad blanked Central Maine White,     6-0, putting them into the semifinal round on Sunday.
    In the first game on Sunday, the Casco Bay Thrashers defeated Lewiston, 4-2, advancing to the finals in Augusta. Later in the afternoon game, Lewiston edged Houlton in the semifinals, 5-4, as the Houlton squad gave up a goal with 40 seconds left.
    In their second game on Sunday, the Houlton Atoms played the Western Maine Wolverines. Houlton jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period en route to the 7-4 victory, putting them into the state finals where they will once again play the Thrashers in their opening game on Saturday.
    The Houlton Atoms play their league games in District 2 of Hockey New Brunswick. They finished with a 12-2 record. The next tournament for the Houlton Atoms will be the District 2 Tournament March 19-21.