Black Hawks undefeated; dump Wildcats

The Black Hawks picked up another win last week, taking an 8-1 decision against County rival Presque Isle at the Millar Civic Center in Houlton.
The Houlton High School band added to the atmosphere with their fine playing during the game and a splendid rendition of the National Anthem, according to Black Hawks coach Joel Trickey.
    The issue was decided early as the Black Hawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first period. The Black Hawks dominated play as they had a 30-3 shot advantage in the opening period. Brandon Ward, Logan Holmes, Kam Lincoln, Jordan Russell and Cody Briggs all tallied for the Black Hawks, with assists going to Ben Ward with three in the period; Ian Gervais, Parker Sanderson, Jordan Brown and Holmes.
The second period saw the Black Hawks let off the pressure a little and it resulted in a Presque Isle goal. The Black Hawks quickly woke up and countered the goal with two of their own to make the score 7-1. Briggs and Nick Chase each tallied a marker, with assists going to Sanderson, Gervais and Dylan Gard.
The third period saw the Black Hawks net one more goal for the final margin. Houlton goalie Malik Abouleish stopped nine of 10 shots and the Black Hawks peppered the Wildcat goalies with 52 shots, as Josh MacFarline rejected 36 of 43 shots, while Nic Davis turned away eight of nine shots.
“We’re quite happy with the effort put forward by the team in the Presque Isle game,” said Trickey. “They came out strong and while we let up some, we maintained a lot of pressure through the game. We’ve spent a lot of time in practice talking about and working on maintaining our energy level through 45 minutes of hockey. The results showed against the Wildcats.”
Coming into the meat of the schedule, Trickey said his team needs to build on this win.
“We can never let our opponents rest while they are on the ice against us,” he said.
The Black Hawks’ next game is today against Hampden, but the time has been changed to a 2 p.m. start.
“We realize that this makes it hard for many who work to make the game, but we hope everyone who  can will come watch us play,” Trickey said. The Black Hawks also will play against Winslow in a Friday 12 p.m. game.
“As always, the team appreciates the support our fans show every game,” Trickey added.