By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
The Havre Ice Hawk Midget squad ended the season with a win, unfortunately it wasn't for a state championship.
On the first weekend in March, the Ice Hawks were unable to defend their Montana Amateur Hockey Association state title because of an unfriendly tiebreaker.
Heading into tournament play out of pool play, Havre found itself in a three-way tie with with Bozeman and Billings. The Ice Hawks came up short, having surrendered the most goals of the three and was eliminated from semifinal play.
The Ice Hawks opened the tournament with a tough 4-2 win over Butte. Josh Strissel, Ben Erickson Andy Hanson and Tyler Boyce scored goals, while goalie Mark Larson stopped 33 shots in the win.
Things turned south later that evening as Havre was soundly defeated 8-2 by Gallatin Valley. Hanson and Erickson scored the Ice Hawks' only two goals with assists from Austin Small and Michael Erickson. The goalkeeping duo of Larson and David Zentmire stopped 47 and 18 shots, respectively.
Havre bounced back on Saturday with a 4-2 win over Billings as Strissel, Scott Ladenburg, Josh Morse and Michael Erickson all had goals. Larson was solid in the net, notching 58 saves.
However, the eight goals surrendered against Gallatin Valley would prove to be the Ice Hawks' downfall in the tiebreaker.
In the week before the state tourney, Havre looked solid, finishing second at the High River Midget Tournament in High River, Alberta.
The Ice Hawks fooled to wins in their first three games, defeating St. Albert 9-2 in the opener, following that up with a 8-7 win over host High River and capping pool play with 5-1 over the Calgary PSA.
Larson, Michelle Armstrong and Strissel all picked up player of the game honors, respectively in pool play.
In the championship game, Havre fell 5-3 to a very good Glenlake Hawks team.
Havre wrapped up its season with a 12-9-2 record.
Despite playing in the friendly confines of the Havre Ice Dome, the Havre Ice Hawk Pee Wee squad dropped all three of its games at the Montana Amateur Hockey Association State Pee Wee tournament on March 11-12.
Havre opened the tournament on March 11 with a tough 3-2 loss to the Butte Blues. The Ice Hawks got goals from Andrew Bradshaw and Jon Austin and assists from Crysta Robinson and Justin Jensen. Goalie Alex Sinclair stopped 17 shots in the loss.
Later in the day, Havre suffered a tough 4-1 loss to tournament Gallatin Valley. Bradshaw scored the Ice Hawks' lone goal with an assist from Austin and Chase Rolf. Sinclair had 15 saves in the loss.
On March 12, the Ice Hawks dropped their final game of pool play with a 2-1 loss to the Billings Bulls.
Rolf scored Havre's only goal with an assist from Bradshaw and Jensen. Sinclair had 15 saves for the Ice Hawks.
The Montana Wildcats girls hockey team finished second at the highly prestigious Rocky Mountain District Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz on March 4-7.
The Wildcats, who are classified as a U-19 team for girls 19 or under, were coached by Steve Zentmire and featured five players from Havre: Amanda Boyce, Laura Zentmire, Michelle Armstrong, Haley McLain and Amanda Hanson.
The Wildcats opened the tournament with a tough 11-0 defeat to the Colorado Selects on March 4.
Montana bounced back a day later with a 7-0 win over the Arizona Selects High School Elite. Later in the day, the Wildcats picked up a 3-0 victory over the New Mexico Ice Breakers.
With the 2-1 record, Montana wound up facing Colorado once again. This time the Wildcats put up a valiant effort, but were defeated 9-0. The second-place finish was still the best ever in team history.
Montana finished with a 11-8 record.
