George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
The Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team had a busy weekend at the Havre Ice Dome, where they found home ice not necessarily as friendly as they would like. The Ice Hawks played four games in two days and came away with a record of 1-2-1.
The homestand opened on Friday night with the Ice Hawks falling to Butte by a score of 7-5. The Ice Hawks fell behind early and had to play catchup in the third period. Havre scored four goals in the final 20 minutes but still fell short by two goals.
Michael Erickson scored twice in the third period, and Mason Sheppard and Tyler Boyce also scored goals. Boyce had an assist on the Sheppard goal, and Scott Ladenburg finished the game with a goal and two assists. The Havre offense got 49 shots on goal, and, defensively, goalie David Zentmire stopped 19 Butte shots.
In the rematch with Butte on Saturday morning, Havre got off to a good start, getting goals from Erickson and Mark Larson in the first period. But Butte scored three times in the third period to take the lead, and as the game wound down Havre's Austin Small scored a goal with 13 seconds remaining to salvage a 3-3 tie.
Larson finished the game with a goal and an assist, and Zentmire had 22 saves in the net. Butte goalie James Adamo stopped 37 Havre shots.
On Saturday night the Ice Hawks lost their second game in less than 24 hours when they fell 3-2 to Helena.
Once again, the Ice Hawks were forced to play from behind, with both of their goals coming in the third period. Small scored first for Havre on an assist from Larson, and Bradley Hanson added a late goal. Zentmire saved 25 shots for Havre, but the Helena goalie tandem of Marcus Ivey and Troy Green combined to save 42 shots and preserve the close win.
On Sunday morning, Havre wrapped up the four-game weekend with a much-needed 4-2 victory in a rematch with Helena. Boyce paced the Havre offense with two goals, including the game-clinching goal in the third period. Erickson scored his fourth goal of the weekend in the first period, and Paul Turner scored in the third. Zentmire had his strongest outing of the weekend, stopping 33 shots.
Havre will be back in action on Saturday when it hosts Great Falls in a doubleheader. The first game will get under way at 1 p.m., and the puck is scheduled to drop on the nightcap at 7 p.m. at the Havre Ice Dome.
