Ice Hawks split road games in Helena

The Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team continued its season this past weekend with a doubleheader against the Helena Big Horns on the road. With the season soon coming to a close, the Ice Hawks are looking to begin playing at their best. The Ice Hawks showed glimpses of that at the Helena Ice Arena as they won, 5-4, in overtime in the first game but then lost, 5-2, after that.

“We did alright over the weekend,” head coach Chase Hanson said. “Splitting is not always the worst thing. It’s generally pretto good to do it on the road.”

The Ice Hawks started the weekend on Saturday night with a 5-4 overtime win over the Big Horns. The first period was an indicator of the competitive game ahead as Havre and Helena exchanged goals. Almost nine minutes into the game, Ciaran Courtnage scored to give Havre a 1-0 lead. But Helena responded to tie the game thanks to a goal from Ethan Guge late in the period.

About halfway through the second period, Justin Brewer scored a goal to give Helena a 2-1 lead. The Ice Hawks were not able to break through again on offense until the first minute of the third period when Michael Emge scored a goal to tie the game. Minutes later, Decker Hanson scored to give Havre a 3-1 lead.

The Big Horns took momentum late in the third period to take the lead. About 11 minutes into the final period, Brooklyn Pancoast scored to tie the game again. About a minute and a half later, Cade Holland scored to give Helena a 4-3 lead.

In the final minutes of the game, Stephen Preputin scored on a power play to tie the game and send it to overtime. In overtime, it was just three on three in the game so Havre put in two forwards and a defender. Just 35 seconds into the extra period, Jacob Herring scored to give Havre the 5-4 win.

“Jacob Herring did what he’s done well all year long,” Chase Hanson said. “He got that goal right off the rebound in front of the net and just buried it quickly.”

The Ice Hawks were unable to carry that momentum into Sunday morning’s game against the Big Horns. Looking to bounce back, the Big Horns scored three goals in the first period to take the lead. Just over a minute into the game, Warren Ryser scored to give Helena the lead. Minutes later, Pancoast scored to extend the lead to 2-0. Halfway through the period, Shay Schroeder scored to give Helena a 3-0 lead.

“They came out hitting, they came out physical, and we just couldn’t match that all game long,” Hanson said.

The second period belonged to the Ice Hawks as they fought their way back into the game. Six minutes into the period, Rhett Wertheheimer scored to get Havre on the scoreboard. Late in the second period, Trayden Riley scored on a power play to cut the deficit to 3-2 to end the period.

Most of the third period was a defensive battle with neither team able to break through early on. About 11 minutes into the period, Pancoast scored her second goal of the game to extend Helena’s lead to 4-2. In the closing minutes of the game, Schroeder scored his second goal of the day to close out the win for the Big Horns.

Goalie Clara Holland started both games for Havre over the weekend and she recorded a save percentage of .879. Riley had a solid weekend for the Ice Hawks as he led the team with three points from two assists and a goal. Austin Boyce recorded two assists for Havre over the weekend.

The Havre Ice Hawks are now 9-9 on the season. The Ice Hawks are dealing with several injuries to their seniors, so Hanson hopes that the experience that his younger players gained this past weekend will help them grow as a team.

“We’re continuing to ask these young guys to step up,” Hanson said. “I think this team is seeing that it’s just the next man up. This team can still battle and still compete.”

The Ice Hawks will finish the regular season with a doubleheader at the Billings Bulls this weekend.