Ice Hawks take third

The Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team took part in the Class B state tournament this past weekend and with one win, as well as three losses, the Ice Hawks wound up with a third-place finish.

Havre opened the tournament with losses in group play to Helena and Glasgow Friday, by the scores of 6-5 and 6-2. In the final game of group play, Havre lost to Great Falls 4-3, before turning around and beating the same Great Falls team Saturday night 10-3 for third place.

In the opening game of group play, the Ice Hawks flew out of the gates against Helena, grabbing a 3-0 lead thanks two goals from Cole Hanson, along with another from August Eacker. The goal that put Havre in front 3-0, came with just over 11 minutes to play, but after scoring five goals in a row before the end of the second, Helena grabbed a 5-3 lead, that turned into 6-3 after another goal to open the third period.

Eacker scored twice more in the final stanza to get a hat trick and pull the Ice Hawks within one at 6-5. But the tying goal never came. Kinzee Peterson got the loss in net and finished with 13 saves.

Next up for Havre was Glasgow, but this time, the Ice Dawgs were the team that started hot, scoring two first-period goals to take command of the game. Ethan Roberts scored in the second and third periods for Havre, but three Glasgow goals in the last 20 minutes sealed the win for the Ice Dawgs. Peterson had 39 saves in a losing effort.

Against Great Falls, Roberts again scored, giving the Ice Hawks a 1-0 advantage after one period of play Saturday morning. Yet, the Americans responded with three goals in the second, which, following a two goals from Hanson, tied the score at 3-3 heading to the third. In the end however, it was Great Falls that found the net, as Brendyn Hewitt scored his second goal of the game to give Great Falls the 4-3 win. Peterson finished with 18 saves for Havre.

After three setbacks to open the state tournament, Havre finally turned things around in the consolation game Saturday night, whipping Great Falls by a score of 10-3. Roberts scored five goals in the win for the Ice Hawks, including four in the first period within a three-minute span, which put Havre ahead 4-1.

Roberts added another goal in the second, while Havre also got goals from Eacker and Bayron Merker. In the third period, Dexter Beck scored two goals of his own. Trent Shettel also found the net, making the final margin 10-3. Peterson got the win for the Ice Hawks, who finished the season with an overall record of 8-15.