Ice Hawks finish fifth in the Ice Dome

After two straight losses to open the State 14U hockey tournament, the Havre Ice Hawks needed to rebound on Sunday morning against Bozeman to place fifth in the tournament.

Facing the possibility of going 0-3 in a tournament at their home venue, the Havre Ice Dome, the Hawks woke up on offense to defeat Bozeman, 10-1.

"It's like with any athletics, you want to get a good sleep and put the past behind you and move forward," Havre head coach Jared Boyce said about how his team got back on track for the win. "They did that well, and they did a good job on Sunday morning beating Bozeman."

Havre got it going early as they scored 2:34 into the game to take a lead thanks to a goal from David Emge on a power play. The Ice Hawks then extended their lead to three goals after scores from Austin Boyce and Decker Hanson. Bozeman finally got on the scoreboard when Noah Shugart scored on a power play 9:52 into the period.

The Ice Hawks put the game away early in the second period as they scored three goals in the period's first four minutes. Trayden Riley led Havre during this stretch with two goals while Hanson scored his second of the day to extend the lead to 6-1.

The Ice Hawks went on to score four more goals in the game. Hanson and Riley each scored three goals in the game to lead the team. Boyce scored two goals of his own and Callen Stoner and Emge each had a goal. Stoner, Emge and Tanya Ralph each recorded two assists in the game. Goalie Rogan Sayers had a save percentage of 87.5 percent as he had seven saves on eight shots on goal.

The win against Bozeman placed the Ice Hawks fifth in the tournament. On Sunday afternoon, Helena defeated Missoula, 5-2, to win the state title. In the tournament's third-place game on Sunday, Billings defeated Great Falls, 8-0.

The Ice Hawks did not start the weekend on the right note as they suffered a 5-0 loss to the Helena Bighorns on Friday afternoon to open the tournament. Helena broke through on the scoreboard 6:06 into the game with a goal from Andrew Carroll on a power play. However, they were not able to pull away early on as the first period ended with them leading 1-0. Helena further added to their lead in the second period thanks to goals from William Carroll and Pacer Lybbert. They then put it away in the third period with goals from Rory Peterson and Cobie Pancoast.

Against Helena, goalie Sayers recorded a 85.7 save percentage after recording 30 saves on 35 shots on goal. The Hawks were not able to get on the scoreboard as their opportunities were limited as they only got 15 shots on Helena's goal during the game.

Heading into Saturday, the Ice Hawks still had a chance to qualify for one of the crossover games that would give them a shot at the state title. However, Havre suffered a 7-1 loss to Missoula on Saturday morning. It initially looked like Havre would make a game of it as they opened scoring with a goal from Callen Stoner on a power play 7:24 into the opening period. However, their lead would be short-lived as Missoula's Mantas O'Neil scored 11:25 into the period to tie the game at 1-1.

Missoula took control of the game in the second period thanks to a flurry of goals. Marek Hall scored a goal 4:59 into the period to give Missoula their first lead of the game. Just over a minute later, O'Neil scored his second goal of the game to extend Missoula's lead. Wyatt Lucas and Nicholas Umile then added two more goals to make Missoula's lead, 5-1, heading to the third period. Stoner recorded the only goal for the Hawks. Sayers and Riley recorded assists on the goal. Paisley Branden started the game at goalie for the Hawks and recorded an 80 percent save percentage with 28 saves on 35 shots on goal. On offense, the Hawks were only able to get 20 shots on goal.

"I would have liked to get the chance to play Helena and Missoula specifically earlier in the season but we didn't get the chance to do that," Jared Boyce said. "They played well and put the pressure on us in our own end and we didn't deal with it very well."

The state tournament ends what had been a successful season for the Ice Hawks. Havre entered the tournament with a record of 13-3 for 38 points on the season, good for first in the 14U standings at the time. Not only is Boyce proud of how his team performed, but that they were able to do it in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's been quite a wild ride," Boyce said. "Every time you get a challenge, you get a chance to look at it with the lens of being a victim or being an overcomer. You got to work through those types of things so I think this year was great for that."

With their season now over, Boyce believes that his players can learn from the losses and adversity they faced in the tournament and continue to grow as players and people.

"Weekend to weekend, you want to take something from it and build upon it," Boyce said. "You don't lose when you lose, you lose when you quit and hopefully these kids especially can learn from the loss in order to move forward and not quit in life when you come up against something difficult."