Havre Ice Hawks swept in Billings to end regular season

As the regular season comes to a close, the Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team was looking to end it on a strong note on the road with a doubleheader against the Billings Bulls this past weekend. But the Ice Hawks lost, 4-1, and then 7-2, over the course of the weekend. Head coach Chase Hanson believed the Ice Hawks had a chance to win these games but they let it slip away in the end.

"Four out of the six periods, we played really well and in both games, we just came out in the third period and didn't really want to play," Hanson said. "We ended up losing both games in the third period alone."

The Ice Hawks started the weekend Saturday night. Both offenses failed to break through early on as neither team scored in the first period. Even to start the second period, it was slow goings on offense. About eight minutes into the period, the Bulls finally broke through to take the lead thanks to a goal from Elijah Nickisch on a power play. About four minutes later, Austin Boyce scored on a power play to tie the game.

In quick response, Ian Laib scored a goal to give Billings a 2-1 lead in the game. Early in the third period, Laib scored his second goal of the game to extend the Billings lead to 3-1. Less than half a minute later, Austin Bonebright scored to give Billings a 4-1 lead. The Ice Hawks were unable to score the rest of the game as Billings went on to win.

"The puck just wasn't bouncing for us," Hanson said about the lack of scoring. "We did put some quality shots on net but the Billings goalie made some pretty big saves."

The Ice Hawks played the Bulls again Sunday morning. And again, the Bulls pulled away to win. Just over six minutes into the first period, Clint Isakson scored to give Billings the lead. But in the early moments of the second period, Decker Hanson scored a goal to tie the game. Near the halfway point of the second period, Nickish scored to give Billings the lead. Less than a minute later, Trayden Riley scored to tie the game again.

The Ice Hawks were unable to keep up with the Bulls the rest of the game. Late in the second period, Seth Hanson scored on a power play to give Billings a 3-2 lead. Just over five minutes into the third period, Laib scored to give Billings a 4-2 lead. Nickish later scored another goal to further stretch the lead. Daylon Rinebarger and Bonebright later scored some goals for the Bulls to close out the 7-2 victory.

"We just stopped competing and we stopped winning races," Hanson said about the third period. "They just waited and once that happened, we stopped funneling to the center of the ice and they were able to capitalize on that."

Havre goalie Clara Holland finished the weekend with a .825 save percentage. Emge and Boyce finished the doubleheader with two points each as Boyce recorded a goal and an assist while Emge recorded two assists.

The Ice Hawks finish the regular season with a 9-11 record but there is still plenty of competition left. This upcoming weekend, the Ice Hawks will host the Great Falls Americans at the Havre Ice Dome for the Casey Cup. The Ice Hawks will then head back to Billings for the state tournament starting March 3. The Ice Hawks have played competitively against many of the teams at state, but if they want to make a run, they will need to learn how to play a complete game.

"We got to put three periods together, whole games together," Hanson said. "That's going to be the challenge. That's been our issue with the youth on our team."