Ice Hawks take third at MAHA 14U/19U Girls State Tournament

As spring approaches, the winter sports season comes to a close. One of those sports is girls hockey which ended its year with the 2022 Montana Amateur Hockey Association 14U/19U Girls State Tournament at the Havre Ice Dome this past weekend. The Havre Ice Hawks 19U girls team competed in the tournament and finished the weekend with a third-place trophy.

The Ice Hawks began pool play Friday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over the Salmon Rapids. The Ice Hawks came out slow as the Rapids took a 1-0 lead in the first period thanks to a goal from Amara Macfarlane. But early in the second period, a goal from Paisley Branden tied the game up. In the third period, Kayla Hobbs scored a goal to give Havre a 2-1 lead. The Ice Hawks' defense then held off the Rapids to win their opening game of the tournament.

The Ice Hawks played again Friday night, but this game ended with a 3-3 tie against the Flathead Flames. Things looked promising for Havre early on as Heather Herring and Clara Holland scored goals to take a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Flames responded with a goal from Patricia Hinchey to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Halfway through the second period, Frances Hanson scored a goal to extend the Havre lead to 3-1. Late in the second, Emma Cummings scored to cut the deficit to 3-2. Cummings then scored again about halfway through the third period to knot things up. Neither was able to score before the end of the night so the contest ended in a draw.

With the 1-0-1 record in pool play, the Ice Hawks finished first in their pool and faced the Bozeman Icedogs in a seeding game Saturday afternoon. However, the Ice Hawks lost, 3-2, in overtime.

A few minutes into the game, the Ice Hawks took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Olivia Albrecht. Early in the second period, Albrecht scored again to extend the lead to 2-0. Minutes later in the period, Tana Kostelecky scored to get Bozeman on the scoreboard.

The Ice Hawks tried to hold to their 3-2 lead in the third period. However, Ellyse Atkins scored to tie the game and send it to overtime. Four Minutes into the extra period, Abby Rosa scored for Bozeman to win the game and advance to the first-place game.

In the third-place game Sunday morning, Havre defeated the Missoula Bruins 4-3. Havre fell behind early as the Bruins dominated the first period. A few minutes into the contest, Virginia Pereira scored to give Missoula the lead. Moments later, Liv Thorne Thomsen scored another goal for Missoula. Trista White then scored on a power play to give Missoula a 3-0 lead heading to the second period.

The Ice Hawks were able to crawl their way back into the contest. Albrecht scored early in the second period to get Havre on the scoreboard. A few minutes later, Branden scored to cut the deficit to 2-1. Jersi Morse then got in on the action as she scored a goal to knot things up.

Most of the third period went by without either team claiming the lead. With about five and a half minutes remaining, Hanson finally broke through with a goal to give Havre the lead. The Ice Hawks then held off the Bruins to complete the comeback and win the third-place trophy.

Albrecht finished the weekend with five points and three goals for the Ice Hawks. Tanya Ralph also made an impact with three assists over the course of the weekend. In her four games, goalie Mackenzie Kuhn recorded a save percentage of .925.

Later on Sunday, the other teams in the tournament competed to determine their finishes in the tournament. In the fifth-place game, the Salmon Rapids defeated the Glasgow Ice Dawgs 5-2. In the 14U championship game, the Flathead Flames defeated the Butte Copper City Kings 1-0. In the 19U state title game, the Flathead Flames defeated the Bozeman Icedogs, 3-2, in overtime.