Havre Ice Hawks high school, 12U teams wrap up seasons

This past weekend in Whitefish, the Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team wrapped up its season with the state tournament. Despite some ups and downs over the course of the weekend, the Ice Hawks capped off their season with a fifth-place trophy.

The Ice Hawks started the tournament on Friday night with a 4-4 tie with the Billings Bulls. The scoring started in the first period with Clint Isakson scoring on a power play to give Billings the lead. Then early in the second period, Ansgar Broeckelmann scored to extend the lead to 2-0.

Later in the second, Austin Boyce scored to get the Ice Hawks on the scoreboard. Billings responded with a goal from Rebekah Nickisch to take a 3-1 lead. Moments later, Stephen Preputin scored to cut Havre’s deficit to 3-2. Boyce then scored again to tie the game, 3-3, heading to the third.

Early in the third period, Jacob Herring scored to give Havre a 4-3 lead. But Billings responded with another goal from Broeckelmann to tie the game. Neither team scored the rest of the way as the contest ended with a tie.

The Ice Hawks continued the tournament on Saturday morning with a 7-3 loss to the Missoula Bruins. Havre started the contest with a goal from Herring to take the lead. But the Bruins responded with a goal from Daniel Upton to tie the game. Late in the first period, Ian Lee and Hunter Naugle scored a pair of goals to give Missoula a 3-1 lead.

The Bruins continued to roll to start the second period. Brent Wildeboer and Ethan Elam both scored to extend Missoula’s lead to 5-1. The Ice Hawks responded with goals from Ciaran Courtnage and Preputin. However, Upton scored another goal to give Missoula a 6-3 lead. Upton then scored again in the third period to make the final score 7-3.

The Ice Hawks capped off their weekend with a 6-5 win over the Flathead Fusion on Sunday. Havre took an early lead thanks to goals from Decker Hanson and Preputin. Flathead responded with a goal from Ty Crofts to cut Havre’s lead to 2-1 to end the first.

In the second period, Sam Trufant scored to tie the game. Boyce then scored to give Havre a 3-2 lead to end the period. Trufant scored again to start the third to tie the contest once again. Havre retook the lead thanks to goals from Preputin and Herring.

However, the Fusion came right back with goals from Garrett Adoretti and Trufant to tie the contest 5-5. But in the closing moments of the contest, Preputin scored on a power play to give Havre the 6-5 victory.

Several Ice Hawks had strong performances to cap off their season. Over the weekend, Boyce had a strong performance with nine points and six assists across three games. Preputin also had a strong showing on offense with five goals across the weekend. On defense, goalie Clara Holland recorded a save percentage of .816 while goalie Rogan Sayers recorded a save percentage of .777.

There were several other state tournaments for youth hockey teams in Montana this past weekend. Right here in Havre at the Havre Ice Dome, the 12U state tournament took place. At the end of the weekend, Bozeman won the tournament while Missoula took second and Havre took third. Butte came in fourth, Helena came in fifth and Great Falls came in sixth.