Houlton-Hodgdon holds off John Bapst 3-2

12/23/03

    The John Bapst Crusaders made the long trek North to take on the Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks last night. Despite playing a little short handed due to a lot of players not feeling well, the visitors gave their hosts all they wanted before finally falling 3-2.

    The Crusaders got on the board first when Kim Meagher fired a shot from the blue line, that glanced off David Sawyers stick for the games first goal at 1:29 in the first.

    The Black Hawks came storming back 49 seconds later when Sophomore Micah Carton launched a shot on a pass from classmate Grady Anderson.

    Houlton Hodgdon took the lead in the second period when Ian Pasquarelli passed off to team mate Tyler Hutchinson for the score at 13:18. The visitors wasted little time getting the goal back as Tyler Cyr scored on assists from T.J.Hopkins and David Sawyer at 12:36

    The two teams went into the final period at 2 apiece. The Black Hawks were skating three lines and keeping the puck at their end if the rink as the undermanned Crusaders concentrated on defense.

    Coach Joel Tricky decided to switch goal tenders for the final period, replacing Aaron Fitzpatrick, with Nic Joslyn for the Black Hawks.

    The speedy Pasquarelli finally broke free and scored what proved to be the game winner with 3:59 to play, unassisted.

    The Crusaders weren't done yet however. Following a time out by coach Doug Damon, they went on the attack, moving the puck  quickly and firing off a few shots. As the game rolled into the final minute, each team had a player in the penalty box. Coach Damon then pulled his goalie, Dan Leighton, in favor of an extra skater.

    The move almost paid off as the Crusaders swarmed the net and got off a shot. Joslyn made the save from point blank range with one second left on the clock to preserve the win. The Black Hawks won the ensuing face-off and headed into the Christmas break with a hard earned victory to improve to 3-1. Bapst falls to 1-3.