‘Cats defeat Riots

ORONO – As far as the coaches were concerned, there were a lot of negatives in victory for Presque Isle and a lot of positives in defeat for Orono Thursday afternoon.

Presque Isle stormed out to a four-goal lead and withstood a late Orono rally to log a 6-4 ice hockey victory in the books at Alfond Arena before a crowd of 200.

Wildcats coach Allan Menzies was less than pleased his team let up down the stretch.

“They played a really good game. We played terrible,” Menzies said. “We got away from our game plan and I think the boys took this game lightly because of their short bench and thought they were going to wear them out.”

Orono coach Greg Hirsch uses only two lines as his Red Riots’ roster numbers only 13 players, thanks to two reserves quitting recently and five players transferring to John Bapst in the offseason.

Presque Isle improved to 3-1 while Orono dropped to 0-3.

The star of the game was Jason Straetz, the center on Presque Isle’s third line, which plays as much as the other two – for good reason. The 6-foot-1 junior notched his second hat trick of the season.

“I just kind of wreak havoc in front of the net and everything that comes to me, I just kind of clean up,” said Straetz. “All my goals are going to come from dumping it in. I don’t get many breakaways.”

The first period came down to a duel between Straetz and Orono center Tom Hite, who opened the scoring 63 seconds into the game before two quick goals by Straetz. Hite tied the score with his second goal, but PI’s Kyle Folsom scored with 14 seconds left and made it 3-2.

“It could have been way worse,” said Hirsch. “All their shots were all in the slot and the few that we had were out from way deep. We’ve got to control those guys down low or we’re dead.”

The ‘Cats came snarling into the second period as goals by Straetz and Doug Carlisle made it 5-2 and chased starting goalie Shane Rivers (11 saves on 16 shots). Jeremy Fischer gave new keeper Stuart Cady a rude welcome when his slap shot from the left side of the blue line trickled in under Cady’s skate with five minutes left in the period.

But that was the last of the ‘Cats scoring as Cady stopped each of the next 16 shots he faced and Orono began to take the puck to PI’s side of the ice.

Orono’s Adam Sewall scored with 3:06 left in the second and Noah Lundy’s freak unassisted goal on a power play centering shot bounced off an Orono skate into the net late in the third.

“I liked that. I thought a few of the guys really came out hard and they wouldn’t give up,” said Hirsch. “The only problem is it’s been like that and we want to get it so we’re winning coming into the second period.”

Menzies blamed his team’s lackluster finish on a breakdown on defense and getting away from the offensive game plan.

“The boys got a bit of a lead and wanted to take the puck in and get on the scoring sheet,” he said. “A lot of defensemen in this league, including our own, are slow and we have fast forwards. It’s key for us to be able to dump it in and beat the defensemen to the puck.”

Wildcats 6, Red Riots 4

Presque Isle (4-1) 3 3 0 – 6 Orono (0-3) 2 1 1 – 4

First Period – 1. Orono, Hite (Lundy) 1:03; 2. PI, Straetz (Gallagher) 4:26; 3. PI, Straetz (una.) 6:59; 4. Orono, Hite (Powers) 11:12; 5. PI, Folsom (Duncan, Carlisle) 14:46; Penalties: Orono, Monberg, holding, 2:07; PI, Folsom, cross-checking, 5:02; Orono, Sewall, hooking, 6:13

Second Period – 6. PI, Straetz (Carlisle) 3:44 pp; 7. PI, Carlisle (una.) 9:48; 8. PI, Fischer (Madore) 10:15; 9. Orono, Sewall (Powers) 11:54; Penalties: Orono, Monberg, hitting from behind, 3:19; Orono, Therriault, tripping, 8:16; PI, Elliott, hitting after whistle, 8:16

Third Period – 10. Orono, Lundy (una.) 11:19, pp; Penalties: Orono, Holmes, slashing, 2:52; PI, Madore, slashing, 2:52; Orono, Monberg, tripping, 4:36; Orono, Holmes, slashing, 7:57; PI, Elliott, hitting from behind, 10:57

Shots on goal: Presque Isle 11-10-12 – 33; Orono 5-12-9 – 26

Goalies: Presque Isle, Morneau; Orono, Rivers and Cady

Power plays: Presque Isle 1-5; Orono 1-2

Attendance: 200