New-look PI Wildcats battle Witches tonight

Following a 10-3 shellacking at home to Brewer on Feb. 10, Presque Isle High School senior center Ben McPherson approached coach Dr. Carl Flynn about changing their approach so they could be more competitive against the top teams.

“I told him if I had skated them hard in practice all season long, they’ll all be injured or sick and they’d hate me. I said we’ll be in shape when we need to be in shape. If we’re only going to beat Orono or Brewer once, would you rather beat them in February or March?,” posed Flynn.

Practice intensity escalated and the Wildcats did more up-tempo skating in practice.

The result is a date with defending Eastern Maine Class B champ Brewer in tonight’s Eastern Maine Class B final at 7 at the University of Maine’s Alfond Arena in Orono.

The 13-7-1 Wildcats shocked top seed Orono 4-2 on Saturday after eliminating John Bapst of Bangor 4-3 in the quarterfinals. Second seed Brewer, 19-3 and winner of eight straight, blanked No. 3 Winslow 3-0 after ousting Houlton-Hodgdon 8-3 in the quarterfinals.

Presque Isle has not fared well against the Witches this season, losing 6-1 in Brewer on Dec. 30 before that lopsided loss at home.

“We matched up well against John Bapst and against Orono. We’ve worked hard on our speed and conditioning the last three weeks and [Orono’s] Tony Raymond and Sean Babin couldn’t skate away from us as easily as they did when they beat us 5-2 in January,” said Flynn.

“We don’t match up well with Brewer. They were bigger and faster. But I think now with our conditioning, we’ll be able to keep up with them speed-wise,” said Flynn. “We’re going to have to play smart, stay out of the penalty box, make the most of our [scoring] opportunities and limit theirs.”

Brewer coach Bill Schwarz and his team won’t take the Wildcats lightly.

“You can’t overlook anybody,” said Schwarz. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now. They’ve got some nice forwards who are pretty quick and determined. They play hard.”

Brewer senior defenseman and tri-captain Devin Fitzpatrick said, “They’re a very skilled team. They’re well-coached. They understand the game.”

Fitzpatrick’s brother, Dylan, concurred.

“They’ve come a long way from the beginning of the year to the end,” said the sophomore center.

One of the reasons the Wildcats have progressed is the fact they’re a young team.

“At the outset of the season, I hoped we’d go .500 and take the last playoff spot. We have nine rookies on our 18-man roster including six freshmen. And we have only three seniors,” said Flynn.

The Wildcats have two scoring lines with McPherson centering one between Brandon Daigle and Spencer Deschene. Flynn said Daigle and McPherson each have around 36 points with Daigle having more goals and McPherson more assists.

The second line features Dylan Collins at center between Brennen Shaw and Sean Flanigan. Collins and Shaw are in the “mid-teens” in goals.

Greg Cyr, Parker Hovey and Steve Ford log the most minutes on defense and goalie Ethan Hill is coming off a superb 36-save performance against Orono.

Schwarz said centers Reid McLaughlin and Dylan Fitzpatrick have scored around 30 goals and 50 points apiece for the Witches.

Marc Relford and Dave Perry flank McLaughlin on one line with Nick Risser and Ryan Nadeau sandwiching Dylan Fitzpatrick.

Perry and Risser have around 15 goals each according to Schwarz.

Seniors Devin Fitzpatrick, John Ambrose and Jim Nicknair have anchored the defense in front of Aaron Saunders, who made 18 saves in blanking Winslow.

“We’ve got to drive the net. We’ve got to get to the net front and take [Hill’s] eyes away,” said Schwarz.