LEWISTON — Next year, Johnstown Tomahawks forward Tristan Poissant and Maine Nordiques goaltender Connor Androlewciz will be be in Orono as teammates on the University of Maine men’s hockey team.

The future Black Bears met in Lewiston on Saturday, and Poissant won the battle against his future teammate, scoring two goals to lead the Tomahawks to a 6-3 NAHL junior hockey victory in front of 1,301 fans at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“(My goals) were on some quick plays,” Poissant said. “I am (practicing) to shoot the puck as I get it (on my stick). I got two lucky shots that went in, I was pretty happy about that.”

Poissant, who will be signing his national letter of intent to play at UMaine on Monday, did not know Androlewciz was a fellow Black Bears commit until his Johnst0wn teammates told him.

Androlewciz made 41 saves, including a couple in the third period on shots by Poissant, who was looking for the hat trick.

Nordiques coach Nolan Howe said his club couldn’t finish its opportunities.

“We didn’t capitalize on our chances, I thought we had some scoring chances,” Howe said. “Quite frankly, I thought we deserved a better fate. Unfortunately, the puck didn’t agree.”

The Nordiques had the game’s first power play, and fired three shots on goal after Johnstown’s Jesse Lycan went off for interference 39 seconds into the game.

The Tomahawks killed that penalty, which helped them gain momentum in the middle portion of the first period. Poissant put Johnstown on the board first by firing a snapshot past Androlewciz.

The Tomahawks continued to apply pressure in the first, and eventually stretched the lead 2-0 as Ian Murphy beat Androlewciz with under two minutes in the period. Colin Price set the goal up.

“Getting the two-nothing lead was good for us,” Johnstown coach Mike Letizia said.

Maine soon went on the man advantage as Murphy was called for high sticking, but the Tomahawks killed the penalty, which carried over into the second period.

The Nordiques scored the crucial third goal of the game to cut the deficti to 2-1. After a shot by Alex Rivet, Caden Pattison — who was called up from the Maine Nordiques Development Program on Friday — skated hard to the net and put home the rebound past Johnstown goalie Alex Tracy (38 saves).

“I thought they caught a bad break in the first (period), being (minus)-two in the first period,” Howe said of the Pattison-Rivet-Manny Sanchez line. “It was unfortunate they were working hard, so our whole bench and us as coaches were excited to see them capitalize on (Caden’s goal).”

Johnstown responded as Spencer DenBestie scored to restore the two-goal lead for the Tomahawks.

“When they made it 2-1, we responded about two minutes later to get back to the two-goal lead, which was good for us,” Letizia said. “I thought we controlled the game from there.”

Soon thereafter, Rivet and Johnstown’s Liam Whitehouse dropped the gloves, with Whitehouse winning the tussle with a take-down.

The Tomahawks seized control of the game after Nordiques forward Timmy Kent received a minor for an equipment violation for playing without a helmet. Howe argued Kent wasn’t given an opportunity to go directly the bench as he was body-checked and played the puck while trying to go to the bench.

Poissant scored his second of the game on the ensuing power play.

Noah Basarab added Johnstown’s second power play goal of the game in the third period.

Cannon Green of the Maine Nordiques is tripped up while trying to slide the puck past Johnstown goalkeeper Alex Tracy at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston on Saturday. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Ethan Prout scored on the man advantage for the Nordiques as Basarab was assessed a five-minute major for hitting Prout from behind. Noah Kane added Maine’s second goal on the major power play.

Christian Gorscak had an empty netter for Johnstown with less than a second left.

“To our guys credit, we had a five-minute power play at the end and executed a little bit,” Howe said. “To see our power play cash in two, we (tied the third period), it’s things to build on. We a little over a third through the season and that old quote, you are what your record is, right now we are inconsistent.”

The Nordiques are 10-10-1 while the Tomahawks improve to 13-7-4.

« Previous

Next »

Related Stories