Houston downs Patriots on home ice

HOUSTON — The Big Lake Lions Recreation and Community Center may not be heated, but that didn’t stop the Houston Hawks from scorching North Pole 5-2 Friday evening.

In the second round of their four-team tournament, Houston jumped ahead early on the Patriots and never looked back. The Hawks led 3-0 at one point in the first period and 5-1 after the second.

Although the offense was working well, Houston head coach Mike Styers said the Hawks were also sparked by inspired play from goalie Rhys Jones, who stopped 28 of 30 shots.

“Our goaltender had a good game,” Styers said. “And he had a great game against Homer, too (on Thursday). In that one, they got 40 on him.”

Overall, the final stats show the Patriots out-shot the Hawks 50-30, but Styers said that’s a surprising difference, because the flow of the game seemed to favor the Hawks.

“It’s kind of a shot to me to see that, because of the flow of the game it didn’t seem like that much of a difference,” he said.

Leading the way for the Hawks on offense was John Lovelace, who recorded a hat trick in the win. Also scoring were Bradley Fortin and Jaden Sears.

All in all, Styers said it was a great turn-around from a 2-1 loss to Homer the night before. He also said the Big Lake Lions center is feeling a lot like home for the Hawks, who used to play their games in Wasilla at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center.

“Having the locker rooms now and the insulated building keeps more heat in there,” he said. “You get used to it. This ice is so much faster and the boards are so much faster. We definitely feel like this is our home ice; this is our rink.”

The Houston tourney wrapped up Saturday with North Pole playing Homer and Houston playing Colony. Results of those games were unavailable as of press time Saturday afternoon.