WINSLOW — The new Lawrence/Skowhegan co-operative program made history Friday night by playing its first-ever game.
The first victory will have to wait.
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Tyler Seeley had two goals and three assists and Alex Michaud added a pair of goals to lead Presque Isle to a 5-2 victory over Lawrence/Skowhegan before about 200 fans at Sukee Arena.
Joseph Patenaude also scored a goal and added an assist for the Wildcats, who controlled the season opener for both teams from start to finish.
“We came out a little flat but we dominated possession and shots,” Lawrence/Skowhegan coach Ted Fabian said. “Honestly, tonight, we played like a bunch of individuals. We can’t have that. No team is ever successful playing as individuals. But this is a learning process. Did I expect us to be perfect in our first game? No, but we need to be better.”
Andrew Carpenter scored both goals for the Bandits while Chase Nelson, Trey Michonski and Anthony Paul had assists.
Jillian Flynn stopped 21 shots for the Wildcats (1-0-0), who will play Winslow today at Sukee Arena.
“We really didn’t know what to expect,” Presque Isle coach Carl Flynn said. “We haven’t played Skowhegan in a few years and we split with Lawrence last year. Looking at the roster before the game, we didn’t recognize many of the names. But we came out strong and played well.”
Presque Isle led just 2-1 after the first period but put the game out of reach with a pair of power-play goals in the first six minutes of the second period.
Seeley and Michaud scored those goals for the Wildcats.
“The two goals like that, they really affected us,” Carpenter said. “We got down a little bit.”
Presque Isle made it 5-1 when Seeley scored with 3 minutes, 16 seconds left in the second period.
Carpenter pulled the Bandits within 5-2 early in the third, but they would get no closer.
“It’s tough, but this is a learning process,” Fabian said. “You just can’t play individual hockey like we did.”
Presque Isle jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals about five minutes apart in the first period.
Patenaude opened the scoring when he converted a rebound from in front of Bandits goalie Sam Edmondson.
Alex Michaud fired a wrist shot in on Edmondson, who then kicked the rebound out to Patenaude. The junior right winger roofed the puck to the back corner of the net for the 1-0 lead with 8:43 left in the period.
Patenaude and Michaud hooked up again five minutes later to make it 2-0. Patenaude sent a nice crossing pass from the far corner to Michaud, who then slipped the puck into an open net with 3:44 left in the period.
The Bandits finally broke through with 2:39 left in the period when Carpenter buried a rebound past Presque Isle goalie Flynn.
Our top line was involved in all five goals,” Carl Flynn said. “We really put the pressure on their defense and capitalized on some opportunities. We were hoping to come down here this weekend and get a split and now we go home doing no worse. We’ll take it.”
Bill Stewart — 621-5640bstewart@centralmaine.comTwitter: @billstewartkj
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