On February 12, the Camden Hills Windjammers were prepped to play the Gardiner Tigers at Midcoast Recreation Center in Rockport, and prevailed with a score of 6 to 0.

I  spoke with team captain Alden Howard before the faceoff, asking him about how the team would remain focused while knowing their opponent's record ( 1-10), and not underestimating them.

Teams will sometimes not take a formidable opponent seriously enough and they end up losing because of that tendency. This can be called a “trap game.” 

“We are trying to not take any opponent lightly and make sure to play each team as we would in the championships," said Howard. "And If we have to, we will run up the score to make sure that we come out with a win tonight, as well as being able to put the younger kids in to get them some good varsity playing time.”

 I also asked about his and the team's morale after losing the two previous games.

“The past two losses were hard fought and good games," he said. "Rather than taking those losses and blaming each other I think we took those as opportunities to see how we can play against the best teams in the league. I think we showed we can play with anyone if we stay focused.”

At the Feb. 12 game, Camden got off to a hot start in the first period, scoring 3 goals.

Two of the goals were scored by Blake Christie, No. 11, who went into the second period on hat-trick watch.

That period was a lot slower, for about 90% of it. Then Alden Howard, No. 27,scored two goals within 15 seconds of each other with only a minute left in the period.

Going into the third period, it was going to be interesting to see what Coach Harrison Rogers would do: Up by 5, there's is no desire to be disrespectful and try to run up the score, BUT… there are also two players with two goals each, and a great chance to try for two hat-tricks.

The goal scoring went 3-2-1 per period, with only one goal scored in the third period. And, it wasn’t for a hat-trick by anyone, although Coach Rogers gave both players a few minutes to try and get their respective goals, which I respect.

That now drops Gardiner to a 1-11 and raises Camden to 7-9.

CHRHS's next game is noon, Saturday, February 15, in Brewer.\

Eric Lear is a senior at Camden Hills Regional High School