After winning the first seven games of the season, the Brandon hockey team has came down to earth.
The Blackhawks dropped two recent games against Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central and Lapeer West to fall to 7-2 on the campaign.
Despite the two losses, Brandon coach Brian Moore said he is optimistic the Blackhawks will turn things around.
‘We can play better, and we know that,? he said. ‘We had a stretch before the break where we’ve been playing well. We need to get back into the flow.?
The Blackhawks ran into a buzzsaw Jan. 10 in the form of Nouvel, as the host Panthers doubled up the Blackhawks 10-5.
Nick Hurd and Steve Meyers were especially potent for the Panthers, with Hurd scoring four goals in the game and Meyers three.
Meyers scored just 13 seconds into the game to give Nouvel the early lead. The Blackhawks came back to tie the game on a goal by Stephen Tallman, off an assist by Alex Hockey, at 5:17 of the first.
The Panthers? Ryan Fallon notched a power-play goal at 8:20 of the first as Nouvel reclaimed the lead 2-1. However, the Blackhawks answered again at 9:15 of the first, as Mike Ross found Joel Pappas for a Brandon goal to tie the contest at two.
Just before the end of the first, though, the Panthers took the lead 3-2, as Andrew Roberts scored on assists from Hurd and Greg Kehr.
The Blackhawks tied things once again just 31 seconds into the second, as Tallman notched his second goal of the game on assists from Kyle Jackson and Mike Cybulski.
However, Hurd scored four goals in a row, and the Panthers scored six goals altogether to take a commanding 9-3 lead after the end of the second period, sending Brandon starting goalie Jeff Hammond to the bench in favor of David Hughes.
A day earlier, the Blackhawks hosted league powerhouse Lapeer West and came up on the short end of a 6-1 contest.
‘I thought West played well and we didn’t step it up coming off the break,? Moore said.
West goalie Eric Tatu stopped 20-of-21 Brandon shots, with the Blackhawks? lone goal coming at 13:36 of the second period, as Pappas scored on assists from Ross and Brandon Newman.
Brandon returns to action Jan. 24 when they travel to Waterford Kettering for a 1:20 p.m. contest.