The Maine Moose U-18 Midget hockey team arrived in East Lansing, Mich., earlier this week to compete in the USA Hockey Tier II championships.

The Moose, who earned a berth in the nationals after winning the state title late last year, opened pool play Wednesday afternoon with a 4-2 loss to Mission Arizona Ice.

“It was a really good game,” Moose U-18 coach Charlie Davis said.

“We lost our legs in the last six to eight minutes, but I think we’ll do well moving forward. We had a few turnovers in our own end that hurt us. But we played well.”

The Moose feature three Cony players — Galen Casey, Dallas Clark and Dakota Bowie — as well as Tyler Boudreau, of Lawrence, and Chris Lee, of Waterville.

“We didn’t know what to expect out here from all these other teams,” Clark said.

“But we know now what to expect.”

Added Casey: “It’s a different atmosphere out here, a little more serious. We’re getting down to business and going to try to win some games.”

The team also skates four Kents Hill student-athletes: Filip Akermark, Rikard Keussen, Ryan Caswell and Chad Martin.

Keussen scored both goals for the Moose on Wednesday. Goalie Patrick Spaudling, who plays at Brewer High School, stopped 36 shots.

“He was pretty amazing,” Davis said. “We played a solid game all-around. He kept us in it.”

The Moose led 2-1 heading into the third before Arizona scored three unanswered goals to earn the victory.

“It was fast and Arizona is a pretty talented team,” Casey said.

“They rolled three lines all game. It was a hard battle but we came up a bit short. We have a tough game (today), but hopefully we’ll be able to compete.”

The Moose will play the Metro Maple Leafs, who are from Maryland, at 10 this morning at the Suburban Ice in East Lansing.

Pool play ends Friday, when the Moose play Michiana, a team from Indiana/Michigan.

The tournament features two pools of six teams.

The top four in each advance to the quarterfinals, which begin Saturday.

The games are also a bit different from what the team is used to in Maine.

The periods are 17 minutes long and ice is only made between the second and third periods.

The Moose arrived in Michigan on Monday and practiced Tuesday.

The team is staying just outside the Michigan State University campus.

“We like our odds and where we’re at,” Davis said.

“Arizona is the best team we’ve seen so far. We’re looking forward to the rest of the tournament and seeing what we can do.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com

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