Sports
Stars show promise in tune-ups
Matthew Semisch
11/25/2014
Every sports season is a proverbial marathon and not a sprint. Bottineau U-19 girls hockey coach Matt Johnson knows that, and he’s pleased with how his team’s 2014-15 run began last weekend.
The Stars fell in both of their preseason exhibitions against Neepawa, dropping a 5-2 decision on Saturday before losing 4-1 the following afternoon.
The games were Bottineau’s first two of four season-opening exhibition games against Canadian opposition. The Stars’ first league games will take place on Dec. 6 when Bottineau travels southeast to face both Wahpeton and West Fargo.
As for the Stars’ meetings with Neepawa, the Natives jumped out to big leads in both games before holding on to win. A hat trick from McKenna Oswald saw Neepawa through on Saturday in the opener, and the Natives never trailed on Sunday after jumping out to a 3-0 lead.
The Stars improved in both games as they went along, though, and Johnson praised his team for clawing their way back into the clashes.
“We definitely got better as the weekend went along, and that’s what you want to see this early on in the year,” Johnson said.
“We got to use both goalies so we got to see what they’re both like back there, and overall I was happy with how we did and what we showed we can be.”
The Stars will take part in a round-robin tournament next weekend in Manitou, Manitoba. Bottineau will face off against both Manitou and Melita.
Bottineau’s first league home game will take place on Dec. 13 against West Fargo.