Sports
Trending up, trending down
Matthew Semisch
01/20/2015
Anyone who has seen the Bottineau-Rugby (B-R) boys’ hockey team play recently knows the potential is there for the Braves to be competitive in the West Region this season.
What has eluded B-R thus far, though, has been an ability to show game-in and game-out that the Braves have it in them.
Last week’s set of home games against West Region rivals Williston and No. 3 Bismarck High was a perfect case in point.
B-R picked up a split in those two games, defeating Williston 6-5 on Friday night in Rugby before losing 7-1 to Bismarck the following night at Bottineau Community Arena.
Before that two-game set, B-R picked up a 5-2 exhibition win over Boissevain on Tuesday.
As for last weekend’s games, a split in region play suits somewhat a Braves outfit (5-6-0 overall, 3-5-0-0 West Region) that sits in sixth place in its nine-team division. What was clear to see in those games, though, was that B-R left attainable points on the table.
Part of that is down to the Braves’ abundant youth. B-R is without seven seniors from a year ago, and the Braves now feature 12 underclassmen.
What arguably makes a bigger difference on the ice, however, is a team’s overall compete level. B-R head coach David Hoff felt that was lacking from his team against Williston and Bismarck.
“You’ll take a split in region play, but we’re a little frustrated here with our compete level this weekend,” Hoff said late Saturday night after B-R’s loss to Bismarck. “I don’t think it was where it needs to be, but maybe we need to learn that because we do have a lot of young kids that haven’t been in these kinds of spots at this level.
“We hung on to win in Rugby and we showed some character there and I was hoping to see a better compete level (against Bismarck) but I just don’t think we had it.”
BRAVES BUCK BRONCOS
B-R’s week started off better than how it ended. On Tuesday night, the Braves knocked off Boissevain by a 5-2 count.
B-R senior forward Luke Amsbaugh threw the game’s momentum in the Braves’ favor almost right away. He opened the scoring past Broncos goaltender Sam Neufield 21 seconds into the game before Amsbaugh made it 2-0 to B-R still only 3:43 into the contest.
Boissevain halved the Braves’ lead with 2:23 remaining in the first period and only trailed 2-1 after 17 minutes. Amsbaugh then restored his team’s two-goal lead at 10:27 of the second frame by firing home his third and final goal of the night.
Casey Tooke and Noah Grant later scored once each in the third period to put the game’s result beyond doubt.
B-R netminder Ethan Clements had relatively little to do, stopping 10 of the 12 shots he faced.
Hoff was able to give many younger players more varsity game experience than usual in the exhibition. That, he hoped, would prove beneficial later in the week.
“I liked our effort level, and we got a bunch of kids out on the ice, too,” Hoff said, “which is good because with a busy week we were able to roll four lines (of forwards) and six defensemen for a good portion of the game, and hopefully that keeps us fresher this weekend.”
B-R WEATHERS LATE STORM
On Friday in Rugby’s Al Wentz Arena, B-R picked up its fifth win of the season and second against Williston.
In a frantic six-goal first period against the Coyotes, B-R accounted for four of them.
Grant scored his team’s first two tallies of the night. Austyn Lorenz and Braden Pewe then scored a pair of goals 68 seconds apart later in the opening frame to put B-R up 4-2.
Amsbaugh then put the Braves ahead 5-2 at 10:31 of the second period. Three Williston goals in the third period then put a scare into the Braves, but Grant’s third goal of the night at 11:03 of the final stanza stood up as the game-winner.
DEMONS EXORCISE B-R
Saturday’s game against Bismarck in Bottineau didn’t go as well for the Braves. The Braves’ first meeting of the season with Bismarck High, however, did start well for B-R.
Grant swatted home the rebound from an Amsbaugh shot at 11:06 of the first period to give the Braves a surprise lead against the third-ranked Demons. Bismarck then scored twice before the first frame was over, though, and three second-period goals for the Demons effectively put the game to bed.
B-R had started well, but Hoff suggested that not enough Braves players played well enough long enough.
“Our legs were working early on and we were pressuring Bismarck, but that wasn’t enough,” Hoff said, “and we had to go with two lines of forwards because we just weren’t getting enough out of all three lines.
“We had a few kids that were inconsistent, and I hoped for a little more out of the kids but we didn’t get it tonight.”
B-R will visit Hazen-Beulah on Friday and Dickinson the following day.