Sports

Two region wins push Braves to 5-0

By Tyler Ohmann

12/20/2011

The Bottineau-Rugby Braves used a strong defensive effort and an offensive explosion to remain undefeated and get two region wins this past weekend.

Goaltender Cody Brooks got his third shutout with a 4-0 win over Hazen-Beulah on Friday, and the Braves offense exploded in a 13-3 decimation of Williston on Saturday.

“It was a good weekend to pick up two wins in region play,” said Braves Head Coach David Hoff.

Daunting Defense

The Braves opened the weekend with their third shutout in a 4-0 win over the North Stars on Friday in Rugby.

The senior netminder Brooks had 15 saves to earn his third shutout of the year.

The Braves jumped ahead in the first when junior defenseman Cody Longie fired a slap shot from the point to score. Senior Logan Millican assisted on the play.

Bottineau-Rugby extended their lead in the second period when Millican scored a goal of his own using passes from Zach Kihle and Ging Martin to get his ninth goal of the season.

In the third period freshman Luke Amsbaugh scored a pair of goals to solidify the Braves lead. Millican and senior Nick Monson assisted on the first goal at 1:27 in the third. Senior’s Kyle Volk and Jackson Bernstein assisted on the second Amsbaugh score.

“I asked them in between periods how they thought they were doing, and they were dissappointed in how they were playing,” Hoff said. “I told them ‘we’re complaining and we didn’t give up a goal,’ so I think our expectations are higher than they have been.”

“I thought we had a solid defensive effort on Friday night against Hazen/Beulah,” Hoff added.

Hoff was happy with the win over the North Stars, as he believes they are a quality opponent.

“I think these guys are a middle of the pack team,” Hoff said. “If you look at some of the skill players they have out there, they have some kids that can do some things, so we were happy with the win.”

Braves without Aide

The Braves got the win without their second-leading scorer, sophomore Harrison Aide.

Aide was suspended from the game after receiving a five-minute major and game ejection in the Braves 8-0 win over Dickinson on Dec. 10. The call came after Aide checked a Midget player into the boards late in the game.

“It’s neither here nor there, so it is what it is,” Hoff said. “It was a learning experience and we’ll move on.”

Hoff admitted that the four-goal output, the Braves fewest of the season, in Friday’s win over Hazen-Beulah may have been due to the abscense of Aide.

“We practiced the past week with a little different lineup, and maybe that (Aide not playing) effected our flow a little bit,” Hoff said. “I thought we got a little better as the game went on tonight.”

Aide confided that it was tough to not be out there to help his team win.

“It’s pretty tough, but we did pretty good tonight,” Aide said. “Yeah, it’s tough, but you work through it and tomorrow will be better.”

As for the call Aide just accepted it and moved on.

“It’s a call, you can’t really change it,” Aide said.

Offensive explosion

Aide came back in a big way as the Bottineau-Rugby offense exploded in a 13-3 crushing over the Williston Coyotes on Saturday.

Aide wasted no time in making his prescence known either as the sophomore assisted on all three of the Braves first period goals.

The Braves opened a 3-1 lead in the opening frame with a pair of Millican goals and added the third with a Kihle goal. Monson and Aide asssisted the two Millican markers.

Bottineau-Rugby opened the game wide open in the second period as they blew up with six goals.

Volk kicked off the scoring early in the period. Amsbaugh assisted on the play.

At 3:11 in the second Nigel Hageness notches his first career goal. Freshman Noah Grant also earned his first career points with an assist on the play.

Aide took a pass from Millican to score the Braves sixth goal of the evening at 4:15 in the second.

Amsbaugh got his third goal of the weekend, as he used assists from Volk and Bernstein to get the Braves seventh score.

Rolette native and senior Jimmy Gilje score the eighth Braves goal of the game and fifth of the quarter at 11:48. Senior Taylor Neubauer assisted on the play.
Martin scored his first goal as a Brave to finish off the fiery Braves offensive play in the quarter; Longie assisted.

Despite the nine goals through two periods, the Braves did allow three Coyote goals in the first two periods. Hoff admitted the Braves defense slacked off a little in the first two periods.

“We were pretty decent defensively against Williston as well, (we) just had a few minute stretch where we got a little loose,” Hoff said.

The Braves offensive onslaught continued in the final period on Saturday as they added four more goals.
Monson kicked off the scoring just 24 seconds into the third period. Aide earned his fourth helper of the game on the goal.

Amsbaugh notched his second goal of the game and fourth of the weekend three and half minutes later. Sophomore Andrew Hill assisted.

Hoff has been impressed with Amsbaugh’s talent early in his career.

“Luke Amsbaugh just keeps scoring for us--he has had a real nice start to a freshman season,” Hoff said.

Hageness scored his second goal of the game and his career at 11:19 in the third. Grant also assisted on this goal.

Longie rounded out the Braves scoring at 14:19 of the final period. Hill snapped his second assist of the game on the play.

Brooks had 14 saves in 17 opportunities to earn his fifth straight win of the season between the pipes.

The Braves will attempt to extend their winning streak with a holiday tournament in Thief River Falls on Dec. 27-29. The Braves will play against Crookston, Thief River Falls and Hermantown.

“We are really looking forward to a fun holiday tournament out in Thief River Falls,” Hoff said. “That’s going to be a real challenge for us, but a lot of fun to play those good teams.”

NOTES

• With three goals and three assists on the weekend the senior Millican now has 17 points in five games. He leads the Braves with 11 goals. Millican is not only the Braves leading scorer, but is the leading scorer in the state despite playing three less games than Grafton-Park River’s Austin Campbell who is second with 15 points.
• Amsbaugh continued his impressive freshman campaign with four goals and an assist in the weekend’s contests. He now is the third leading scorer for the Braves with 10 points on eight goals and two assists.
• Following Saturday’s five-point performance (one goal, four assists) the sophomore Aide is second on the Braves with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) and is tied for fourth in all of North Dakota high school hockey.
• Gaining four points with the two region wins over the weekend the Braves are currently tied with Bismarck High and Hazen-Beulah for second in the West Region with eight points. Bismarck Century is in first place with 12 points and a 5-0 region record.