Sports

Braves remain undefeated in region; vault back into first

By Tyler Ohmann

01/24/2012

Two shutouts from backup goaltender Riley Monson and the Bottineau-Rugby hockey team once again sits atop the West Region having accumulated 22 points on a perfect 10-0 record.

The Braves downed West Region opponents Hazen-Beulah 10-0 and Dickinson 9-0 thanks to solid defensive and offensive efforts.

Monson had 12 saves against the North Stars as the Braves scored in the double digits for the fourth time this season.

Monson started in net for senior Cody Brooks who was battling the flu.

“It was kind of a crazy weekend in that when we were ready to leave on Friday and both goaltenders were fighting the flu,” stated Head Coach David Hoff. “Cody Brooks was not able to travel with us this weekend, but Riley Monson played his first minutes in varsity play starting both games.”

 “I thought the team rallied around him to try to help him out. He made some saves in both games when we needed it,” Hoff added.

In the 10-0 win in Hazen on Friday Bottineau-Rugby got scores from several sources. Leading scorer Logan Millican had two goals in the win, including an unassisted marker in the second period.

Harrison Aide capped off a good night as he scored twice and assisted on two others.

Freshman Luke Amsbaugh continued his streak of solid play with a goal and two assists.

Defenseman Cody Longie had a goal and two assists in the win while senior Kyle Volk had a goal and an assist.

Also getting in the scoring action for Bottineau were seniors Andrew Lorenz and Levi Kippen. Dylan Drader got his first points of the season with an assist on the Lorenz goal.

Four first period goals including two from Millican in route to a hat trick propelled the Braves to a 9-0 shutout victory over the Dickinson Midgets.

Millican also added an assist to cap off another good outing.

Volk, Aide and Jackson Bernstein also had solid nights as they all finished with two goals scored a piece. Bernstein and Aide each also added assists.

Amsbaugh and Nick Monson each finished with four assists while Ging Martin had three helpers in the win.

“We had a good weekend picking up two wins in region play,” Hoff stated. “We did a good job of spreading the scoring out consistently through two lines. We just need to get a little more production from a third unit.”

Bottineau hosted Minot for the first of two games in the regular season against the Magicians, stats were unavailable at press time, look for more in next weeks Bottineau Courant.

The Braves are now 12-3 overall on the season and 10-0 in the West Region and stand in first place as of yesterday afternoon. The Braves will test their metal at second place, and also undefeated, Bismarck Century at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Bismarck.

Notes:

•  Five Bottineau-Rugby forwards are in the top 20 in the state in scoring including top scorer Logan Millican, who had 44 points in 15 games played. Others for the Braves are: Harrison Aide (32 points), Kyle Volk (26 points), Luke Amsbaugh (23 points) and Nick Monson (22 points). Millican is also tops in the state in goals scored with 29.