Sports

Braves still in hunt for top spot

By Tyler Ohmann

02/07/2012

Bottineau-Rugby (BR) squeaked out two wins on the ice this past weekend including a 5-4 win over Mandan on Friday night in Bottineau.

The win kept the BR in contention for the top spot in the West Region. They currently sit two points behind first place Bismarck Century with two games remaining in the regular season.

BR’s win Friday did not come easy, the battle of the two Braves squads went Mandan’s way in the first period as they scored three goals in a four-minute stretch.

Following a timeout BR mounted a comeback, which started with a goal from senior Kyle Volk to cut the lead to two. Harrison Aide and Luke Amsbaugh provided helpers on the scoring play.

“We had started fairly well that night but Mandan scored three goals in four minutes. They really made it tough on us,” stated BR Head Coach David Hoff. “Kyle Volk has played very well for us the past couple of weeks. He is getting scoring chances and really making the most of them.”

In the second BR found the back of the net twice more to even the game. The first came from Aide; Cody Longie and senior Logan Millican assisted.

Senior Nick Monson tied the game later in the period with an unassisted marker.

Volk again came up with a big goal to put BR up 4-3 in the third period. Monson and Zach Kihle were credited with assists.

Millican scored the eventual game winner later in the period on an unassisted goal that gave BR a 5-3 lead.

Millican’s goal was his 33rd of the year and gave him sole possession of the school record for goal’s in a season according to Hoff.

BR held on though to get their 12th region win of the year.

“Cody Brooks made a huge save late in that game that gave us a chance to get the win,” Hoff said.

Brooks finished with 25 saves in the come-from-behind win.
Saturday’s game against East Region’s West Fargo was another close game, but BR held the lead the entire game.

Volk again provided the spark for BR as he opened the game in the first quarter by hitting the back of the net on a pass from Aide.

Later in the period passes from Longie and senior Ging Martin to Millican wound up giving BR a 2-0 lead.

After the Packers cut the lead to one later in the period and neither team scored in the second, Monson scored an unassisted goal for the game-winner.

Again BR allowed a third period goal that brought the Packers to within one, but BR held on to win their 15th game of the season and second against an East Region opponent.

“West Fargo was a good win in that we had some penalty trouble in the second period so we had to have several guys step up and fill some crucial roles in the second and third periods,” Hoff stated. “I thought it was a good team win.”
Brooks finished with 32 saves in the win for BR, his 13th win in net for BR this season.

“It was a tough weekend for our players, a tough region game at home on Friday and a long road-trip to West Fargo on Saturday,” Hoff stated. “We didn’t necessarily play real well but we found a way to win both games.”

Up next for BR are the Minot Magicians, who look to spoil BR’s chances at a regular season title on Thursday in Minot.

BR will then return home for what could be a regular season title match against Bismarck Century.

No matter what happens, Bottineau can finish no worse than second place in the region.

The West Region Tournament begins on Feb. 16 in Bismarck.

Notes:

• Millican still sits atop the state scoring lead after recording two goals and an assist in the two games this weekend. He currently has 52 points (34 goals, 18 assists) in 19 games this season.
• Aide is second in scoring in the state behind Millican with 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) in 18 games.  He is also tied with Quinn Fuchs of Minot for the lead in assists according to www.ndhighschoolhockey.com.