Sports
Braves upend Pats, end streak
Tyler Ohmann
02/14/2012
Dec. 22, 2009 was the last time that Bismarck Century lost a regular season game against a West Region opponent. That is, until last Friday, when the Bottineau-Rugby Braves ended the Patriots 39-game streak in a 5-4 overtime thriller.
The OT goal was wristed top shelf by senior Logan Millican for his first goal of the night with 2:06 left in the extra period.
“Yes. That’s it. Just yes,” senior and one of the captains of the Braves squad Zach Kihle said of seeing the overtime goal hit the back of the net. “I think its a big win. It’s nice to finish out, especially on senior night, like this. Senior night, it means a lot to us.”
Kihle was one of 12 seniors that, in their last home game, saw the dream of a West Region regular season title slip away as the clock hit zero and the game headed to overtime.
The Braves needed to win by two in regulation to take the outright title from the Patriots after Century beat them 2-1 earlier this season. A one-goal victory in regulation would have forced a likely coin flip situation and the overtime win gave the Patriots the one point they needed to secure the top seed.
However, Bottineau isn’t discouraged. They know that ending the Patriots streak was a pretty big deal.
“It gives us huge confidence,” Kihle said. “I know we didn’t get the No. 1, but it’s a huge accomplishment to beat these guys. They’re good, but it was great to win.”
“It’s all right,” Kihle said of getting the second seed. “We’re going to go there and do our best.”
With a regular season record of 15-1 the Braves head into regions poised for a rubber match with the Patriots who were also 15-1 in the regular season.
“If we come to play, we got it,” Kihle said of regions. “We just have to play hard and do our best.”
Braves Head Coach David Hoff is optimistic as well for Regions, where only a year ago the Braves season ended after they were upset by Mandan in the first round after a third-period collapse and were consequently ousted by Bismarck High in the state qualifying game.
“I like the way we are playing right now. I think we are getting better every time we play,” Hoff stated. “The guys are figuring out how to play solid defensively but still use our offensive talents. We just need to keep progressing and limiting our turnovers.”
Saturday’s win of course was no easy task. The Braves fell behind 1-0 in the first period, but three second period goals put them on top 3-2 after two.
Those goals were scored by sophomore Harrison Aide (Volk assist), Volk (Aide and Luke Amsbaugh assists) and Cody Longie (Millican and Nick Monson assists).
Bottineau looked to be in control with a little more than 13 minutes remaining in the third period. They had a 3-2 lead and a 5-on-3 chance to add to it, but things fell apart quickly. The Braves committed a penalty and the 5-on-3 within 15 seconds became a 4-on-4.
Century took advantage as they scored two consecutive goals to take a 4-3 lead.
Aide, with assists from Volk and Amsbaugh, came to the rescue to tie the game and force overtime.
Senior Cody Brooks stopped 29-of-33 shots in net on the night.
For Kihle, he was glad for the time as a Brave in Bottineau.
“I’ve played four years here, and I’ve loved every single one of them,” Kihle said. “Every time I’ve stepped on the ice there’s something new.”
Minot mashing
This whole captivating story would not have been even possible had the Braves not taken care of business earlier in the week against Minot.
Always a tough place to play BR traveled to Minot on Thursday to keep their region title hopes alive, and by the end of the night they were thriving.
That’s because the Braves toppled the Magicians for the second straight time with a 5-1 win.
Brooks had a solid game in net stopping 30 Magician shots and earning his 15th victory of the season.
BR scored twice in the first period to take 2-1 lead. Wyatt Johnson scored his first goal of the season to take a 1-0 lead. Kihle provided the assist.
Volk scored not long after on passes from Monson and Johnson to make it 2-0. After, the Magicians cut it to 2-1, Monson scored a second-period marker to notch a two-goal lead. Aide and Longie provided assists on the scoring play.
In the final frame Millican and Aide each scored to help cushion the lead. Monson assisted on the Aide goal.
As the No. 2 seed, BR will take on seventh-seeded Hazen-Beulah in the opening round of the West Region Tournament at 5 p.m., Thursday in Bismarck.
The top four teams to finish out the region tournament will advance to the state hockey tournament at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks on Feb. 24-26.
Feb. 10, 2012, the date Bottineau upset Bismarck Century and ended a more than two year win-streak.