Sports

Braves open season with wins over Devils Lake, Deloraine

By Tyler Ohmann

11/27/2012

A 4-1 victory kick started the Bottineau-Rugby (BR) Braves season as they opened the season on the ice against the Devils Lake Firebirds last Tuesday evening. Then the Braves continued their winning ways with a 10-8 victory over Deloraine north of the border last Saturday.

On Tuesday in Devlis Lake the Firebirds struck first in the game as Lukas LaMotte pushed one past junior goalie Riley Monson at 11:45.

It took less than three minutes for the Braves to answer as senior Cody Longie took assists from junior Harrison Aide and freshman Luke Amsbaugh to score at 14:23.

With 11:01 left in the second period Bottineau took the lead as Amsbaugh took his turn on the scoring front. Aide and Longie assisted on the power play goal.

“I was pleased with several areas. Most importantly I liked the amount of time we possessed the puck,” stated Braves head coach David Hoff. “I thought we showed a lot of poise with the puck.”

The Braves closed out their season-opening win with two more goals in the third period.
First junior Andrew Hill took passes from Aide and Longie to put the Braves up 3-1 over the Firebirds.

Later in the period it was again Hill scoring for Bottineau-Rugby as Aide earned his fourth helper of the game on the power play goal.

Monson finished strongly in the net with 23 saves in 24 opportunities, while the Braves out shot the Firebirds 38-24.

“We had a lot of quality opportunities that we did not finish, but at least we are getting the opportunities,” Hoff stated. “It was a good way to start the season.”

On Saturday in Deloraine the Braves outlasted a shoot out with the Deloraine to get their second victory of the young season 10-8.

Bottineau led most of the game and was up 3-2 after three first period goals from Amsbaugh, Wyatt Johnson and Longie.

Deloraine tied the game in the second period, but BR got goals from Johnson and junior Cody Bedlion to keep it even.

Five third period goals secured the victory for the Braves. Three came from Amsbaugh, who had four total in the game and added two assists as well. Aide also scored in the third and had four helpers in the win.

The game-winner came from Hill. Monson had 36 saves in the win.

“It was an interesting game to say the least. I thought we moved the puck well. We just struggled defensively,” Hoff stated. “I would like to see us play a little more up tempo in both ends of the ice. We have to put more pressure on teams. We are pretty good when we possess the puck, but we need to work harder to get the puck.  We have to pressure teams harder defensively as well, we can’t give them anything easy.”

The newly 2-0 Braves will play three games in the upcoming week. They host Deloraine tonight, and will host West Region rival Jamestown at 7 p.m. on Friday in Rugby and Dickinson at 3 p.m. in Bottineau on Saturday.