Sports
Jacks roar back in sweep of Lions
Tyler Ohmann
12/18/2012
The Dakota College at Bottineau Lumberjacks closed out the first half of their season on a positive note this past weekend by sweeping the visiting Finlandia JV Lions.
Both teams were heavily penalized throughout the weekend. Both had more than 10 penalties in the 3-2 Jacks win on Saturday, and both had more than 15 penalties in the Jacks 3-1 win on Sunday afternoon.
“It was spirited,” said Jacks head coach Travis Rybchinski. “It was two teams that have been struggling all year and knew they had a chance to win, and they played hard.”
Freshman forward Reed Loucks, who had the game-winner on Sunday, said that the physicality of the game led to some aggressive and energized play.
“It’s a real good spark to get the guys going, to get a little edge out on the ice,” Loucks said. “It helps out quite a bit as long as we stay out of the penalty box.”
In Saturday’s game the Jacks jumped out to an early lead as freshman Logan Millican scored an even strength goal with 35 seconds left in the period. Sophomore Nick Sutton earned an assist on the goal.
After allowing the Lions to tie the game, Millican scored again to break the tie with five minutes left in the second period. Sophomore Seth Serhienko assisted on the power play goal.
Once again the Lions tied the game in the third period, but Millican dished a pass to Zach McDonald who scored the game-winner.
Dylan Snyder played strongly in net for the Jacks stopping 30 shots.
“I thought we played a lot harder at times, and we played a little more physical,” Rybchinski said. “I think it was because we got a little bit mad at the other team, and they got us into the game more, so that was good.”
In a similar fashion the Jacks dispatched the Lions again on Sunday afternoon netting an early goal to get ahead. Mike Adams slapped a high shot past Austin Willenborg to give the Jacks the lead in the first period.
After the Lions again tied it, the Jacks struck back with a shorthanded goal later in the first period. Loucks found the back of the net to gain the unassisted goal.
“I’m real happy where I am right now, and I’m sitting pretty good for points,” Loucks said. “I have great teammates, you can’t get points without those guys, so things are looking pretty good right now.”
The Jacks capped off the win with a third-period goal from sophomore Cole Reisenauer, who took a pass from Serhienko to net the Jacks second shorthanded goal of the game.
Despite the wins, Rybchinski still wishes to see a more well-rounded effort.
“I thought at times we played well, and at times we went through the motions,” Rybchinski said. “We have to learn to put it together for 60 minutes yet.”
Cody Brooks earned the win in net for the Jacks on Sunday with 31 saves.
“It’s a real big momentum builder, and we’ll try to turn things around after the holiday when everyone regains their confidence and everything,” Loucks said. “Hopefully everyone is healthy, and we got a couple new guys coming in that should help the team, so things are looking up.”
The wins pushed the Jacks to 4-12 on the season, and stopped a four-game losing skid.
“The thing is that we needed these wins bad, because we can go into the break feeling better about ourselves,” Rybchinski said. “Hopefully it will get the ball rolling for the next semester.”
When the Jacks return from break they will have four fresh faces out on the ice, including former Bottineau-Rugby standout Kyle Volk.
“That’s giving us four more bodies, and it will give us competition in practice,” Rybchinski said. “We’re a very soft team to play against, hopefully these new guys will change, because guys know that they may not be dressing now.”
Rybchinski hopes that the new players will force the Jacks to be more competitive in the second half of the season.
“Competition is what we lack, and you can tell when you watch us play,” Rybchinski said. “I’m hoping that those new additions will really add to what we’re trying to do.”
The Jacks will open the second half of the season against the Lions in their home of Houghton, Mich., on Jan. 10-11. DCB’s next home game will be on Jan. 15 as they host rival Williston State.