News

Jacks see positive signs during road trip

By Tyler Ohmann

01/15/2013

While everyone was preparing for a blizzard back home the Dakota College at Bottineau hockey team was on the road with games in Michigan and Minnesota over the past weekend.

First up was a two-game set with Finlandia JV in Houghton, Mich. Prior to the break the Jacks swept the Lions, earning their first sweep of the season.
Things would not go that way for the Jacks again on the Lions’ ice. Finlandia JV scored twice in period two and once in final frame, while shutting out the Jacks to take 3-0 win in the series opener last Thursday.

Despite out shooting the Lions 33-30, the Jacks were unable to get anything past Finlandia netminder Anthony Peltier.

DCB got their revenge though on Friday night as DCB used six straight goals to start the game to rout the Lions 6-1 in game two.

The scoring began in the first period as Mike Adams took a pass from Logan Millican and thread it past Peltier for the opening goal.

Later in the period it was Millican’s turn as he took passes from Mike Adams and Chris Adams and drove home a marker for a 2-0 lead.

Newcomer Matt Mehlhaff scored the lone Jacks goal in the second period at 5:23. Sophomore Seth Serhienko assisted on the play.

Early in the third Millican struck again this time on the power play. Zach McDonald earned the helper on the goal.

Mehlhaff really made an impression in the game as he scored back-to-back goals later in the third period to earn a hat trick in only his second game of the season. Serhienko assisted on both goals and newcomer Lucas Lindholm also earned a helper on the second of Mehlhaff’s third period goals.

Jacks goalie Cody Brooks would not earn a shut out in the game though as the Lions managed to sneak one past the former Bottineau-Rugby Brave with nine minutes left in the third period.

Brooks finished with 20 saves in the win, however.

“(There were) many positives on the weekend. We got better as each game went on,” stated Jacks head coach Travis Rybchinski. “The win at Finlandia we played a complete 60 minutes. I think that was the first time all year.”  

“The newcomers provided a little spark for us and it was nice having a full lineup of guys who can play,” Rybchinski added.

The Jacks had one more game on the road trip though as they stopped in and played Gustavus JV on the way back to North Dakota on Sunday.

DCB got out to a slow start as they gave up the first two goals to start the game. Serhienko brought the score to within one with under three minutes to go in the opening frame.

Lindholm and Mehlhaff assisted on the play.
However, it wasn’t the Jacks day as Gustavus notched the would-be game-winner in the second period.

DCB would score once more as Robin Danielsson scored on assists by Lindholm and Nick Sutton to draw the Jacks to within one, but the Jacks couldn’t convert anymore chances into goals.

“It was a hard loss at Gustavus as I thought we outplayed them but we had some breakdowns at times and they got a couple of bounces that lead to goals,” Rybchinski stated. “We could not bury our chances. We had a couple of shifts that we would like back but over all it was a solid effort. We just need to find a way to finish.”

Brooks finished with 26 saves in net for the Jacks who out shot Gustavus 32-29.

Rybchinski thought the team played a lot better than it had in the past, which is a good sign for the future he stated.

“We need to keep improving, we have some tough games coming up and some tough teams but do not count us out,” Rybchinski stated. “Things are going to be good for this team coming into February and if we can continue to get better and work harder we are going to shock some people once playoffs hit.”

DCB is now 5-14 overall on the season, following the 1-2 road trip.

The Jacks hit the ice next at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday as they host rival Williston State for a battle in the Lumberdome.

Following that the Jacks have a weekend series with the Kenora Thistles in Mantioba on Friday and Saturday.