Sports
Braves near top of region standings with wins over top teams
Tyler Ohmann
01/29/2013
A very successful week for the Bottineau-Rugby (BR) Braves on the ice has vaulted them into second place in the West Region standings.
The Braves won an exciting 5-4 game in front of the home crowd on Monday over Minot to set the tone for the week. On Tuesday the Braves, playing in their fourth game in five days, took down Williston 6-3. BR capped off their week by beating Bismarck Century, who sits atop the West Region, 6-4 in Bismarck to creep within two points of the Patriots.
Aide thrives in win over Magicians
Monday night BR junior Harrison Aide had a spectacular game in a 5-4 win over the Minot Magicians in Bottineau.
Aide scored four times and assisted on the opening goal scored by Wyatt Johnson to take down Minot.
All four of Aide’s goals, including the game-winner in the third period were unassisted.
“It was just one of those nights, everything was going right,” Aide said. “I have great linemates, they go hard. It was just one of those nights that everything was going in.”
It ranks among one of the greatest games in Aide’s career, which started by playing varsity in eighth grade.
“Probably my eighth grade game against Minot and last year against Century, but it was up there though,” Aide said about his performance in the win. “It was a fun game.”
The arena was packed and the atmosphere was intense, but Aide said that didn’t faze him.
“You just zone out, you don’t really know what it’s like until the end of the game,” Aide said.
As well as he played, Aide said that it was a complete team win.
“I thought we played good, everybody did,” Aide said. “We stuck in there and played good defense. It was an all around team effort.”
Following the game, the Braves crowd chanted ‘Harrison’ as Aide left the ice, a moment that was pretty surreal for the junior.
“It was pretty sick,” Aide said.
Braves goalie Riley Monson finished with 28 saves. Senior Cody Longie also had an assist on the opening goal.
Braves wrangle Williston
As BR played the tail end of a brutal four games in five days on Tuesday against Williston, they were a little tired, but had enough in the tank to win 6-3.
“It was nice to get through this stretch of the season- with the make-up game with Williston. We ended up playing four games in five days,” stated Braves head coach David Hoff. “We were awfully tired at the end of that stretch. I thought we competed hard in that stretch of games.”
BR jumped out to an early lead in the game as Longie scored in the first period. Assisting on the play were seniors Cody Bedlion and Johnson.
Aide continued his scoring streak with a goal to give Bottineau a 2-1 lead after one period.
Sophomore Luke Amsbaugh assisted on the play.
Longie took a pass from Aide to score to open the second period. Braden Pewe extended the BR lead to 4-2 with a goal later in the period. Noah Grant and Bedlion notched helpers on the goal.
The Braves closed out the win in the third period with goals from Amsbaugh (assist by Longie) and Aide (assists from Amsbaugh and Andrew Hill).
Monson finished with 14 saves as the Braves out shot the Coyotes 39-17.
“As a team we were able to pick up four wins in the region, which definitely helps us out in the standings,” Hoff stated.
Pawing past the Patriots
BR was back in action after a few days rest on Saturday in Bismarck as they took on a tough Bismarck Century squad.
It was all Braves early on as they jumped on the Patriots from the get go.
Longie took passes from Aide and Johnson to make it 1-0 Braves in the first period.
Longie brought the lead back to Bottineau after Century tied it later in the period. Aide earned the assist to put BR up 2-1.
Aide scored a goal of his own, his sixth of the week later in the first off of a pass from Longie to extend the Braves lead to 3-1.
However, the Patriots battled back in the second period, and were able to even the score at three a piece entering the final frame.
It was there that the junior Hill stepped up and solidified the win for the Braves.
Hill scored on passes from Longie and Aide to take a 4-3 lead. Hill then broke a 4-4 tie later in the period as he scored again. Amsbaugh assisted on the game-winner.
Amsbaugh tacked on another goal with an empty-netter in the final minute. Longie was credited with his third assist of the game on the play.
“This was a big win for us on the road against a good team,” Hoff stated. “We did a good job in the first half of the game of controlling the puck and playing our type of game. I thought we survived their pressure in third period and capitalized on a couple of real good chances. Andrew Hill had two big goals for us in the third period. He played solid for us all night.”
Monson was also a big factor for the Braves in the win as the junior stopped 39-of-43 Bismarck
Century shot attempts. Hoff was pleased with how his goaltender handled the pressure from the Patriots.
“Riley Monson had his most consistent effort of the year,” Hoff stated. “He made the big saves when we needed it.”
Bottineau has six games remaining on the schedule, five are West Region games. Their next challenge will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday as they host Mandan for a West Region bout. The Braves also play at West Fargo in a non-region matchup at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in Rugby.
After that they still have a pair of games against Bismarck High, one against Minot and another against Century to try and capture the top seed heading into the West Region tournament, which is in Minot Feb. 14-16.
Notes:
Following the successful week three Braves sit atop the state in scoring: Harrison Aide (who bested Logan Millicans 64 points from a year ago, tops in the state) has 65 points in 15 games (24 goals, 41 assists); the senior Cody Longie has 46 points (20 goals, 26 assists) and Luke Amsbaugh, a sophomore, has 38 points (20 goals, 18 assists).