Sports

Stars hockey prepares for state tournament

By Tyler Ohmann

02/26/2013

The Bottineau Stars Hockey team closed out their regular season this past weekend with a senior day 6-1 win over the Langdon Blades.

However, the game didn’t go as planned to start the game. Langdon struck first early in the first period to take the lead.

It took more than a minute for the Stars to tie the game, but senior Ashley Blue scored on assists from Erin Severson and Karlee McCloud to tie the game.

A little more than two minutes later Blue struck again on a shorthanded marker at 9:45. Shelby Pedie earned a helper on the play that put the Stars up 2-1.

Less than a minute later the  Stars extended their lead when senior Natalie Bahr scored on a Cheyenne Sturlaugson pass.

The Stars weren’t too happy about the period though, as they had previously beaten the Blades 10-2 and 10-1 earlier in the season.

“I think we thought that we were going to win, so we didn’t try our hardest in the first period,” Bahr said. “Then we knew we should skate harder and get shots on net.”

The Stars did pick it up from there on out, as goaltender Jacie Ceglowski shut out the Blades the rest of the way.

Bottineau added another goal in the second period as Blue notched an unassisted marker to put the Stars up 4-1.

The Stars weren’t done though as Sonja Gilje fired a wrist shot from the point to make the lead four goals. Victoria Gullett earned the assist on the play.

At 2:48 Blue notched her fourth goal of the senior night, and Bahr assisted on the shorthanded goal.

“It was pretty exciting to win,” Bahr said.
The Stars also played an exhibition game in Clearwater, Manitoba on Sunday, but scored and stats were unavailable by press time.

The win against Langdon was the third in the last five games for the Stars.

Bottineau earned a 10-0 win over Miles City on Feb. 17, but also lost an evening contest against top-seeded Sidney, Mont. 4-3 in overtime.

Bottineau also earned a 3-0 win the day before on Feb. 16 in Bismarck over the third-seeded Avalanche.

All this adds up to a two-seed for the Stars, as Sidney, Mont. earned the top seed at the State Tournament next weekend in Devils Lake.

“We’re second in the state right now,” Bahr said. “Sidney is our biggest competition.”

The second seed puts the Stars on the same side of the bracket as Bismarck, which means if the Stars want to threaten for their first state title, they’ll have to through the Avalanche, who have played them tough all three times they’ve played this season.

“We’ll probably have to beat Bismarck, and we’ve already beaten them twice, but they’re a tough team,” Bahr said. “We’ll all just have to skate honest and play the game.”

It will be a fairly short drive for Bahr and the Stars, but she doesn’t believe that will matter anyway.

“I don’t think the trips really bother how well we play,” Bahr said. “I think it’s really where our heads are at, and how we get on the ice and play.”

Bottineau opens the tournament on Friday with a first-round game at 12:30 p.m. at Burdick Arena in Devils Lake. The seventh-seeded team that they play is unknown at this time.

Bottineau closed the regular season with 19 wins, not including scrimmages, or the game this past weekend in Clearwater. Last year, Bottineau set a program record with 20 wins, including the playoffs.