Sports
Jacks open season at home
Tyler Ohmann
10/29/2013
Hockey season officially opened in Bottineau this past weekend as the Dakota College at Bottineau Lumberjacks began with a home series against the Winkler Royals.
The Royals, who are in their first season in the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League, swept the Jacks in games on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
On Saturday night the Royals got the lead out early as they scored three first period goals. DCB first found the back of the net in the second period when freshman Cody Bronson scored. He was assisted by Mark Williams and Kyle Roberts.
The Royals added a power play goal later in the period as Marlin Froese scored.
Winkler scored four more times in the final period, while the Jacks could only push one more shot past Royals goalie Jayme Janzen, who had 40 saves in the win. The third period goal for the Jacks came from sophomore Reed Loucks, and was assisted by Kyle Volk.
Jacks head coach Travis Rybchinski thought the game was a lot closer than it appeared.
“I think Saturday was a lot closer game than the score indicated. I thought we were nervous a little bit because we did not know what to expect from the Royals and it was a lot of players first game,” Rybchinski stated. “If you take two three-minute stretches out of the game, we probably win that hockey game.”
DCB goaltender Jesse Fontaine had 30 saves in the loss.
Marlin Froese finished with four goals and two assists in the win.
Sunday’s contest was much closer as the Jacks stepped up their intensity, especially early on.
DCB struck first blood as Bronson again scored on a pass from Cody Anderson early in the first period.
Winkler struck back with a pair of second period goals, one from Marlin Froese and one from Brett Suderman. Andrew Froese assisted on the Marlin Froese goal, and Marlin assisted on the Sunderman goal.
The Jacks struck back in the third period though, as sophomore Matt Mehlhaff scored his first goal of the season. Casey Barile assisted on the play that evened the game at two a piece.
The game appeared to be headed to overtime, but Marlin Froese found Brett Harder in front of the net with one second left on the clock to notch the win.
“I still cannot believe they scored with one second left. We had it down there the whole last minute and then they come down and get one,” Rybchinski stated. “Their experience was obviously the difference there and I hope we can learn from it.”
“On Sunday we made some adjustments and moved our feet and played a lot better,” Rybchinski added.
Janzen had 31 saves as the Jacks out shot the Royals 33-30. Ryan Miner played strongly in the net with 27 saves in 30 chances.
Overall, Rybchinski thought the Jacks learned quite a bit about their team.
“It was a good weekend to get some evaluations on players on our team,” Rybchinski stated. “We got everyone some ice time.”
Marlin Froese was an ex-Lumberjack, who helped set up the series between the team. Marlin played for DCB in 2005 and 2006.
“We were glad to get these games in because of Marlin, he still can play. He was the best player by far on the team and it is good to see alum play well but they always seem to play really well against us,” Rybchinski stated. “Marlin is a class act and we are so happy for him doing well on and off the ice. (It) must be a Winkler thing.”
The Jacks (0-2) will play at home once again this weekend as they host North Dakota State University for a pair of games. The Bison and Jacks will face off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night and at 1 p.m. on Saturday.