Sports

Stars hockey finds success on the road

By Tyler Ohmann

12/30/2013

The Bottineau Stars hockey team hit the road both last weekend and this past weekend for games in Wahpeton, Fargo Bismarck and Hazen.

Before the Stars even took the ice to play they got to see some high quality hockey. That’s because on Friday, Dec. 20 the Stars were lucky enough to watch the USA and Canada Olympic hockey teams compete. Senior Bailey Neubauer was even invited on the ice to skate one of the flags prior to the game. The girls were able to meet coaches and players of the team as well.

When they did hit the ice the Stars first toppled Wahpeton 19U on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 21 in Wahpeton by a score of 11-1.
Eight different girls scored goals in the game.

Bottineau followed that up with a strong 2-1 victory over West Fargo later that same day.

Erin Severson tallied the first goal for Bottineau. After West Fargo tied the game, the Stars rallied and used a Hunter Bennie goal to regain the lead for good. Paige Vad and Megan Olson each had helpers on the play.

“(It was) a nice win for our club against a good team,” stated Stars head coach Matt Johnson.

On Sunday, Dec. 22 the Stars took on Fargo 19U at Scheel’s Arena.

Fargo proved too much for the Stars and halted a three game Stars’ winning streak in a 3-1 game.

Cheyenne Sturlaugson scored the lone goal for Bottineau in the game by banging in a loose puck in front of the net. The goal gave Bottineau a 1-0 lead at the time, but Fargo played strong the rest of the way to earn the win by a two-goal margin.

“(We) did not play a very good game but hopefully learned some valuable lessons about team play,” Johnson stated.

Bottineau bounced back last Friday with a 1-0 overtime victory over the Bismarck Avalanche.

The win avenged a 3-2 loss to the Avalanche in Bottineau back on Dec. 6.

Goaltender Jacie Ceglowski was stout in net to hold the Avalanche scoreless.

“Jacie Ceglowski definitely was the star of the game as she held Bismarck at bay all game long,” Johnson stated.

Erin Severson netted the game-winning goal just 34 seconds into the overtime.

The Stars took on Hazen last Saturday to close out their long road trip. They did so in good fashion with another shutout and a 5-0 win.

“The girls played well in all aspects of the game,” Johnson stated. “Defensively the Bottineau girls did not give Hazen many opportunities. Offensively, the girls pounded the Hazen goalie with several shots.”

“It was a good team win,” Johnson added.

Bottineau was scheduled to return home and play Watford City on Sunday, but Watford City had the flu and the game was cancelled.

After the long road trip the Stars are 5-3-2 on the season.
Their next action will be a home game against Wahpeton on Jan. 4.

As for the first part of the season, Johnson is happy with the teams’ efforts.

“I would summarize the first half of the season as a very good team game,” Johnson stated. “The girls are playing well as a unit and the team defense is the dominant component to our success.”
“Finding more scoring punches as the season goes on will be a priority,” Johnson added.