Sports

Stars drop two at state, finish in sixth place

By Tyler Ohmann (Photo by Heather Milbrath)

03/04/2014

In one of the most closely contested 19U State Tournaments in recent memory the Bottineau Stars fell to the losing end, finishing sixth amid some tough games.

The Stars fell 4-1 to the Fargo Freeze in the opening round on Friday. They then beat Hazen-Beulah (HB) 2-1 in overtime in their first consolation game on Saturday. In the fifth place game on Sunday, the Stars dropped another, 2-0 to West Fargo.

Three Bottineau players were named to the All-State team following the tournament. Juniors Erin Severson and Jacie Ceglowski, as well as senior Bailey Neubauer were honored for their efforts.

“That is a great honor for those three girls,” stated Stars head coach Matt Johnson.

In Friday’s opening game the Stars lost 4-1, but the score is deceptive according to Johnson.

“The game was much closer than the score indicates,” Johnson stated. “The girls played well and put up a good fight.”

The game started well for the Freeze though as they scored after 37 seconds elapsed in the game. They added a shorthanded marker in the second period to take a 2-0 lead, which is how the second period ended.

In the third period though the Stars reemerged.

“We came out fired up in the third period and carried the play,” Johnson stated.

Hunter Bennie broke the scoring silence for the Stars as she scored before two minutes ticked off the third period clock to draw within one.

Bottineau nearly tied the game with 12 minutes left in the third as senior Karlee McCloud had a shot at a goal.

“Karlee McCloud was cross checked into the net as she attempted a shot on an open net,” Johnson explained. “We had several more chances in the period.”

However, the Stars were unable to convert those chances into goals, and Fargo added another goal with six minutes to play.

They threw in an open net goal at the end to make the final 4-1.
Ceglowski played strong in net stopping 37-of-40 shots for the Stars, who were out shot 41-33.

Bottineau bounced back on Saturday as they topped the HB Novas in overtime.

The game was a stalemate for the first 34 minutes as neither team found the back of the net.

“We carried the play the first two periods but were not able to score,” Johnson stated.

Bottineau out shot the Novas 34-7 in the first two periods.
The Stars finally broke the tie three minutes into the final frame as Severson scored.

“We were still out playing them but not by as much,” Johnson stated.

About a minute later the Novas answered back though to tie the game back up.

The game went to overtime, but the tandem of McCloud and Severson combined to give the Stars the victory.

McCloud led a rush up ice and dished a pass to Severson.

“Erin (Severson) continued up ice and made a good low shot on the net,” Johnson stated. “Karlee (McCloud) drove to the net and slid the rebound behind the goalie for the win.”

“The play was a nice piece of teamwork by those two girls,” Johnson added.

Bottineau out shot the Novas 56-18, as Ceglowski finished with 17 saves.

In the fifth place game on Sunday the Stars were never able to find the back of the net as they were shut out 2-0 by West Fargo.

Neither team scored in the first period, but West Fargo scored three minutes into the second.

“Play was still very even between the two teams,” Johnson stated.

West Fargo scored once more before the period ended on a power play marker.

Ceglowski stopped 17 shots in the losing effort.

“We were hurt by taking four penalties in the game,” Johnson stated.

The Stars season ended with the sixth place finish and a 19-12-2 overall record.

Bottineau loses three seniors in Neubauer, Bennie and McCloud.