Midgets fall on Bottineau-Rugby goal in final seconds

• Matt Pavek

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson High sophomore Matt Pavek, left, chases a puck against Bottineau-Rugby junior Harrison Aide as Dickinson junior Tim Knudson, back right, the Midgets’ players on the bench watch the action on Saturday afternoon during a West Region boys hockey game at the Dickinson Recreation Center.

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There are three Bottineau-Rugby boys hockey players Dickinson High couldn’t leave unattended: Cody Longie, Harrison Aide and Luke Amsbaugh.

For the most part, the Midgets shadowed all three, but Longie found a wide-open seam at the blue line in the final 10 seconds and it was the tiny hole the Braves need to get the victory.

Longie caught a feed from Aide and Amsbaugh to rip a shot past Dickinson goalie Jamison Gray as the Braves took a 3-2 West Region win on Saturday at the Dickinson Recreation Center.

It was the fifth consecutive loss for the Midgets, who have lost eight of their last nine since starting the season 4-1.

“It was just a back-and-forth game,” Bottineau-Rugby coach Dave Hoff said. “It just seems we made one more play than they did.”

Dickinson head coach Tom Folske felt his team dominated a majority of the game — expect for a span of about 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Bottineau-Rugby (10-1, 6-1 West) also scored back-to-back goals less than 40 seconds apart in the second period.

“For 48 minutes and 50 seconds, we dominated the game,” Folske said. “We were putting the pressure on them and keeping their shots to the outside. We controlled the game and controlled the tempo.

“Nothing is easy about losing. This is one where we had our opportunity to win the game.”

Aide, Longie and Amsbaugh combined for three goals and two assists. Aide and Longie rank one and two, respectively, in scoring in North Dakota. Aide leads the state with 46 points, while Longie has 36.

Longie, a senior defenseman, scored a pair of goals. Aide, a junior forward, supplied a short-handed, break-away goal in the second period.

Hoff said the season would definitely be difficult without those three.

“They are very skilled players and the last goal really says it,” Hoff said. “We’d be a lot different team if we didn’t have those guys.”

Gray, a senior goalie and alternate captain, stopped 25 shots and stonewalled Aide and Amsbaugh on a couple scoring opportunities.

“We knew that it was going to be a tough game,” Gray said. “I personally thought that I could have done better, but, as a whole, I thought we played a great game.”

Dickinson (5-9, 3-8 West) started the scoring in the first period at 7:31. Sophomore forward Mickey Folske scored his 10th goal of the season on a hard, wrist shot that squeaked past the Braves’ junior goalie Riley Monson. Andrew Heckaman came on for the assist.

Bottineau-Rugby couldn’t quite get past Dickinson’s stingy defense in the first period.

In the second period, however, the Braves scored back-to-back goals in the first two minutes. Aide scored first on a breakaway while Longie scored on a pass from Andrew Hill 39 seconds later.

The Midgets would eventually tie the game 2-2 at 11:49 in third period. Senior forward Jayden Mink scored on a breakaway, deking Monson with the forehand and finishing with the backhand. Monson finished with 26 saves.

“Jayden just flat out worked the guy,” Tom Folske said. “He beat the guy down the wall and that was a hard-worked goal.”

With less than a minute left in the game, Bottineau-Rubgy got the puck in Dickinson’s zone. Amsbaugh passed to Aide and the junior forward found Longie wide open at the blue line. Longie ripped a shot to seal the game’s final goal.

“The first couple weeks of the season, we struggled a lot,” said Longie, whose team is on a seven-game win streak. “We started passing better and hustling more in practice.”

Dickinson travels to Bismarck Century at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday for a West Region game. The Midgets then visit Sidney, Mont., for a nonconference game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

“It’s definitely tough every time it’s a close game,” Gray said. “It’s just something we have to base our next game off of.”

BR 0 2 1 – 3

Dickinson 1 0 1 – 2

FIRST PERIOD: 1, D, Mickey Folske (Andrew Heckaman) 7:31.

SECOND PERIOD: 2, BR, Harrison Aide (unassisted) 15:39. 3, BR, Cody Longie (Andrew Hill) 14:50.

THIRD PERIOD: 4, D, Jayden Mink (unassisted) 11:49. 5, BR, Longie (Aide, Luke Amsbaugh) :10.

SAVES: BR, Riley Monson 8-7-11–26. D, Jamison Gray 8-5-12–25.

Tags: high school hockey, dickinson midgets, sports, hockey