Dickinson High junior Blake Reis admitted he didn't remember the goal that gave him a hat trick Saturday afternoon in his team's victory against Bottineau.
Well, the goal wasn't fabulous. But it was smart.
When Bottineau goaltender Darwin Getzlaff didn't cover the puck on a supposed saved, Reis pounced on the situation, punching in his third goal of the afternoon on a power play to give Dickinson a two-goal lead late in the second period.
The Midgets' boys hockey team added two goals in the third period en route to a 6-2 West Region victory over the winless Braves at the Dickinson Recreation Center.
"He's one of our most consistent players," Dickinson co-coach Dave Hanneman said. "He just continues to get better. He's always got his stick on the ice ready to punch it in and that's what makes him successful."
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While Reis helped closed the door on Bottineau, he also kicked it open.
In a one-minute span in the first period, the 5-foot-11, 165-pound forward scored two goals and sophomore Cole Reisenauer had another to give Dickinson (4-2-1, 3-2-1 West) a 3-1 lead.
"There were a few lucky goals," Reis said. "Those first two were pure luck. They just popped right in for me."
Reis scored his goals at the 11:38 and 12:38 marks and Reisenauer scored his 12:09 into the period.
Bottineau narrowed Dickinson's lead to 3-2 midway through the second period when Braves captain Joe Handeland sent a puck past Midgets senior goaltender Grant Kovacs during a scrum in front of the net.
Reis' third goal with 4:21 remaining swung the momentum in Dickinson's direction heading into the third.
Less than four minutes into the final period, Reisenauer whipped the puck around the net, bouncing it off Bottineau's T.J. Acheson and into the net.
Junior forward Kevin Burke added the icing on the cake with a ricochet shot off Getzlaff two minutes later.
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Hanneman was pleased with the three-goal burst in the first but was unimpressed with the lack of intensity from there on out.
"Stuff like that, we need to build on and continue to go for the throat, per say," Hanneman said. "... Once we got three goals quickly, individualism came out and it doesn't work. We're a horrible team when guys start being individuals."
Dickinson High 6, Bottineau 2
BHS 1 1 0 - 2
DHS 3 1 2 - 6
FIRST PERIOD: 1, BHS, D.J. Tooke (Dana Hall) 4:34. 2, DHS, Blake Reis (Jeff Kaiser, Cole Frenzel) 11:38. 3, DHS, Cole Reisenauer (Kevin Burke, Kaiser) 12:09. 4, Reis (Reisenauer, Jason Hurt) 12:38.
SECOND PERIOD: 5, BHS, Joe Handeland (Myles Brooks) 9:37. 6, DHS, Reis (Ross Kovacs) 12:39 (pp).
THIRD PERIOD: 7, DHS, Reisenauer 3:56. 8, DHS, Burke (Erik Pankowski, Kaiser) 5:51.
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SAVES: BHS, Darwin Getzlaff 12-16-11-39. DHS, Grant Kovacs 3-4-9-16.
RECORDS: Dickinson 4-2-1, 3-2-1 West Region.
