Once Bismarck Century scored two goals within 11 seconds of each other not even a minute after the start of the second period, Dickinson High didn’t have much fire after that.
The Patriots boys hockey team captured an offensive spark and defeated the Midgets 9-2 Friday night at West River Ice Center.
“It just kind of seemed like we were skating in mud out there for the first 40 minutes of the game,” DHS head coach Dallas Kuntz said. “It’s very frustrating.”
Senior forward Parker Simonson led the way for the Patriots, as he scored a three-goal hat trick with one score in each period.
But it was Simonson’s assist that gave Bismarck Century a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Senior Logan Smith scored only 2:51 into the first period to give the Patriots a 1-0 lead. Simonson followed up with a goal of his own less than six minutes later to give Century a further lead.
“Coming out hard and getting a nice win with the boys is a pretty special thing,” Simonson said. “We were getting into the tough areas, which I like to see. It’s a team thing, I just happened to get three goals.”
Simonson also assisted Smith again later in the first period. Century’s next goal came from Simonson 43 seconds into the second period. Century pushed the puck down the ice after the ensuing faceoff and sophomore forward Drew Stoddart scored 11 seconds later, giving the Patriots a 5-1 lead.
“As hard as we’ve been trying to play some defensive hockey, it was nice to generate some offense,” Century coach Tom Bushaw said. “We attacked the net well, but the big focus for us was defense and trying to prevent goals.”
That prompted Kuntz to give Greg Haataja the nod at goalie in an attempt to fuel a fire in his team. Between Gabe Vaagen and Haataja, Dickinson stopped 23 shots on goal.
“Our defensemen and forwards kind of left our goalies out to dry a little bit,” Kuntz said. “Our defensemen and forwards need to be more accountable on their own end.”
The only scoring DHS saw was 8:35 into the first period from Ryan Bren off an assist from Michael McChesney and a third-period goal from McChesney that was assisted by Dawson Kram.
Senior goalie Wyatt Bonnell tallied 28 saves and only allowed the two goals, despite the Midgets’ slight shots-on-goal disadvantage at 31-30.
“We didn’t take care of our own end at all,” Kuntz said. “Our goalies didn’t have a chance tonight. I don't put this on them at all.”
Dickinson’s next home game will be at 6 p.m. Jan. 8 against Hazen.
“We’ve got to stop playing as individuals and start buckling down as a team,” Kuntz said. “Play as a team and your position. Don’t worry about the other guy’s job, just worry about your job. It’s early in the season. We’ll be OK.”
BC 3 4 2 - 9
DHS 1 0 1 - 2
FIRST PERIOD: 1, BC, Logan Smith (Parker Simonson), 2:51. 2, BC, Simonson (Jake Yineman), 8:24. 3, DHS, Ryan Bren (Michael McChesney), 8:35. 4, BC, Smith (Simonson), 9:51.
SECOND PERIOD: 5, BC, Simonson (Cole Foss), 0:43. 6, BC, Drew Stoddart (Tanner Stoddart), 0:54. 7, BC, T. Stoddart (D. Stoddart, Tristan Stewart), 8:52. 8, BC, Casey Foss (Cole Christianson), 12:26.
THIRD PERIOD: 9, DHS, McChesney (Dawson Kram), 1:08. 10, BC, Simonson, 2:40. 11, Wyatt Jacobs (Noah Johnson), 5:43.
SAVES: BC, Wyatt Bonnell 13-10-5-28. DHS, Gabe Vaagen 7-0-0-7; Greg Haataja 0-6-9-15.
