Matt Semisch/Bottineau Courant Braves forward Lane Tiffany fights for the puck with a Bismarck Century player behind the net on Feb. 10 in Bottineau.

Bottineau-Rugby Braves began its post-season as the play-in winner at the Western Dakota Association High School Regional Tournament after falling 2-5 to the Bismarck Century Patriots in Bottineau on Feb. 10.

Braves started out strong, swarming Patriots’ territory in the first period. Although clumps of slush occasionally dropped onto the ice from the arena’s ceiling due to the unusually warm weather outside, each player’s pass hit its target. The puck stayed in Braves’ possession most of the period. Just over eight minutes into the period, Braves forward Colton Getzlaff smacked the first goal of the game into the net. When the Patriots managed a steal here or there, they had little time for shot attempts. The period ended with the puck in the Braves’ possession and multiple Bottineau-Rugby players closing in on Bismarck-Century goalie Casey Odegaard.

Bottineau-Rugby’s strong play continued into the second period. With 10:10 on the clock, Braves forward Macen Heisler shot the second goal for his team on a power play after Maxon Vig went to the penalty box for tripping.

Patriots sprang to action less than three minutes later, with Vig landing the team’s first goal of the game, assisted by Detrik Melander and Joe LaDuke. Two more Patriots’ goals would follow in the second period. Braves, unable to land shots in Patriots’ territory, guarded their own goal, incurring penalties. Patriots capitalized on the situation, making every goal they scored a power play. Unable to regroup, Braves could do little more in the third period than keep the Patriots to two more goals. Goalie Easton Freeman would make 24 saves in the game.

After the loss, Braves Coach Jesse Nostdahl said Bottineau-Rugby would still have a berth in regionals, with its seed dependent on the outcome of a game between the Williston Coyotes and the Dickinson Midgets.

The Braves would make the cut for regionals after wrapping up their regular season with a win and a 9-9 record.

The Braves faced a Beulah-Hazen North Stars team fighting for at least one more game. The North Stars answered a Colton Getzlaff goal in the first period with one of their own, shot by Robert Froelich. The Braves pulled ahead for good in the second period after goals shot by team co-captain Matt Olson, followed by Getzlaff, who would get a hat trick for the game. Also landing goals were Rugby High’s Macen Heisler and Bottineau High freshman Tukker Fedje. North Stars would land just one more goal, shot by Ronan Klindworth before the Braves celebrated their 8-2 play-in win.

Nostdahl called the game “a little closer than we wanted in the first (period). We made a few adjustments to our cycle and it started clicking for the boys.

“It’s nice seeing our freshmen impact the game,” Nostdahl added. “Tukker, Brody (Nordmark), and Khaliel (Abdurrahman) are all getting a good start on good hockey careers here. Proud of their growth.”

Nostdahl said to prepare for the first round of the WDA regional tournament against the Minot Magicians, “We’ll key on a few things Minot does well. This time of year, we are just thankful we are still playing and the WDA is wide open. Hopefully we can carry some energy and bring a good effort on Thursday.”

The Boys’ WDA Regional Hockey Tournament was held Feb. 17-19 at Bismarck’s VFW Sports Center. Results from the tournament will appear in next week’s edition.