Sue Sitter/PCT Braves forward Reese Mohagen clears the way for Bottineau-Rugby's offense at the Hazen-Beulah goal.

The Bottineau-Rugby Braves played two home games last week at two different venues with two different results.

The 3-4 Braves met Mayville-Portland at Al Wentz Arena in Rugby last Thursday, where they battled to a close 4-5 loss to the Ice Dawgs.

The Braves’ goalie Robert Dibble* tied with the Ice Dawgs’ Kade Susie at 32 saves apiece in the Thursday game, with left wing Landon Rosendahl scoring three of the four Brave goals. Sophomore and center Matt Olson scored the fourth goal.

Olson assisted Rosendahl on two goals, along with state score leader and teammate Ian Amsbaugh and Riley Tuenge. The Ice Dawgs seemed to swarm Amsbaugh, preventing him from a chance to hit one in.

After Friday’s game in Bottineau, Olson said, “Last night, we didn’t have some things go our way.”

The next evening at Bottineau Arena, things turned around for the Braves, when they faced off against the Beulah-Hazen North Stars.

The Braves began the game moving into North Star territory, and there they stayed for most of the evening.

Three minutes into the first period, Rosendahl tapped in the first Brave goal with assistance from center Amsbaugh.

The North Stars began the second period with their own goal attempts, only to be met with two saves from Dibble.

The Braves kept the pressure on the North Stars, and defenseman Riley Rybchinski spent two minutes in the penalty box for tripping.

Amsbaugh broke free from the tangle of players, scoring another goal, with forward Riley Biberdorf assisting.

An interference penalty for defender Adam Handeland followed, and after another Dibble save, North Star forward Garret Weir managed to shoot one through the goal line.

The Braves held the North Stars to the single point, continuing their forward momentum with another Amsbaugh goal, this time with Handeland and Olson assisting. The Braves were on a tear, and there was little North Star could do to stop them.

A goal by Olson and Amsbaugh followed, and the Braves enjoyed a 6-1 lead at the end of the second period.

The third period saw the Braves add to their lead when defender Tuenge shot another goal, assisted by twin brothers and center/wings Dalton Vietz-Reile and Cole Vietz-Reile.

The Vietz-Reile brothers are sophomores* at Rugby High School.

The Braves left the ice celebrating their 7-1 victory and embracing family and friends.

Olson told the Tribune after Friday’s game, “I thought we bounced back pretty good today and worked on some things we needed to improve on, like neutral zone trap and breakouts and stuff.”

“We’ve been cycling the puck pretty well in their zone,” Olson said of Friday’s game. “Puck possession’s been pretty good.”

Olson, who attends Bottineau High, said he and his co-op teammates from Rugby High have good chemistry. “I think we all get along pretty well.”

As for the remaining season, Olson said, “I think we’ve been getting better every game, and as the season goes on, we’re just going to keep getting better and hopefully come the region tournament, we’ll be sitting pretty good.”

Braves Coach Jesse Nostdahl noted after the game, “We were kind of talking to the guys a little bit talking about how to be prepared for any type of game; defending, puck possession tonight, we had a puck possession game. We were really happy with how we were off the draws and how we were at possessing through the neutral zone and breaking the puck out. We were making good decisions today and it was nice for the boys to have a game like that.”

Nostdahl said of the contrast with Thursday’s loss to May-Port, “It’s just one of those things. I don’t know if it’s the bus trip (for Bottineau players), or I don’t know. I think we just had good fortune today with the puck and the boys, like I said earlier, they just had a good puck possession game tonight.”

Nostdahl added, “May-Port was kind of a transition game, where it was back and forth, back and forth, and tonight, we were just stickier on the puck. It was just one of those days.”

Nostdahl described Friday’s win as “something they’ve been waiting for.”

Nostdahl said the Braves have high hopes for other games coming up on their schedule. “We’ve got the Holiday Tournament coming up. It should be good competition for us. It’s in Wadena, Minnesota. We want to come out of there with two wins and a trophy.”

The Braves traveled to the Holiday Tournament Friday. Results from the tournament will appear in next week’s Tribune.

* Corrections & Clarifications

In the Dec. 28, 2019 issue of The Pierce County Tribune, a story headlined, “Braves net different results from back-to-back games,” Goalie Robert Dibble was

incorrectly referred to as “Austin Dibble”. Austin Dibble is Robert’s brother, who plays Bantam youth hockey. The article also referred to twin brothers Dalton and

Cole Vietz-Reile as freshmen at Rugby High School, but the brothers are sophomores.

The Tribune regrets the errors.