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Braves shut out North Stars 8-0 at Bottineau Arena

By Sue Sitter - | Dec 24, 2021

Sue Sitter/PCT Braves forward Macen Heisler passes the puck to a teammate in their Dec. 17 win against the Hazen-Beulah North Stars.

The Bottineau-Rugby Braves gave hockey fans an early Christmas present when they shut out the Hazen-Beulah North Stars 8-0 in their last home game of the season at Bottineau Community Arena Dec. 17.

The 2-3 Braves took the ice with a lighted wreath behind the Plexiglas at one end of the rink and a Christmas tree behind the partition on the opposite side. Fans sat behind the ice wrapped in blankets, sipping hot drinks. The 0-8 North Stars started their game determined to keep the Braves at bay. For just under five minutes, the contest belonged to the defenders. But Braves moved into North Star territory methodically, wearing away at Hazen-Beulah goalkeeper Jacob Bonebrake until forward Ethan Siemens landed the first of eight Braves goals into the net, assisted by forward Colton Getzlaff.

A second goal followed just over three minutes later, this time on a power play by forward Gabe Glasner, assisted by Siemens. Siemens would assist in another goal together with Getzlaff, shot by Rugby’s Macen Heisler just as the second period began.

The North Stars fought back, with defender Leviticus Zempel landing in the penalty box twice in the first period, once for interference and once for holding. On the Braves’ side, Glasner took one penalty for elbowing in the first period. Unfortunately, Bottineau-Rugby’s time in the box increased during the second period, with six minutes spent for tripping, charging and a bench penalty for too many men. Undaunted by the setbacks, Braves forward Dalton Vietz-Reile scored a short-handed goal without assistance at the second period’s end.

The Braves went back to work in period 3 with an early goal shot by forward Matt Olson, assisted by Siemens. Penalties soon plagued the Braves, who adjusted to the situation with another short-handed goal by Heisler, assisted by defender Dylan Bartsch. After a five-minute stint in penalty box for boarding, forward Andrew Lemar made up for lost time by shooting a seventh goal for the Braves, assisted by forward Adam Nelson. With five minutes to go in the game, defender MJ Aasen landed the Braves’ eighth and final goal of the game – shorthanded again – with assistance from forward Matt Olson and defender Jacob Shriver.

Braves goalie Easton Freeman made 18 saves in the game, while the North Stars’ Bonebrake made 21.

After the game, Braves Head Coach Jesse Nostdahl said, “We got in trouble in places and had some unnecessary penalties, but our penalty kill was really good today. We’ve got to stay out of the box. I really like their progress on the penalty kill, but we’ve got to be more disciplined.”

Still, Nostdahl said he was pleased with the team overall. “They worked hard,” he noted. Nostdahl gave credit to the North Stars for their hard work as well. “They only had eight guys going and they wore out,” Nostdahl noted. “If they’d had another line of guys, they’d have been a lot more competitive for sure.” However, he added, “Any win’s big. The guys who got out her and got playing time were guys who don’t have big (reputations). You saw (Nelson) and Lemar coming in at the end and they were fresh, so they were able to pop a goal there.”

Although the holiday season was in full swing, the Braves had little time to rest after their Dec. 17 win. They would travel to Williston to face off against the Coyotes Dec. 21.

“Williston’s got two really skilled players in the region, (Jackson) Ekblad and (Ashton) Collings,” Nosdahl said. “The challenge will be to shut them down and get a good match against those other lines that are in there. It’s going to have to be another solid 51 minutes. We’re excited to see them. That’s a team we haven’t beaten in a couple of years. We thought we had two good cracks at them last year and we let it kind of slip away on us. So, we’ll have a hard day of practice on Monday and go after them.”

Heisler said he felt “pretty good” about the two goals he shot for the Braves. “I couldn’t do it without the help of my teammates and the assists I got from them,” he added. Heisler said he looked forward to playing against the Coyotes in Williston. “We just have to start fast and they’re good, but I think we can beat them.”