Braves rally by Jays

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The last time Jamestown and Bottineau faced off against each other the Blue Jays had a brief lead vanish after the Braves scored three straight goals to close out the game.

And on Friday, when Jamestown hosted Bottineau, not much was different.

The Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period before Bottineau scored three unanswered goals to close out the period and eventually defeat Jamestown 5-3 at Wilson Arena.

“We have to figure out how to get all of our guys to play their best hockey at the same time,” said Jamestown coach Matt Stockert. “We have a guy shine here and a guy shine there, but consistency is what we’re looking for out of everyone. Once we figure that out I think a lot of things will be different than what they are right now.”

Jackson Bernstein had two power play goals in the second period to lead the charge and Logan Millican scored his 15th goal of the season to help the Braves pull away.

Seth Serhienko scored a short-handed goal in the third period and Jamestown’s Hayden Swanson scored with 28.9 seconds to go to make it 5-3.

“It’s frustrating to lose that hockey game but they’re undefeated in the West Region for a reason,” Stockert said. “They’re a pretty good hockey team but I think they’re a beatable hockey team.”

Bottineau (5-0-0 West Region, 9-2-0) put 36 shots on Jamestown goalie Austin Hoggarth throughout the night while the Blue Jays landed 26 on Bottineau goalie Cody Brooks.

“He made some good saves for us tonight,” Stockert said of his senior netminder. “I think there are probably a few he would want back but you can’t ask a goaltender to face that many shots.”

Jamestown’s brief lead in the second period came when Travis Ingstad buried a trickling puck from in front of the net with 7:21 to go, but the lead didn’t last long.

Bernstein scored the first of his two power play goals in the period just one minute later when he tried to center a pass on an odd-man break but a Jamestown defender deflected the pass just over Hoggarth’s right shoulder to tie the game at 2-all.

Bernstein’s second power play goal came just over three minutes later when he slammed home a centering pass from teammate Harrison Aide.

Kyle Volk got the Braves on the board first with a one-timer in the slot from Millican — who entered Friday night’s game second in the state in total points.

The Blue Jays nearly knotted it up eight minutes later when Anthony Cook threw a pass that went off Ben Sorenson’s skate and into Bottineau’s net, but the goal was negated because Sorenson made a kicking motion when the puck hit his skate. The disallowed goal was the third Blue Jay goal called back in just over a two-period span dating back to Tuesday night’s contest with Devils Lake.

Jamestown (1-5-1 West, 2-7-1) did eventually tie the game before the end of the first period when Andrew Yatskis caught the Braves on a line change and scored on a breakaway with just over two minutes to go in the period. The goal was a power play goal for Yatskis, who has now found the net six times this season.

Bottineau 5, Jamestown 3

Bottineau 1 3 1 — 5

Jamestown 1 1 1 — 3

Scoring

First period

1, BHS, Kyle Volk (Logan Millican), 4:14; 2, JHS, Andrew Yatskis (unassisted), 14:55, PP.

Second period

3, JHS, Travis Ingstad (Anthony Cook, Nick Jenson), 9:39; 4, BHS, Jackson Bernstein (unassisted), 10:39, PP; 5, BHS, Bernstein (Seth Serhienko, Harrison Aide), 14:0, PP; 6, BHS, Millican (Volk), 16:29.

Third period

7, BHS, Seth Serhienko (Aide, Cody Longie), 9:25, SH; 8, JHS, Hayden Swanson (Terry Bruns), 16:32.

Penalties: Bottineau 7 for 22 minutes; Jamestown 7 for 14 minutes.

Goalie saves: Bottineau, Cody Brooks 23; Jamestown, Austin Hoggarth 31.

Records: Bottineau 5-0-0 West, 9-2-0. Jamestown 1-5-1 West, 2-7-1.

Tags: sports, hockey, jays, boys