Jays win in OT, now 3-0

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John M. Steiner / The Sun Bismarck’s Brianna Flynn shoots against Jamestown goalie Carissa Finck during Tuesday night’s game at Wilson Arena.

Talk about it

With Jamestown High School goalie Carissa Finck providing the proverbial brick wall, teammate Amber Schaack dealt the backbreaker.

Finck stopped 32 shots and Schaack went coast-to-coast to slip the game-winner past Bismarck goalie Kennedy Blair just 39 seconds into overtime for a 2-1 victory in girls hockey play Tuesday at Wilson Arena.

Schaack, inked to Concordia College next season, took the puck from the right side of her net and skated the length of the ice, wrapping around the goal, flipping the puck off Blair and watching it trickle past the goal line.

It was no easy task, as she had a host of Bismarck defenders waiting for her when she started her trek. Steph Kamlitz and Brenna Pritchert assisted on the play.

“I just dip my shoulder and keep (the other team) off the puck,” Schaack said. “Good things happen when you get the puck to the net, and that’s what happened in overtime.”

Though Schaack’s brilliance clinched it, there’s little doubt as to the player who Bismarck had the most struggles against.

Finck, a senior battling a cold, hadn’t allowed a goal in the Jays’ first two games, both wins. So after Bismarck standout Brianna Flynn fired a slap shot from just inside the blue line that deflected off Schaack’s skate and flew right past Finck in the third period, it looked like the Blizzard may have stolen momentum.

Not against Finck, at least not this night.

She stoned Bismarck numerous times late in the third including a recovering stick save on the right side with 17 seconds to go after dropping to the ice to block the left side.

“She’s in the zone right now,” Jamestown coach Brad Schaack said. “Whatever routine she’s doing, I told her to keep doing it.”

It’s a routine that involves spending 5 minutes to “visualize how to stop the puck” before the game, and it appears to be working. Finck said she didn’t feel bad about “the fluke goal.”

Brad Schaack said it’s what teams are going to have to hope for, at least right now.

“It’s going to take a fluke goal to get by her,” he said. “I’m not sure there’s a better goalie in the state right now.”

The first period flew by without a penalty or score, but Larissa Wiest put Bismarck’s back against the wall with a score 2 minutes, 5 seconds into the second period on a pass from Haley Hillstrom. Ely Millender also assisted on the play.

“That (first goal) matters a lot,” Wiest said. “That boosts us up and brings them down.”

Bismarck outshot the Jays 33-16, and Blair finished with 14 saves.

The Jays (3-0) host Fargo South on Thursday night. The defending state champion Bruins were picked No. 1 in the preseason coaches poll. They’ve won 28 straight games and are 47-5 since 2010.

“It would be pretty great to break that streak,” Brad Schaack said. “They’re gonna be tough.”

Jamestown 2, Bismarck 1, OT

Bismarck 0 0 1 0 — 1

Jamestown 0 1 0 1 — 2

First period

No scoring.

Second period

1, J, Larissa Wiest (Haley Hillstrom, Ely Millender), 2:05.

Third period

2, B, Brianna Flynn (Sage Barta), 11:16.

Overtime

3, J, Amber Schaack (Steph Kamlitz, Brenna Pritchert), 0:39.

Goalies — B, Kennedy Blair 5-2-6-1—14; J, Carissa Finck 8-12-12-0—32.

Penalties — B 4 minors, J 2 minors.

Sun sportswriter Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jays, hockey