Bruins top Jays

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John M. Steiner / The Sun Jamestown goalie Carissa Finck tries to corral the puck as Fargo South’s Nevada Wilson runs into her during Thursday night’s game at Wilson Arena.
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John M. Steiner / The Sun Jamestown’s Steph Kamitz (5) beats South’s Summer Hayes (7) and Amy Geiselhart to the puck during Thursday’s game.

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Fargo South’s experience was hard to overcome on Thursday night.

The Jamestown High School girls hockey team struggled to contain South’s potent offense in a 4-1 win at Wilson Arena, dealing the Blue Jays (3-1) their first loss of the season.

“The big thing is we kept shooting and pulled Jamestown out of position, allowing for second-chance opportunities,” said South coach Josh Issertell, who started four seniors and has eight on the roster. “We finished and converted on opportunities.”

The Bruins, playing without one of their top players in Kara Tupa because of a one-game suspension after being ejected against Fargo North, didn’t appear to skip a beat, as Amy Geiselhart scored on an unassisted shot from the left circle only a minute into the first period.

The defending state champions, picked No. 1 in the preseason coaches poll and winners of 29 straight, added a second goal 5 minutes later when Brittany Potas wristed a rebound past the glove side of Jamestown goalie Carissa Finck.

But Jamestown responded a minute later when all-state defenseman Amber Schaack — fresh off a coast-to-coast game-winning overtime goal against Bismarck — fired a shelf-high shot from the top of the left circle past South goalie Emily Grothmann to cut the deficit to one. Elly Millender and Larissa Wiest were credited with assists on the play.

But the goal didn’t seem to faze the Bruins, who came back with a score from freshman Alex Woken at the 2:20 mark.

“We didn’t have the legs right away,” Jamestown coach Brad Schaack said. “After that tough game against Bismarck, we kind of figured the legs would take awhile. We were a step slow.”

Hayes, who assisted on Potas’ goal, came back with a netter on a 2-on-1 play in the second period.

“We can’t let her walk in (toward the net) like that,” Schaack said. “That deflated us.”

Finck, who had 27 saves, held South scoreless in the third period, though the Bruins controlled most of it. Grothman had 18 saves.

“The first three games, we were getting the bounces,” Schaack said. “They didn’t go our way. South deserved to win. They’re a great team.”

Jamestown gets a week off before visiting Minot next Friday.

Fargo South 4, Jamestown 1

Fargo South 3 1 0 — 4

Jamestown 1 0 0 — 1

First period

1, FS, Amy Geiselhart (unassisted), 1:00; 2, FS, Brittany Potas (Summer Hayes, Miryley Hartel), 6:03; 3, J, Amber Schaack (Elly Millender, Larissa Wiest), 7:38; 4, FS, Alex Woken (Alli Thomas), 13:40.

Second period

5, FS, Hayes (Potas), 12:12.

Third period

No scoring.

Goalies — FS, Emily Grothmann 6-5-7—18; J, Carissa Finck 9-11-7—27.

Penalties — FS 2 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