Another first: Jays beat Grand Forks
There’s little doubt about who the best hockey player is in the state. But there is some debate about who the best team is.By: Dave Selvig, The Jamestown Sun, The Jamestown Sun
- Jays Beat Grand Forks
There’s little doubt about who the best hockey player is in the state.
But there is some debate about who the best team is.
Jamestown, suddenly, has a pretty serious say in both.
Amber Schaack registered another sparkling hat trick and delivered a perfect pass in overtime to Brenna Pritchert, who buried the game-winner to lift the Blue Jays to a 6-5 win over Grand Forks Saturday night at Wilson Arena.
In a season rapidly filling up with firsts, it was another one for the determined Blue Jays as they defeated Grand Forks for the first time ever.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Amber Schaack said. “Just for our team to be able to beat them, I think it says a lot about our determination and the players we have. It’s definitely exciting.”
The Blue Jays, now 6-1 and with 13 points, only two out of the top spot in the state, beat Fargo North earlier in the season for the first time. Their lone loss is to Fargo South-Davies, one of three teams with 15 points.
“We have a lot of faith, a lot of belief in what we can do,” said Pritchert after firing home the game-winner. “Is it surprising (being 6-1)? Probably, but the more we keep winning, we probably shouldn’t be surprised. We’re proving we’re pretty good.”
There’s no doubt about that.
Grand Forks came into the game with 15 points and has a roster double the size of the Blue Jays — literally.
“My girls, they just don’t quit. I don’t really know what to say about them,” JHS coach Brad Schaack said. “They have hearts the size of Texas.”
The Blue Jays were down 5-3 after a rocky end to the second period.
The bigger and deeper Knightriders appeared poised to pull away in the third, but Schaack ripped in her third goal of the game just 1 minute, 14 seconds into the third period to give the Blue Jays hope.
The belief they could win came about seven minutes later when Larissa Wiest back-handed in the equalizer and it was 5-all in front of an excited home crowd.
“If they got to five, (I) wasn’t not sure if we had the firepower,” Brad Schaack said. “But, we get the first one. Then Larissa ties, now, it’s on.”
Tied 5-all, Grand Forks took two penalties late in the third, giving the Blue Jays a 5-on-3 advantage. Grand Forks escaped in regulation, but not in OT.
Just 22 seconds into the extra session, Schaack put a feed right on the tape of Pritchert, who fired it over Jerrica Rosenthal for the game-winner.
“(Brenna) was so deserving of that goal. She’s so steady, so consistent for us. I thought that was just great,” Brad Schaack said.
It was a sweet feeling, she said.
“In that situation you’re always looking to shoot, and hopefully score,” Pritchert said. “When it went in it felt amazing.”
Steph Kamlitz got the Blue Jays’ first goal. Torri Kamlitz, Sydney Soulis and Ally Dion also earned assists. Carissa Finck was steady in goal, as usual, stopping 33 shots for the Blue Jays, who play at home again Tuesday night when they host Devils Lake.
Schaack’s hat trick put her at 101 goals, although she had little interest in horn-tooting.
“We all have to play well to win. Everybody did their job really well I thought” Amber said. “For us to win, it takes a team effort. Our confidence is growing, but we know there’s still a long ways to go, but yeah, we’re having a lot of fun.”
Jamestown 6, Grand Forks 5, OT
Grand Forks 2 3 0 0 — 5
Jamestown 2 1 2 1 — 6
Scoring summary
First period
1, JHS, Steph Kamlitz (unassisted), 6:50 (pp); 2, GF, Nicole Novak (Lexi O’Halloran), 7:42; 3, JHS, Amber Schaack (unassisted), 11:56 (pp); 4, GF, Brooke Berry (Shelby Brossart), 16:47 (pp).
Second period
5, JHS, Schaack (unassisted), 1:05; 6, GF, O’Halloran (Berry), 2:53; 7, GF, Berry (Novak), 15:26; 8, GF, Novak (O’Halloran, Berry), 15:49.
Third period
9, JHS, Schaack (unassisted), 1:14; 10, JHS, Larissa Wiest (Torri Kamlitz, Sydney Soulis), 8:47 (pp).
Overtime
11, JHS, Brenna Pritchert (Schaack, Ally Dion), :22.
Goalie saves: GF, Jerrica Rosendahl 7-4-5-0-19 saves. JHS, Carissa Finck, 11-10-12-0-33 saves.
Penalties: GF 7 for 14 minutes; JHS 5 for 10 minutes.
Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at dselvig@jamestownsun.com
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