Long wait worth it for Jays

Talk about it

It was no ordinary road trip for the Blue Jay hockey team on Saturday.

Matt Stockert’s team left Jamestown for Williston at 8:45 a.m. Saturday morning for JV and varsity games against the Coyotes only to get back home at 2 p.m. Sunday.

In between was an unusual issue with the bus, which caused Saturday’s games to start nearly three hours later than originally planned. The puck did not drop for the varsity game until 8:35 p.m. Saturday night, but all is well that ends well and it did for the Blue Jays in a 3-0 region victory and three more points.

After arriving in Williston, a problem with the bus’ air pressure prevented the unloading equipment from down below. Two mechanics and nearly two hours later, the problem was resolved, mercifully.

“I’ve been riding buses for 30 years and it’s the first time I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of the bus,” Stockert said. “I guess there is a first time for everything.”

The end result was a lot of down time.

“It’s one of those where we didn’t do anything for 12 hours so you’re trying to keep the kids focused on what we need to do,” Stockert said. “It’s something I wouldn’t want to make a habit of doing for sure.”

Despite sitting around for the better part of the entire day, the Blue Jays still controlled play and outshot the Coyotes 45-12.

“We didn’t play all that well, but we were able to win a game and get three points in the region, which is a good thing for us,” Stockert said.

Jake Stilwell got the Blue Jays out front with a goal at 6:43 of the first on assists from Alex Williams and Jakobi Lux.

Williams and Austin Rene made it 3-0 JHS with second-period goals, while the third was, “like watching paint dry,” Stockert joked.

Although he did credit Williston freshman goalie Camden Haugenoe performance between the pipes.

“Their goalie played well. He’s pretty good,” Stockert said.

Tommy Bruns and Nick Stockert earned assists on the second and third goals.

Ben Walz and Tygh Yatskis shared the shutout with five and seven saves, respectively.

The Blue Jays (7-4 West Region 7-6 overall) won’t have to worry about any travel problems Tuesday night, but the opponent will present a challenge as the defending state champion Fargo North Spartans (11-3) are here for a non-region contest.

“We want to play well and be competitive no matter what,” Stockert said. “If we get to where we want to go (state) we’ll see East Region teams then, so we’ll see how we react.”

Jamestown 3, Williston 0

Jamestown 1 2 0 — 3

Williston 0 0 0 — 0

Scoring summary

First period

1, Jake Stilwell (Alex Williams, Jakobi Lux), 6:43.

Second period

2, JHS, Williams (Tommy Bruns), 14:57; 3, JHS, Austin Rene (Nick Stockert), 2:55.

Third period

No scoring.

Goalie saves: JHS, Ben Walz 5-0-x—5; Tygh Yatskis x-2-5—7. Williston, Camden Haugenoe 8-18-16—42.

Penalties: Jamestown 3 for 6 minutes. Williston 4 for 8 minutes.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at dselvig@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jays, hockey