BOTTINEAU – The Braves boys hockey team hosted the number two team in the Western Dakota Association (WDA) standings, Bismarck Century, and scored one goal in each period to take the 3-0 win and hope to finish the regular season at the fifth spot in the WDA standings.

Brody Nordmark scored the first goal of the game at the 14:33 mark. The even strength shot gave the hosts the 1-0 lead. Assists were by Grady Glasner and Bryant Bohl. Century had two penalties in the first period and Bottineau-Rugby outshot the Patriots 18-10 to start the matchup.

Khaliel Abdurrahman scored the second goal of the game in the second period of play at the 9:39 mark. Another even strength goal for the Braves, Landon Siemens and Gavin Bartsch had the assists for the 2-0 lead. The visitors from Century had another pair of penalties in the second compared to one for the Braves. The Patriots outshot Bottineau-Rugby 16-7 in the second period of play.

In the third period of play, Kaden Bristol found the net empty and kindly deposited the puck there to keep the scoring alive at the 16:16 mark. The even strength score was unassisted for the 3-0 final score. The Patriots again had two penalties while the hosts had none in the final period of play. The Braves outshot the visitors 10-7 in the final period.

Mason Lynnes was a perfect 33-of-33 on saves for the shutout win.

The WDA tournament starts on Monday, February 17, with play-in games with the tenth seed Hazen-Beulah at the seventh seed Williston and the ninth seed Dickinson at the eighth seed Bismarck High.

It appears that Jamestown and Bottineau-Rugby will end up as the fourth and fifth seeds for the quarterfinals of play. Jamestown currently holds the fifth slot in the WDA standings with a 9-6-1-1 WDA mark and 11-7-1-1 overall record. The Blue Jays have one final game against Bismarck High before the final WDA standings are set.

Bottineau-Rugby improved to 9-6-2-0 in WDA play and 9-9-3-0 overall for the regular season. With games remaining before the final WDA standings are set, the Braves will wait for the final seeding to be set before they know for certain who their opponents will be during the quarterfinals on Thursday, February 20, at the Maysa Arena.