Lady Ice Dawgs Dominate In North Dakota

The 19U Lady Ice Dawgs traveled to Williston, North Dakota, this past weekend to play four League games against the North Dakota Amateur Hockey Association’s northeast teams.

On Friday night the Ice Dawgs faced the Langdon Blades. Just 30 seconds into the first period, Alex Simensen shot one past the Langdon goalie to start the scoring for the Ice Dawgs. Also scoring in the first period was Brett See, assisted by Kennedy Schmidt (2).

Langdon slipped two by goaltender Autumn Gault in the first period. Gault then tightened her straps and did not allow another goal for the remainder of the game. In the second period, Josey Uphaus hit the back of the net unassisted (3).

Starting the third period, the Ice Dawgs continued their scoring ways. Brett See scored her second goal of the game assisted by Josey Uphaus (4). To finish the scoring in the third was Madison Knodel, assisted by Maddy Uphaus (5); and Sadie Sukut, assisted by Emily Kolstad (6). Gault had 26 saves in the 6-2 victory.

On Saturday morning the Ice Dawgs played the Grand Forks Phantoms. Both teams came out skating hard and held each other scoreless in the first period. The Ice Dawgs picked up the intensity during the second period of play. Starting the scoring for the Ice Dawgs in the second period was Sadie Sukut, unassisted, and Kennedy Schmidt, unassisted (2). In the third and final period Brett See scored the final goal of the game assisted by Sadie Sukut and Makenzie Wesen (3).

Judging by the amount of penalty minutes that both teams had logged on the score sheet, it was a hard fought battle. Gault had 18 saves in the 3-2 win.

On Saturday night, the Ice Dawgs would face Bottineau, the fourth ranked team in the North Dakota Amateur Hockey Association. As the puck dropped, it was obvious that this game was going to go down to the wire. Neither team scored in the first period of play due to great skating and solid goaltending by both netminders.

The battle continued in the second period until Sadie Sukut at the 4:04 mark slapped one past the Bottineau goalie unassisted for the only score of the period.

In the third period, the intensity and excellent play continued. Both teams were playing hard and with just over 2:00 left in regulation, Bottineau pulled their goalie and put six skaters on the ice. With 1:37 left, Makenzie Wesen lifted the puck from mid-ice and scored an empty net goal, unassisted, for the 2-0 lead. As the final buzzer sounded, as Rodney Dangerfield would say, “ I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.” A little frustration was left out on the ice. Both teams would eventually shake hands after a great hard fought game. Gault had 29 saves, recording her seventh shutout of the season.

Sunday had the Lady Ice Dawgs playing their last game of the four-game stand against the much younger Park River Warriors. The Ice Dawgs dominated the game from the drop of the puck.

Scoring in the first period were Makenzie Wesen, assisted by Bailee Holstein; Sadie Sukut, assisted by Jesi Kennedy(2); Brett See, assisted by Kennedy Schmidt (3); and Madison Knodel, assisted by Jesi Kennedy (4).

Scoring in the second period were Jesi Kennedy, assisted by Maddy Uphaus (5); Alex Simensen, unassisted (6); Josey Uphaus, unassisted (7); Kennedy Schmidt, assisted by Brett See (8); and Makenzie Wesen had back- to- back goals, unassisted to finish the period (9); (10).

In the third period, the Ice Dawgs backed off and passed the puck around before looking for a shot. The final goals were scored by Bailee Holstein, unassisted (11), and Jesi Kennedy, unassisted (12). Gault had a lot of time to play in the snow, facing only four shots and recording her eighth shutout of the season. Gault ended the weekend facing 81 shots with 77 saves for a 95.06 percent save average.

It was a dominating performance for the Lady Ice Dawgs, going 4-0 in league play. They will be at home this Saturday for the last two league games of the season against Williston at 10 a.m. and Crosby at 4 p.m.