High School Boys Take Third at State Tourney in Miles City

The Glasgow Ice Dawgs High School team finished their hockey season with a third place finish at the MAHA State Tournament in Miles City this past weekend. The Dawgs had to overcome some obstacles early on in the tournament, but dug deep and played some great hockey.

Game 1: Glasgow 4, Miles City 1

The boys hit the ice for their first game of the tourney Friday afternoon against the Miles City Generals. This would be the first of two games against the Generals in the tournament. Glasgow was confident going into the games against Miles City, as they had defeated them three times during the regular season.

The Generals were able to claim the first goal of the game in the first period, but that's as far as they would get. To finish the period, Glasgow's Taylor Johnson sent one in between the pipes, unassisted, to tie the game 1-1.

The Dawgs continued to score on the opposition in the second period with Johnson finding the back of the net for his second goal of the game, and Kaden Fossum recording the assist. Capitalizing on a power play late in the second, Bridger Barnett lit the lamp with an assist from Taylor Padden. The score at the end of the second period: 3-1.

To finish the game, Lane Provencher sent one in off an assist from Fossum in the third. Despite being plagued by penalties, including a 10 minute misconduct by Ethan Hartsock, the Ice Dawgs won the contest 4-1. Casey Mattfeldt did his job in the net with 31 saves in the game, and Johnson earned the game MVP for Glasgow.

Game 2; Butte 8, Glasgow 2

In their second game of the tourney on Saturday morning, Glasgow faced the Butte Copper Kings and lost by the largest margin of the weekend. In addition to losing two players to injuries during the contest, Glasgow was just overpowered by the King's offense.

Glasgow started goalie Colton Pewitt in the net, but he had to be pulled from the game early due to an injury, and was replaced by Mattfeldt.

The Dawgs also lost Noah Lipszyc to an injury when he took a puck to the head and received a substantial gash above his ear. After receiving medical attention, he was able to re-join his team on the bench, but would be destined to observe from the bench for the rest of the tournament.

With Glasgow losing two of their regular defensive players, Butte managed to shut out the Ice Dawgs, scoring 3 goals in the first period and denying Glasgow's offense all together.

Heading into the second period, Glasgow tightened their laces and did their best to even up the score. Padden lit up the scoreboard for Glasgow's first goal of the game, assisted by both Garrett Lloyd and Johnson. Unfortunately, Butte sent in another three pucks to increase their lead to 6-1.

In the final period, Glasgow's Barnett found the back of the net with assists from Marshall Bragg and Shane Sinclair, but Butte topped off their win by scoring two more goals and the contest ended with a score of 8-2.

During his nine-and-one-half minutes in the game, Pewitt recorded 3 saves. Finishing the game, Mattfeldt recorded 26. Chosen as Glasgow's MVP for the second game was Padden.

Game 3: Havre 1, Glasgow 0

Returning to the ice Saturday afternoon in a bid to move on to the championship game, Glasgow found themselves facing their rival, the Havre Ice Hawks.

According to head coach Tim Padden, with the outside temperature reaching 70-plus degrees, ice conditions were less than ideal. "This game was played after the heat of the day and the ice was slow and sticky," he said. "The game seemed to be in slow motion and it takes extreme physical exertion to skate when the ice is soft - much like running in sticky mud."

Other than a few minor penalties, the scoreboard would not see any action in the first period.

Midway through the second period, the Ice Hawks scored with a shot that was deflected off of the skate of a Glasgow player. It would be the only goal of the entire game.

With three minutes left in the third period, the Ice Hawks were called for slashing and were a man down on the ice. Glasgow pulled Mattfeldt out of the net and amped up the pressure on Havre's goaltender.

Despite outshooting Havre by almost a 2-1 margin, Glasgow was unable to even up the score before the buzzer sounded and recorded a tough 1-0 loss agains the Ice Hawks. Earning Glasgow's MVP of the game was Mattfeldt who recorded 21 saves. With the loss, Glasgow would move on to the consolation game Sunday morning to face the Miles City Generals for the second time in the tournament.

Game 4: Glasgow 5, Miles City 3

For the Ice Dawgs' last game of the tourney, they had to adapt to a schedule change. In an effort to maintain ice quality, the game was moved to an earlier time slot.

Although Glasgow was confident going into the game, a 5 a.m. wake-up paired with daylight savings time had the potential to put a damper on things.

The boys had nothing to worry about, however, as they gained and maintained the upper hand on the ice for the entire contest.

Hartsock sent one in between the pipes for the first goal of the game, with an assist from Padden.

The Generals answered with a goal of their own before Glasgow could light up the scoreboard twice more. In a reversal of the first goal, Padden hit the back of the net off an assist from Hartsock – twice. The first period ended with Glasgow leading 3-1

Provencher continued the scoring streak in the second period with a goal assisted by Barnett and Merrick Eliason. Miles City was able to get one in past Mattfeldt just before the period ended with Glasgow up 4-2.

Late in the third, Miles City made a push and were able to score with just two minutes left in regulation play, bringing the score to 4-3.

In an effort to tie the game and force a sudden death overtime, the Generals pulled their goalie. With a push of their own, Glasgow fought off the six-player pressure and Padden locked up a hat trick on the General's empty net with Barnett assisting.

Miles City's attempt to tie the game failed and Glasgow claimed third place in the tournament with a final 5-3 score. MVP for the Dawgs' final game of the season was Bragg, who played with hustle and determination. Mattfeldt recorded 31 saves for the second time of the tournament.

A skills competition during the tournament gave the teams an opportunity to display and highlight some individual talents. Earning recognition as the fastest skaters for Glasgow were Marshall Bragg and Kaden Fossum. Delivering the hardest shot were Merrick Eliason and Lane Provencher. In the "shoot out" competition, the two Taylors, Padden and Johnson, claimed the top spot for Glasgow with Casey Mattfeldt tending the goal. Shooting the puck with the most accuracy were Ethan Hartsock and Bridger Barnett.

The Ice Dawgs look to have another successful season next year, although they will be losing their only senior, Lane Provencher. Provencher demonstrated his leadership ability on the ice for his team and was a key player all season, including during the state tournament where he scored some crucial goals for the team.