A 'huge' victory for Warriors
BOYS' HOCKEY
Brainerd 3, Duluth East 2, Jan. 19, 2002.
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Brainerd 4, Grand Rapids 2, Feb. 1, 2010.
Those are two of the signature victories in Brainerd Warriors boys' hockey history.
Neither may have been as significant as Friday's 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Roseau Rams in front of a standing room only crowd at Brainerd Area Civic Center.
Brainerd, which won its 13th straight game, beat Roseau for the first time in a series that spans eight games and began in 1985-86.
"I think this is huge for us," Warriors coach Jim Archibald said. "A lot of people talk about how Brainerd has never been able to beat the Moorheads, the Roseaus. I think we're starting to turn a few heads.
The Brainerd Warriors celebrated after beating Roseau for the first time, 3-2, Friday night.
Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
"I think it just goes to show with the right commitment, the right attitude and the right work ethic that anything can happen. The boys just played fabulous tonight, and as coaches we're really proud of them."
The win gives the Warriors a shot at a high seed in the Section 8-2A tournament, which begins Feb. 23.
"We're really not thinking about that right now," Archibald said. "We've still got six games left. All we want to do is take one game at a time, go out, keep progressing toward what our goal is, and obviously I think everyone knows what that is. We'll just keep plugging away, keep the boys focused, keep them positive, and keep them on the right track."
Brett Jenkins, who scored what proved to be the game-winner, and goalie Reid Mimmack, who stopped 36 shots, said the implications of the win are big.
"This game was huge for us," Jenkins said. "It gives us so much confidence. We're so excited to win that game. Hopefully, we'll carry on from here. We've got confidence, we're rolling now, and hopefully we'll keep winning."
Warriors 3, Roseau 2
The key: Brainerd goalie Reid Mimmack made 36 saves.
Overall: Brd 17-2-0, Ros 14-4-1
Next: Brainerd at Fergus Falls 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Said Mimmack, "This is a huge win. It's big in the section, it's also big for the community. I think it gives everyone a bunch of confidence going down the road to the section tournament. No one is going to be psyched out, we've been there, and we beat them."
The Warriors won despite being outshot 38-23 and playing short the final 95 seconds as Roseau pulled goalie Ethan Kvidt in favor of a sixth attacker.
"Five-on-five, we outplayed them," Archibald said. "Unfortunately, we had (four) penalties. In the first period, nine of their shots came on the power play. You take the power play away and we outplay them."
Leading 3-2 in the final period the Warriors protected the lead, limiting Roseau to 10 shots while having a quality chances of their own. Mimmack came up huge in the final three minutes, making several crucial stops.
Brett Jenkins scored the game-winning goal while sliding across the ice Friday with Trevor Baumgartner of Roseau defending. More photos are at spotted.brainerddispatch.com.
Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
"It was real intense for the whole 1:35," he said. "The only thing going through my head was, 'It's going to be great to beat Roseau.'
"It was real hectic. We had a couple penalty kills (early) and we killed every single one off so I had quite a bit of confidence in our guys 6-on-5."
With the scored tied 2-2 in the second, Jenkins scored at 9:37. Streaking up the right boards, a Roseau defender caught him and they tangled but Jenkins poked the puck past Kvidt.
"I got a long pass up there on a (line) change, it bounced over my stick," Jenkins said. "I kind of got on a breakaway but they caught up, they had more speed coming in. I just dove, hit it, and somehow got it in. It was a one in a million shot. It was kind of lucky but it found the net somehow."
Trailing 2-1, Josh Archibald tied it in a 4-on-4 situation at 6:31 of the second as his close shot dribbled in off Kvidt.
Despite being outshot 18-7 in the first, and facing numerous odd-man rushes, the Warriors took a brief 1-0 lead when Matt Pohlkamp scored at 2:30. The sophomore wing, who hit the post later in the period, stole the puck in the circle to Kvidt's right and, while falling to the ice, snapped a shot past Kvidt.
Less than two minutes later, Roseau's Shane Omdahl garnered a Brainerd turnover, broke in alone on Mimmack and scored top shelf with a wicked backhand.
The Rams went ahead 2-1 later in the first when Cole Kostrzewski and Taylor Hedlund darted into the Warriors' zone 2-on-1 and Kostrzewski chipped the puck in.
Roseau 2 0 0 - 2
Brainerd 1 2 0 - 3
First period: Brd-Matt Pohlkamp (Brett Jenkins) 2:30; R-Shane Omdahl (Kevin Erickson) 4:21; R-Cole Kostrzewski (Taylor Hedlund) 11:15
Second period: Brd-Josh Archibald, 6:31; Brd-Brett Jenkins (Tate Rusk) 9:37
Third period: No scoring
Shots on goal: R 18-10-10-38, Brd 7-9-7-23
Goalies: R-Ethan Kvidt (20 saves), Brd-Reid Mimmack (36 saves)
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.