Brookings ends Austin’s 4-game win streak
Published 2:19 pm Wednesday, October 25, 2017
- Austin’s Travis Kothenbeutel cuts to the net in the second period against Brookings Wednesday at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Austin Bruins saw their four-game winning streak come to a screeching halt as they fell behind early and couldn’t pick up any momentum in a 7-1 loss to the Brookings Blizzard in Riverside Arena Wednesday.
The Blizzard (9-5 overall) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and they added two more goals in the first four minutes of the second period to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Austin had beaten Brookings 4-1 on Oct. 14, but it was a much different game this time around.
“The guys kind of thought we already had the game won and then we had to play it,” Austin head coach Steve Howard said. “That’s the sad part is the mental side when you’re dealing with 16 and 20 year olds is they can think one thing and you have no idea what’s going in their minds. They thought they were just going to give the game to us and we quickly found out it was 3-0.”
Austin’s Reggie Millette fires a shot in the second period against Brookings Wednesday at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Austin had come out firing in the second period as it was able to get a few shots off early, but once the Blizzard added their two goals, the Bruins (4-4-1-2 overall) seemed to lose all of their momentum.
“We had a little bit of spark in the second period and we started going a little better, but then two shots later in the back of the net, we’re down 5-0,” Howard said. “It’s unfortunate and hopefully the guys learn from it and hopefully we can bounce back and steal a couple in their building on Friday and Saturday.”
The Bruins were only outshot 34-31, but they weren’t able to keep Brookings out of the net. Mads Sogaard had 12 saves on 16 shots for Austin and Alex Schilling stopped 15 of the 18 shots he saw.
Austin’s lone goal came when Benito Rosa scored his fourth goal of the season with 9:09 left in the contest.
Howard said the Bruins will have to clean up their play if they want to avoid another letdown like Wednesday’s.
“Our positioning wasn’t there and guys looked lazy,” Howard said. “When they’re slow like that and our sticks aren’t in the air, we’re an easy team to play against.”
Austin’s Alex Mella watches for a rebound during the second period Wednesday against Brookings at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
SCORING SUMMARY
Brookings 3 2 2 — 7
Austin 0 0 1 — 1
First period
(B) Josh Boyer (Chase Brand) (shorthanded) 10:00
(B) Andriy Denyskin 15:01
(B) Denyskin (Cameron Teamor) 18:37
Second period
(B) Henry Enebak :57
(B) Denyskin (Brendan Aird) 4:03
Third period
(B) Doug Larson (Connor Koviak, Chase Brand) (power play) 4:46
(B) Tyler Hinterser (Max Sasson) 10:08
(A) Benito Posa (Evan Cholak, Devon Fields) 10:51
Shots: Austin — 31; Brookings — 34
Power plays: Austin — 0-for-4; Brookings —1-for-5
