The Austin Bruins piled up a huge shot advantage, but they couldn’t connect as they lost 4-1 to the Brookings Blizzard in Riverside Arena.

The Blizzard (10-39-3-1 overall) scored four goals on 14 shots and their goalie George McBey stopped 44 of 45 shots to keep the Bruins scoreless  until Ben Almquist scored to pull Austin within 2-1 with 6:34 left in the game.

Kyle McClellan stopped 10 shots as he took the loss.

Austin forward Dante Sheriff had an assist in the loss and he was named Central Division Star of the Week on Monday.

Sheriff, a 19-year old who leads Austin in scoring, was a factor in all three games last week, notching eight points and a +3 rating. On Wednesday, the native of Toronto, Ontario assisted on all three goals in a 3-1 home win over the Minnesota Wilderness. On Friday night, Sheriff had a goal and three assists in a 5-2 win over the Brookings Blizzard.

For the season, Sheriff, who played in the 2019 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, leads the Bruins in scoring with 64 points in 52 games played.

“Dante is a special player and has consistently been a huge part of our offense all season. He has the ability to take over a game and make things happen for us. We need him to continue that down the stretch and into playoffs,” said Bruins head coach Steve Howard.

The Bruins (30-17-0-6 overall) have clinched a playoff spot in they are currently in third place in the NAHL Central. Austin is two points behind of second place Minot and one point ahead fourth place Bismarck. Aberdeen has clinched the division.

Austin has seven games remaining in the regular season.

SCORING SUMMARY

Brookings 1 0  3  —  4

Austin 0 0  1  —  1

First period

(B) Brock Draeger (Luke Aquaro) 5:51

Second period

No scoring

Third period

(B) Gabe Wahl (Tyler Hinterser) 6:22

(A) Almquist (Dante Sheriff) (power play) 13:26

(B) Hinterser (power play) 18:50

(B) Brady Bjork (empty net) 19:42

Shots: Austin — 14; Brookings — 45

Power plays: Austin — 1-for-5; Brookings — 1-for-2